Your voice has a chance to be heard now! scamion.com - we bring changes together.

report scam

Chris Berube


Country United States
State California
City Los Angeles
Address 1523 N La Brea Ave
Phone (323) 850-7827

Chris Berube Reviews

Most Useful Comment
  • Apr 29, 2016

Do NOT be in a Chris Berube play.

DO NOT be in a play at 'Tre Stage' or 'Next Stage' theatre. Its quite amazing that at almost every audition or production I am a part of in LA, the subject of Chris Berube will eventually come up, and how we all were taken advantage by his theatre company when we first moved to LA to become actors, and how it was all our worst theatre experience. Chris threatened to 'ruin my career' because he allegedly knows 'so many people in the business,' if I ever decided to leaved his play. I've come to find that he's threatened DOZENS of actors with this same empty threat. Beyond that, his audition notice claims that the plays are an industry showcase. They are NOT. No one ever came to one show, except the unfortunate friends of the actors who had to pay 20$ to see a truly horrible piece of theatre. No one else. Which means that Chris literally puts on these plays to get the theatre money, and to have the actors friends and families foot in.

I truly cannot stress this enough, Chris Berube is notorious for the horrible way he treats actors. Do not make the same mistake so many actors have in LA.

Mark as Useful [8 votes]
  • Nov 20, 2016

Ok.

WOW. All these people that have been threatenedshould come together in a class action suit. If they truly exist, they could shut the theater down and make some money.

Here is one of the latest reviews of one of our shows. "terrible"

And yeah...I do put on plays to make money..What other theater does this? How about ALL of them,

Sorry.

  • Aug 11, 2016

Agreed

Yes, one of their worst nightmares for actors new to LA or the business. Always Google anyone. Directors at other theatres like The Underground Theatre and Cre8tive Differences, say things like this is not, a Next Stage or Chris Berube production, meaning they are professionals and expect this from the actors too. He is a liar and will claim he has industry connections and a history in the business that are all lies. All one needs to do is Google him to see zero work and many complaints. He is nicer to the young women because he hits on them and can be nice to the guys if they are newbies and have not caught on what a sleazy guy he is. Drinking happens back stage during the shows (yes some actors perform buzzed and drunk), also during rehearsals and other crazy drama, he can be nice, however can be cruel and gossipy about his own cast to other cast members, creating ill will, hurt feelings, bad shows and so many other problems. Not worth it when you are doing this for free in this poor little theatre, because often people do not get paid for reasons that make no sense or only sense to him. So many other decent and wonderful theatre companies and directors that do not charge dues and have real solid credits in theatre, TV and film that you can Google and check out and put on your resume with pride.

Mark as Useful [6 votes]
  • Jan 8, 2016

I went to 'The tre stage' to audition for a play called "Reservoir Bitches'..a female version of Reservoir Dogs. The auditions were held by Chris Berube, the owner, and Sydne, the director. I got a call a week later that I got the part. Rehearsals were every weekday for a month until the play started and then it ran every thursday night for 8 weeks. We were told for every person that came to see us and paid the $20 dollar ticket price, we get $5 dollars of that.

Our director Sydne, would ask everyone at the door who they were there to see, and she would keep track. She told us to keep track too. Which of course I did. My number was 19. Which means $95.

After the show was all done, we all heard that Sydne left the theater. Two different stories though. She was fired and she quit. Which I didn't want to be a part of. Chris contacted me to help out with the newest cast of the show and fill in, but I wasn't able to.

I contacted him via Facebook message about setting up a time to come in and get my check. To which he replied 'come to the theater and we'll talk about it'..my first red flag. I asked him what was a good time to come and he never replied.

One of the other girls in the group went to pick up her check and he gave her the run around. Saying when Sydne left she stole all the money (which nobody believes.) He would have to pay out of his own pocket. The theater is going under..blah blah blah. But she sat outside the theater until he finally caved and cut her a check.

