Theater -- Tom Titus

A pair of modern classic musicals -- one closing out the current

season, the other highlighting the next -- join an intriguing lineup of

new offerings to comprise the Broadway series for the next year at the

Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” has been here before,

of course, but its enduring popularity with audiences has brought it back

for a third visit in an extended engagement, from July 31 through Aug.

24, to wind up the 2001-02 season.

The other classic -- in this view the greatest musical of them all --

is “Les Miserables,” back for its third venture at the Center. This epic

adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel has been termed “the musical of the

century” by the International Herald Tribune, and who are we to argue?

“Les Miz” will be onstage April 8-20.

But once you get past these two blockbusters, the balance of the

Center’s 2002-03 season is replete with local premieres. These will begin

Sept. 3 with “The Full Monty,” a musical version of the English comedy

about working-class chaps who doff their drawers onstage. The show will

play through Sept. 15.

“Seussical the Musical” is the Center’s Christmas present to local

audiences, arriving Dec. 25 and running through Jan. 4. Cathy Rigby stars

as the Cat in the Hat in this wild and whimsical world of Dr. Seuss set

to music.

Multiple awards, including the Tony, went to “Contact,” a musical

trilogy about people pursuing romance (not, as you might think, the stage

version of a Jodie Foster movie). The show will play from Jan. 28 through

Feb. 2.

Yes, “42nd Street” is an oldie, if you trace its roots back to the

Ruby Keeler movie musical. But the current stage version was hot and hip

enough to snag the 2001 Tony for its toe-tapping, back-flipping

excellence. It runs June 11-22.

One of the most eagerly anticipated attractions of the new season has

to be “Aida,” a Disney-fied version of the Verdi opera with music and

lyrics by Elton John and Tim Rice, who created another little concoction

known as “The Lion King.” Look for it July 2-13, 2003.

Something completely new, as opposed to fresh versions of old

material, is “Mama Mia,” a celebration of ABBA’s biggest hits woven into

three love stories. This one arrives July 29, 2003, and plays through

Aug. 10, 2003.

For those of you who can’t get enough of “Cats,” the Andrew Lloyd

Webber musical fantasy will return for yet another viewing as a

non-subscription season offering from May 27 to June 2. And, more

immediately, the musical spoof “Forever Hollywood” is ticketed for a

Sept. 4-22 run this year in the Center’s Founders Hall. If you’ve seen

“Forbidden Broadway,’ you’ll know the caliber of spirited satire to

expect here.

To order tickets for the Center’s 2002-03 season, call the box office

at (714) 556-2122.

***

South Coast Repertory has filled one of the two vacancies in its

2002-03 schedule with the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Proof” by David

Auburn, a drama about the emotional and scientific revelations triggered

when a mysterious mathematical proof is discovered.

“Proof,” which also won a 2001 Tony as best play, is a study of the

quirky nature of genius and how it affects one’s life, work and family.

It also is billed as a very funny play with a mystery at its core.

Production dates for “Proof,” which will play on SCR’s Segerstrom

Stage (formerly known as the Mainstage), are Jan. 11 through Feb. 9. This

leaves one show yet to be announced, the closing offering for the new

Julianne Argyros Stage, now under construction.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Thursdays and Saturdays.