‘Rooftop’ About Rekindling Life’s Fire

In today’s Hollywood, there is something called the Gray List, an inventory of established writers who many directors and producers think are too old to write about the young. Playwright Dan Keough has turned this notion on its head by writing a comedy-drama about the senior set--and he’s nowhere near that age.

Keough’s “Tom Tom on a Rooftop” opens Friday night at Theatre West, and its stellar, mostly gray cast calls the characters they play “spunky.” They are no more spunky than the actors themselves, who have weathered Broadway, filmdom and television, then returned to Theatre West at a time in life when most people are beginning to think it’s time to take a rest.

The central characters are played by Betty Garrett and Philip Abbott, both of whom have long associations with the group. Garrett was a founding member three decades ago, and Abbott came on board a few weeks later. While they might not technically be the Lunts of Theatre West, they have worked on a number of projects together, most notably an adaptation of “Spoon River Anthology,” which began at Theatre West and moved on to a successful Broadway run.

Garrett can reel off stage credits, from Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre production of “Danton’s Death” to the recent Broadway revival of “Meet Me in St. Louis,” and screen credits including the movie “My Sister Eileen” to television’s “All in the Family” and “Laverne and Shirley.” Abbott, best known for his role as Arthur Ward in TV’s long-running “The F.B.I.,” can quote credits cataloging a career as full as Garrett’s.

Why do they keep coming back to theater?

“It has just been such an uninterrupted part of my life,” Abbott said. “It parallels everything else I’ve done. Most of the stuff you get paid for is such dreck. From an actor’s point of view, with training and years of experience, what they call upon you to do is less than challenging. You can continue to be challenged in a place like Theatre West, not only as an actor, but as a writer, a director. It’s really quite remarkable. It’s like a watering hole.”

Garrett agreed. “The thing is, it feeds your soul, that’s what it does,” she said. “It saved my life a couple of times. If I hadn’t had this theater during crises that I’ve gone through, it would have been very hard. This is almost like a second home, a second family.”

And a place to reinvent oneself. Contrary to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s belief, there are second acts in American lives. And that’s what these actors and this play are about.

“The characters on the rooftop are all still very alive and active, and finding new life among themselves,” said Abbott. “Betty’s role, well, she’s really the catalyst, the hero of the piece. She lights the fire under all of us, really.”

“Especially you,” Garrett quipped.

“Especially me, yeah,” Abbott said with a prolonged laugh. And that’s what Keough’s play is all about--making sure those fires are still burning.

* “Tom Tom on a Rooftop,” Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Universal City. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends March 2. $15. (213) 851-7977.

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Bologna on a Bialy: Over the course of this century, just about everything that could be done to Shakespeare, it seems, has been done. Wait a minute. A Jewish King Lear? Why not?

Richard Krevolin’s “King Levine” previews this weekend and next at Ovations in Studio City, and is being directed by Joe Bologna.

This variation on Lear features main character Levine as a bialy maker who has made a fortune. Now he is getting on in years, and there are those three daughters to think about.

This is a sort of workshop production, with Levine being played by Elvis Presley’s former warm-up comic, Sammy Shore. The play deals with family relationships and competition, just like in Shakespeare. But different.

* “King Levine,” Ovations, 12747 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. 8 p.m. Saturdays; 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends Jan. 26. $12.50. (818) 506-1277.

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Brit Hit: Over the next couple of weeks, theatergoers get a rare opportunity to experience one of those grand British Christmas tradition, the holiday pantomime, or panto.

In depicting a traditional children’s story, the panto’s fun comes from the irreverent music-hall style in which it is performed. The Principal Boy is always played by a lovely-legged female, and the bawdy Grand Dame is always played by a man in drag.

Pantos are, of course, children’s shows, but parents are usually advised to leave the kids at home for the evening performances.

The Mayflower Club, a group of U.K. transplants, has been producing a panto each year for many years. This year it is “Cinderella.” If you want to see the type of show that began careers for the likes of Noel Coward, Bea Lillie, Gertrude Lawrence and almost every other notable British stage star, and to top off the holidays “wiv a bit o’ music ‘all,” the panto is where to start.

* “Cinderella, a British Panto,” Mayflower Club, 11110 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. Saturday and Jan. 24; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Jan. 25; 8 p.m. Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. $10 (children under 16, $5). (818) 760-9367.