Ahab brings obsessive search to OCC stage

Tom Titus

You might say that Orange Coast College’s David Scaglione has taken

on one whale of an assignment in both adapting Herman Melville’s

classic novel “Moby Dick” for the stage and then directing the

ensuing production, which will be presented at OCC next week.

After all, the book is a bit of a leviathan itself, more than 130

chapters long and, as Scaglione observes, “Melville is not

short-winded about any subject, including an oil lamp.” Captain

Ahab’s obsessive quest for the great white whale was a three-hour

tour compared to boiling down his adventures into a stage play to be

condensed into a normal two-hour running time.

“I was shocked when I started pulling it apart and found that it

follows no real form at times,” the veteran OCC writer, director,

makeup artist and technical wizard said. “At one point the book is

from Ishmael’s point of view, then it switches and we get an almost

screenplay format from Melville for Ahab, a soliloquy. From first

person to omnipotent viewer and at times there are collections of

dialogue that he attributes to no one, so how do I give a character

dialogue?”

Scaglione first set out on his epic literary voyage three years

ago when OCC’s theater department chairman Alex Golson remarked that

the high school kids have to read this book, and it was no easy

assignment.

“I adapted it into a 55-minute touring show and presented it a

year and a half ago,” he said. “But then I rewrote it back to its

full-length size. Not to say the script hasn’t gone through a few

changes -- I think I am on my 10th draft. As a matter of fact, we

just cut two whole pages out of the script last Saturday, and it

works better now.”

The results of all this fictional seamanship will be on display

next week in the Drama Lab Theater at OCC, with dizzily varying

curtain times. The show goes on Tuesday at 4 p.m., Wednesday and

Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Saturday and

Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Reservations are being taken at (714)

432-5880. The show is geared for ages 10 and up.

Scaglione has been at OCC since 1987, wearing a variety of hats --

the largest being resident scenic designer. The adaptation of “Moby

Dick” is only the latest in a number of plays he’s created over the

past decade. He’s written the Christmas season melodrama for the past

three years (and doubled as emcee) and adapted Franz Kafka’s

“Metamorphosis” for a theater group in Santa Ana.

He has adapted the children’s stories “Pinocchio” and “Stone Soup”

for the college and also penned “Nevermore” about the last days of

Edgar Allan Poe, which OCC staged for two years.

Before joining the OCC staff, Scaglione worked as a scenic

designer for the Los Angeles Classical Ballet and moonlighted as a

freelance makeup artist for music videos, movies and commercials. The

films, he admitted, weren’t exactly Oscar bait.

“They aspired to be B movies,” he said wryly.

At Orange Coast, he instructs students in the arts of makeup,

scenic design, playwriting, drama and acting -- and his peers are

starting to take notice. Last year, Scaglione was honored at OCC as

“adjunct faculty member of the year,” and the city of Orange cited

him and the department for their work on “Every 15 Minutes,” a

program dealing with teenage drunken driving.

“I like the chance to write for my department,” Scaglione said,

“and I’m in good company. John Ferzacca (who retired last year after

a 33-year career at OCC) wrote ‘The Failure to Zigzag’ and several

other plays, and Alex wrote ‘Playing the Palace,’ about Richard III,

updated into a modern media scandal.

“I have learned so much and have been really supported by my

colleagues in this process. We also encourage our students to do the

same because if I can write a play, heck, anyone can.”

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

appear Fridays.