‘Forever Plaid’ to kick off 84th playhouse season

Tom Titus

Eighty-four seasons. How many local theaters, amateur or

professional, can say that?

The Laguna Playhouse has just revealed five of the seven

productions it will showcase in season number 84, beginning in July

with the upbeat (even though its characters are all dead) musical,

“Forever Plaid.”

“The Laguna Playhouse has attained a reputation for producing some

of the best small to mid-sized musicals around,” declares the

theater’s executive director, Richard Stein, “including the recent

West Coast premieres of ‘The Last Five Years’ and ‘The Spitfire

Grill.’ It now adds this popular show to its canon as a perfect

summertime offering.”

It’s the only show of the five thus announced that won’t be a

local premiere (it’s already played Orange Coast College and the

Orange County Performing Arts Center), but it’s doubtful that’ll put

a dent in the box office tally. “Forever Plaid” is one delicious,

cotton-candy musical confection with special meaning to those who

grew up in the 1950s.

This comedic concert -- by a quartet of male singers who were

wiped out in an auto accident on their way to their first big

concert, but are given the mother of all comeback opportunities --

will play from July 6 through Aug. 29, and audiences who successfully

conquer the Festival of Arts traffic should find it a rewarding

experience.

Next up at the playhouse, opening Sept. 7, will be the West Coast

premiere of “Tuesdays With Morrie” by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch

Albom. The latter was Professor Morrie Schwartz’s only student in his

final class, held at the teacher’s home, and the subject was the

meaning of life, taught from experience.

Albom’s assignment became the best-selling book, movie (with Jack

Lemmon) and play called “Tuesdays With Morrie.” The show will run

through Oct. 10.

Following a third slot still unfilled (Nov. 2 to Dec. 5), the

playhouse will offer another West Coast premiere, “Vincent in

Brixton” by Nicholas Wright. The “Vincent” of the title is the artist

Van Gogh and the play details the painter’s early life in 1873

Britain.

Winner of London’s 2003 Olivier Award for “best new play,” and

later produced on Broadway, “Vincent in Brixton” will be staged at

the playhouse from Dec. 28 through Jan. 30, 2005.

“Bright Ideas,” yet another West Coast premiere, will arrive Feb.

15. This madcap comedy is the story of parents who will stop at

nothing to get their child into the best preschool. It was described

by one critic as “a stomach-churning, belly-laughing roller-coaster

ride through the egomaniacal peaks and troughs of suburban

one-upsmanship.”

The “roller-coaster ride” by Eric Coble will continue through

March 20, followed March 29 by another premiere, this one merely a

Southern California first. This will be “36 Views” by Naomi Iizuka,

and the subject -- dear to many local hearts -- is art.

“36 Views” focuses on an art dealer and an art historian who

discover what they think is an ancient manuscript -- a priceless

Japanese pillow book -- and try to learn whether it’s authentic.

Their search is described as “an erotic game of greed, love and

mental hide-and-seek” which is termed “a carefully textured

exploration of the meaning of truth -- not just in the art world, but

in the human heart as well.”

The final offering of the playhouse’s 84th season is yet to be

announced. It will open May 24 and play through June 26. Season

tickets are now on sale and are priced from $98 to $665. Subscription

information is available at the playhouse, (949) 497-2787.

Meanwhile, the Laguna Playhouse is about to close out its current

season with Michael Weller’s “What the Night is For” with local girl

who made good Claudia Christian. More on that subject next week.

*

Laguna’s No Square Theater winds up its first subscription season

this weekend with a revival of Philip Barry’s comedy “The

Philadelphia Story.”

The show will be staged tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday

at 3 p.m. in the Forum Theater on the Festival of Arts grounds, 650

Laguna Canyon Road. Call (949) 497-1950 for additional information.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Coastline Pilot.