Trilogy Playhouse ready for action

Tom Titus

The Theater District may be gone from the Lab Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa,

but theater itself remains alive and kicking.

Next month, there’ll be a new group at the old address -- the Trilogy

Playhouse, which will introduce itself with a production of Ira Levin’s

“Deathtrap” Feb. 24.

Although this will be the first production under the Trilogy banner, the

group itself has been around a few years. The community theater was born

in Laguna Niguel in 1993 and has heretofore been known as the Laguna

Niguel Playhouse.

Obviously, a new name was in order because the troupe now has a Costa

Mesa address. The name Trilogy signifies the three directions in which

the group is going, said Alicia Butler, founder and director of the

company. There will be adult productions, children’s shows and young

peoples’ workshops offered on the Lab’s back lot.

“We’re really excited,” Butler commented during a break in the company’s

big moving day on Sunday. “We never had a big audience for our adult

shows in the past, but now we’re looking forward to doing the stronger

plays along with the children’s musicals.”

And to emphasize this newfound maturity, Trilogy plans to follow

“Deathtrap” with a pair of heavy dramas -- “A Streetcar Named Desire” and

“The Bad Seed” -- once the group tests the waters with a Neil Simon

comedy, “Fools.”

For the younger set, the company will offer four other shows in which

roles are open to both adults and children -- “Into the Woods,” “Charlie

and the Chocolate Factory,” “Little Shop of Horrors” and “A

Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas Tail.” All but “Charlie” are musical

productions.

Trilogy Playhouse is the latest incarnation of a project that began in

1991 with theater classes offered through the city of Laguna Niguel. From

there, the company developed into a family-oriented program that produced

such classic comedies as “Harvey,” “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “The Odd

Couple,” blended with children’s theater and popular musicals like “The

Sound of Music” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”

What was missing was theater with a little dramatic bite.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do Deathtrap’ back there,” Butler said.

Now that the playhouse has relocated in a venue renowned for offering

such strong fare as “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “The Boys in

the Band,” Butler is anticipating audience expansion. Many of the Laguna

Niguel supporters will make the trek up the 405, while Theater District

subscribers should welcome the newcomer when plays like “Streetcar” and

“Bad Seed” go on the boards.

Butler, a middle-aged woman who’s been involved in theater since age 14,

spent 11 years as a casting director in Los Angeles before her husband’s

work transfer brought her to Orange County. Starting from scratch, she

developed a series of youth workshops that evolved into a touring group

that eventually became the Laguna Niguel Playhouse.

Her company put down roots in the Laguna Design Center, which became home

until late last year, when ownership of the center changed.

Coincidentally, this was the same time that the Theater District was

ringing down its curtain due to heavy rental obligations.

Shaheen Sadeghi, owner of the Lab Anti-Mall, is a Laguna Niguel resident

who heard of Butler’s dilemma.

“He contacted us,” Butler said. “We had been looking for a new place in

Laguna Niguel without success.”

The rent, Butler concedes, is steep, but between ticket sales and fees

from youth workshops, the Trilogy Playhouse should be able to maintain

its five-year lease.

The former Laguna Niguel Playhouse’s core group of company members has

made the trip up the freeway with sleeves rolled up.

Among them is actor and scenic designer Jim Mulligan, who recently worked

on the awesome sets of South Coast Repertory’s world premiere of “The

Hollow Lands” and has played Tevye in the Laguna Niguel company’s

production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” among other roles.

Publicity director Sharon Simonian has performed in a variety of parts

over the past seven years in shows like “Harvey,” “Fiddler” and “The Odd

Couple.”

Prospective actors looking for more information or parents seeking

theater classes for their kids can call Trilogy Playhouse at (714)

475-7405. The new theater on the block will offer something for everyone.