She let me know this, so I went to the theater to get my check, expecting the same. He was in rehearsals though, so I left and was told by the new director to come back tomorrow at 1. Which I did and he wasn't there. I then contacted him again by Facebook messaging him, and he gave me the same line. Sydne stole everything. He would give me half the money but i'd have to get the other half from her. After I wasn't budging he turned to the excuse of everyone keeps coming in asking for their money and he keeps giving it..even people that weren't in the show. And how people were taking advantage of him.

He said he paid the other girl because she helped him out with that new cast by filling in, so he got a chance to know and trust her...and he doesn't know me. It's just absolutely ridiculous! here's the Facebook thread.

Mark as Useful [7 votes]
  • Aug 17, 2016

Avoid

Every word written above is absolutely true.

Avoid Chris Berube's Berube Next Stage Theatre. I worked there for several months and it was a twilight-zone of a living nightmare.

Mark as Useful [6 votes]
  • Oct 12, 2016

I know some inside truths about all of this

I thought I posted some comments about all of this but perhaps it did not go through.

I knew Chris when he first started out, approximately a year after he opened two of his theaters. It was fantastic to start. We were a family of actors that really took care of the theater and each other. Chris was generous at the time and would take us out for weekend outings. The Berubian Family was awesome. This lasted for years until he got married. It was a relationship we all warned him not to move forward with after many many many fights in front of us. Yet, after a big blow out at a Thanksgiving weekend, he married her a few weeks later. Suffice to say, no one showed up to the wedding. At the same time, his partner in the theaters backed out.

It was at that time that the information we were getting from him started to get sketchy. Between "buying the other person out" to his almost one month marriage and "she was taking him for every thing he had" both were confirmed to be completely untrue. We all sort of just ignored it because we were all so close and we all genuinely cared for each other. But we couldn't ignore it anymore when actors started coming around asking for money and there was always a blame of someone else: "They were in charge of the books...", "....she took all my money and is fighting me...", "...I am settling with my partner..."

Finally, it hit a point where creditors such as utility companies, landlords, and not having proper licenses hit the fan and were not getting paid or kept up on. It is sad for me to see that 4 years later, his excuses are still the same and the complaints are equally just as high.

Oh, and if you think he talks smack about other people wait until it's about you. Um...yeah....we all found out that he talked about us behind our back which made quite a few of us sad and angry. We all got the brunt of his anger many times which was the last straw after many years of us donating our time, resources, and finances to keep things a float.

He may come across initially fun and nice but the angry bear hides behind the curtain. Take a look at his crew. They never stay long. Don't get bitten!

Mark as Useful [4 votes]
  • Mar 7, 2018

A Liar, A Thief and A Mysoginistic Pig

All the bad reviews about him are real and the good ones, well they're all made up by him and him alone. Or he paid a few newbie actors before they knew any better. This guy has a bad history in town. He's only known for being shady. He loves to play victim and tries to pretend he is helping you out. He's rude, disrespectful and treats women like they're below him. If people try to warn others against him, he will do everything he can to slander that person. This guy just needs to give up as no one that knows anything about the industry wants to work with him. The Berubian Theater has a bad name and anyone who's aware stays far away. Don't taint your Hollywood experience or have this shmuck ruin your ambitions to perform. This guy is all ego and has no talent. Do yourself a favor and don't get involved with him in any shape or form. Chris Berube is bad news.

Mark as Useful [3 votes]
  • Oct 19, 2016

Please read this. This man needs to be stopped. He uses actors that are new to Los Angeles to put on the same plays he has been doing for years and years. Not only is it bad enough that no one wants to enter the theatre because it probably has a million health code violations and is completely embarrassing to be a part of, but also he doesn't pay his actors. I don't know ONE person who got paid without having to threaten him. His records are a crock of crap. He literally has his records thrown all over the floor of his "office" which is a dirty closet in the dressing room. He doesn't have anyone clean this theatre EVER. It's absolutely disgusting. No one shows up to even see the shows really unless you invite them which

