THEATER -- Tom Titus

Horton Foote received his first invitation to South Coast Repertory

last season and was so appreciated that he’s being invited back for the

next one, a landmark slate that marks the birth of a new SCR stage.

The world premiere of Foote’s “Getting Frankie Married -- and

Afterwards” closed out the 2000-01 schedule, and the octogenarian Texas

playwright will be represented on the 2002-03 slate with the West Coast

premiere of “The Carpetbagger’s Children,” opening Feb. 1 on the new

Julianne Argyros Stage with Martin Benson in the director’s chair.

The Costa Mesa company’s 39th season (38th in our area) has been

penciled in (except for a production in January and another in May) with

the addition of a revival of the Alan Aykbourn comedy “Relatively

Speaking,” which will follow the Foote play onto the Argyros stage March

22.

South Coast Repertory will open the new season on the Segerstrom stage

by taking yet another crack at George Bernard Shaw’s “Major Barbara,”

under the direction of Benson, who should be fairly familiar with the

play -- he directed it both in 1983 in Costa Mesa and in 1964 in Long

Beach, when South Coast Repertory was known as the Actors’ Workshop.

Shakespeare’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona” will follow the

as-yet-unannounced January play onto the Segerstrom stage under the

direction of Mark Rucker, who brought SCR’s productions of “The Taming of

the Shrew” and “Much Ado About Nothing” to glorious life.

Then comes a world premiere, “Intimate Apparel” by Lynn Nottage, whose

“Crumbs From the Table of Joy” also premiered at SCR. It will open April

12.

“The Drawer Boy” wraps up the shortened (five shows) season on the

Segerstrom stage. Playwright Michael Healey focuses on an urban actor

seeking inspiration in rural Canada in this offbeat comedic drama, which

sees its first light May 31, 2003, with Benson directing his third

project of the 2002-03 season.

Richard Greenberg, SCR’s most-produced contemporary playwright, closed

out the Second Stage (forever) earlier this year and will open the

Argyros Stage with another world premiere, “The Violet Hour,” a

post-World War I drama to be directed by Evan Yionoulis. The brand-new

Julianne Argyros Stage gives birth to “The Violet Hour” on Nov. 9.

Following Foote’s February opus, SCR will welcome another old favorite

playwright, Ayckbourn, with the comedy “Relatively Speaking,” to open

March 22. And the ever-popular TBA will wind up the Argyros season,

opening May 3.

Of course, SCR also has its holiday season specials in the wings. The

23rd annual production of “A Christmas Carol” will open Dec. 6 on the

Segerstrom stage, while “La Posada Magica” will move to the Argyros Stage

for its ninth annual enactment, arriving Dec. 14.

Shakespeare, Shaw, Greenberg and Foote should provide an interesting

season as South Coast Repertory takes its “fifth step” with the new

Julianne Argyros Stage. Since the latter still is under construction,

we’ll have to bide our time until October and November to taste the

theater’s new wares, but hopefully it’ll be worth the wait.

* * *

CALLBOARD: Auditions are underway for South Coast Repertory’s

Professional Conservatory, an intensive eight-week summer training

program for serious acting students -- often labeled a “boot camp for

actors” -- that runs from June 3 through July 27.

With only a few openings available, SCR suggests those interested

schedule auditions as soon as possible. This summer’s program will be

limited to 25 students to provide the best possible working environment

for classes during construction of SCR’s new Folino Theater Center.

Directing the Professional Conservatory will be Karen Hensel, with a

faculty of well-seasoned professionals. The tuition is $2,100, enrollment

is by audition only and further information is available at (714)

708-5577.

* TOM TITUS writes about and reviews local theater for the Daily

Pilot. His stories appear Thursdays and Saturdays.