Theater -- Tom Titus

Bertolt Brecht returns to UC Irvine next season, but the university’s

upcoming production of “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” won’t be directed by

UCI Professor Robert Cohen -- a Brechtian devotee who staged the

playwright’s “The Good Person of Szechuan” last month (and named his dog

Sukie Tawdry, after a character in Brecht’s “Threepenny Opera”).

No, Cohen is opting for Shaw -- or rather George Bernard Shaw by way

of Lerner and Lowe. He’ll stage the season-opening production of “My Fair

Lady,” which arrives Nov. 15 in the university’s Claire Trevor Theater.

Dennis Castellano is musical director and Donald McKayle will choreograph

the popular 1956 musical that ran through 1962 on Broadway.

“Caucasian Chalk Circle,” ticketed for the campus’ Little Theater (the

Humanities Hall venue), will wind up the Stage 2 season, opening April 10

for a single weekend under the direction of Joshua Hsu. The translation

will be by Eric Bentley.

Following “My Fair Lady” on the UCI schedule will be a play called

“Big Love” by Charles Mee. Annie Loui, who staged the estimable “Love of

Three Oranges” last season, is directing and the show opens Jan. 23 for a

two-weekend run.

“Lady Windemere’s Fan” by Oscar Wilde takes up residence in the Trevor

Theater April 18 for two weekends. Jim Sullivan will fill the role of

guest director for this production.

Winding up the main stage season will be a revival of the hot musical

from the late 1960s, an all-undergraduate production of “Hair,” opening

May 30, 2003, for two weekends in the Claire Trevor Theater. Keith Fowler

will direct, with musical direction by Castellano and choreography by

Janice Plastino. No word yet on whether the famous nude scene will be

included.

Jean Genet’s “The Balcony” opens the Stage 2 season at UCI Dec. 5 for

one weekend only in the Little Theater. Coesta Struve-Dencer is scheduled

to direct the existentialist drama, which is ticketed for a single

weekend.

UCI found some rather unique plays last season, and the second Stage 2

production promises to fit that category. It’s titled “The Day Maggie

Blew Off Her Head” by Amy Bridges, and it opens Jan. 30 for two weekends

in the Studio Theater under the direction of Teresa Pond.

Shakespeare’s classic tragedy “King Lear” pays a return visit to UCI

on Feb. 27, but is scheduled for one weekend only. Roberto Prestigiacomo

will direct the production, which will be mounted in the Claire Trevor

Theater.

UCI’s productions have a habit of engaging the intellect, as well as

the emotions, of their audiences. The 2002-03 season promises to follow

this tradition.

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

Pilot. His stories appear Thursdays and Saturdays.