‘Brooklyn Boy’ marks a first for SCR

Tom Titus

A good number of plays that saw the first light of day at South Coast

Repertory have gone on to eventual Broadway productions, dating back

to “Mother Earth” in 1970. Nevertheless, Donald Margulies’ “Brooklyn

Boy,” opening next weekend, is a breed apart.

“Brooklyn Boy,” which will have its world premiere at SCR, is a

co-production with the Manhattan Theater Club, which will transport

the local production to its Biltmore Theater for a Feb. 3, 2005

opening.

The cast of “Brooklyn Boy” -- Adam Arkin, Ari Graynor, Arye Gross,

Kevin Isola, Mimi Lieber, Allan Miller and Dana Reeve -- will

comprise the first SCR show to move directly from Costa Mesa to

Broadway. Set designer Ralph Funicello, costumer Jess Goldstein,

lighting designer Chris Parry and music and sound designer Michael

Roth will also take their talents to the Great White Way.

“Brooklyn Boy” was commissioned by SCR and developed in its 2003

Pacific Playwrights Festival. Playwright Margulies has seen two of

his works unveiled locally -- “Sight Unseen” in 1991 and “Collected Stories” in 1996. Both were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in

drama, and “Collected Stories” earned Margulies a Los Angeles Drama

Critics Circle award for playwriting, as well as the prestigious Ted

Schmitt Award for best world premiere.

Arkin takes the title role of Eric Weiss (wasn’t that Houdini’s

real name?), who shoots to fame after his semi-autobiographical novel

becomes a national bestseller. He becomes torn between grabbing his

dreams and clinging to his principles. Arkin took the part at the

Pacific Playwrights Festival reading of the script in 2003.

Audiences will recognize Arkin as the son of actor Alan Arkin,

while another familiar name in the cast is Dana Reeve -- wife of

cinematic Superman Christopher Reeve. Miller will be remembered for

his portrayal of Willy Loman in SCR’s production of “Death of a

Salesman.”

Directing the premiere is Daniel Sullivan, who staged “Dinner With

Friends” (also written by Margulies, for which he won the Pulitzer

Prize) a few seasons ago. He also directed a trio of Shakespearean

productions at SCR in the ‘70s, when the troupe was housed in a

converted Newport Boulevard dime store.

“Brooklyn Boy” will preview tonight through next Friday on the

company’s Segerstrom Stage and will open Sept. 11, running through

Oct. 10. Tickets are available by calling the box office at (714)

708-5555.

Meanwhile, waiting in the wings at SCR’s adjacent Julianne Argyros

Stage is a West Coast premiere, “The Retreat From Moscow” by William

Nicholson, which opens Oct. 1 after a week of previews beginning

Sept. 26.

This play, by the author of “Shadowlands,” focuses on the

deterioration of a 33-year marriage, with two familiar SCR faces --

Nicholas Hormann and Linda Gehringer -- in the principal roles. John

Sloan completes the cast as the couple’s grown son.

Directing “The Retreat From Moscow” will be Martin Benson, who

also staged Nicholson’s “Shadowlands” at SCR. Over the last four

decades, Benson has directed nearly one-third of the theater’s plays.

Tickets may be reserved at the above telephone number. “The

Retreat From Moscow” will be on the SCR stage through Oct. 17.

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

appear Fridays.