is his whole thing. He begs you to invite your friends to see his out of date shows that he barely directs so that he can make $20. You have to provide your own costume and do not receive compensation at all. I did a show there and he didn't even direct us, some girl was there half of the time who didn't even know the show or the blocking so it was a huge waste of time to rehearse half of the time. Some of the actors are horrible and he doesn't even care. One guy barely spoke English and instead of working with him, Chris just let this guy embarrass himself and the quality of the show (which was pretty terrible anyway) went down as well. Then he talks to his cast and tells them not to believe what's online

because people are stupid and hate him. He's plays a victim so that you feel bad for him because he is a master manipulator and the biggest liar I've ever encountered in my life. The only reason I'm really posting this is to tell you do not go here. Ever. For anything. I don't care if it's a different director and Chris isn't even involved or whatever- it's a waste of time, embarrassing to perform there, so dirty you legit get colds from just being in there and you do not, and I repeat, you do not get paid unless you basically rip the money out of his hands. Also, he makes fake accounts online to stalk his actors that he bands from the theatre. All of the replies saying "I got paid" I can guarantee you one hundrend

percent are him. If you had someone track it, I promise any good review is him because he is a scam artist and it's not right. He bans actors from the theatre for no reason whatsoever and threatens to have them forcibly removed. Yes, it is about performing and doing what you love at the end of the day but why are you all still helping this man make money off of you? Do you not realize that this is not the only place in Los Angeles to do something? I talked with a guy that used to work there for a long time, he is in a show with me now and he helped me investigate this theatre before I quit so I could tell you all DO NOT GO HERE. Oh and when I originally applied online the show that was listed wasn't even playing at the

theatre and there was no character with the name of who I was called back for. He's not even putting the correct titles of shows so what you're auditioning for isn't what it says. I am so glad I met this guy when I did because I just moved to Los Angeles about 6 months ago and started doing this show. It felt wrong, Chris was always hitting on me and was late every single day if he was even there- totally unprofessional. He told me he writes for all these shows like Starwars and stuff but has NO credits for any of that on IMDB. Quick lesson- if they aren't credited on IMDb then they were either an extra or they're lying. Also- if someone has to immediately defend themselves against all of the negative reviews they

have, then they are probably actually legimitely real reviews. Please guys, don't make the same mistake I did and "finish out the show." I could honestly go on for ages about how wrong what he does actually is. The only reason the theatre is still running is because he uses people new to Los Angeles and tricks them into thinking they're involved in something that's paid. I look forward to Chris's response under a bunch of random accounts he made to make himself not look like a giant d****e mixed with a turd sandwich topped with an entire pot of BS and lies. And Chris if you try to reply as yourself- no one cares because you're a liar, a thief and an abusive man and your theatre is going to go down soon. Thanks for not paying me after I came in to see you NUMEROUS times and called the theatre like it was my job. -Gina

Mark as Useful [3 votes]
  • Oct 19, 2016

From Chris Berube

For those reading this crap for the first time. Maybe you’re thinking of coming in for an audition or maybe you just got cast in a production and have come upon this. The only thing I can tell you is to ASK about these things. When you are at the theater, come to my office and check it out. Come see some shows (I’ll comp you and a guest). Talk to the actors actually working at the theater (you’ll find more than a few that have performed before and re upped to do another show). Ask the tough questions. Look for anyone who comes in and is forcibly removed or refused their pay. If you find ANY of these accusations to be true, then feel free to quit. I really can’t destroy your career, (nobody can). We go through a lot of actors at my theaters. (most theaters do the same) and I do ask that the actors promote the show to their friends and family (all theaters do). Nobody is punished or penalized if they don’t bring audience. I do have to fire a person every now and then. Everything from drug use, to placing their fellow actors in danger on stage, ( I have a list you wouldn’t believe). Sometimes these kooks jump on the internet and start slamming complaints and threats of “SCAM” because they have nowhere else to go. These accusations are not true, so they put me in position where I’m really not able to fairly defend myself and my theater. It’s a no win for everyone except the bitter troll hiding behind the keyboard. So all I can do is ask for you be better than that. Stand on your own and come see for yourself, think for yourself and find what really is going on. If you are not able to rise up and think and see for yourself, then there’s really nothing more I can do …and I wish you well.

Write a Review about Chris Berube