Season of premieres slated for Playhouse

TOM TITUS

A season composed entirely of premieres -- one U.S. premiere, four

West Coasts and one each Southern California and Orange County --

will comprise the 2005-06 season at the Laguna Playhouse, the

theater’s 85th consecutive season of theatrical activity.

The just-announced season -- with a definite emphasis on comedy --

also will include the long-running “Late Nite Catechism” most Monday

nights, with a special presentation of “Sister’s Christmas Catechism:

The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold” opening for a month-long engagement

in late November.

The Laguna season generally kicks off with a musical, and this

time there’ll be little doubt of the subject matter. The opener is

the West Coast premiere of “The Musical of Musicals (the Musical),”

described as a tour-de-force homage/satire of the work of some of

America’s longtime favorite musical theater creators.

Created by Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart, “The Musical, etc.” is

a comic satire of the musical theater genre in which one story

becomes five musicals, each in the distinctive style of noted

composers, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim with a

little Jerry Herman and Andrew Lloyd Webber thrown in. The show opens

July 9 and will run through Sept. 4.

“Bad Dates” by Theresa Rebeck, whose “View From the Dome” was seen

earlier this season at Orange Coast College, occupies the Sept. 17 to

Oct. 16 slot in its first production in Southern California. It’s the

tale of a restaurant manager and shoe connoisseur re-entering the

world of dating and encountering one untenable situation after

another. Then there’s a shoebox full of cash and the Romanian mob.

Suffice it to say, this one’s a comedy.

The American premiere of Bernard Farrell’s “Many Happy Returns”

arrives for a holiday season engagement. Again, the emphasis is on

laughter as the author of “Lovers at Versailles” and two other U.S.

premieres at the playhouse offers a holiday farce. Farrell’s plot

centers on a woman who concocts a plan to redeem her unemployed

husband by impressing a supermarket tycoon into hiring him.

Performances will be given from Nov. 19 through Dec. 18.

“Two Pianos, Four Hands,” arriving Jan. 7 in its first production

for Orange County audiences, centers on two boys sharing a goal of

concert piano stardom. Routines in the style of Liberace and Victor

Borge abound. The comedy from Ted Dykstra and Richard Greenblatt will

hold forth at the playhouse through Feb. 5.

Mitch Albom, whose “Tuesdays With Morrie” entertained playhouse

audiences last season, will be represented by the West Coast premiere

of “And the Winner Is.” It’s timed to coincide with Hollywood’s

awards season, playing this time of year when the Oscars are given

out. In this “Twilight Zoneish” adventure, an Oscar-nominated movie

star wakes up in a strange bar where time has no meaning and nothing

is as it seems.

Performance dates are Feb. 18 to March 19.

Another West Coast premiere is “Last Easter” by Byrony Lavery.

This one is a globe-trotting mystery about four friends’ lunatic

pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, where a succession of outlandish

events occurs.

This comedy, by the Tony award-nominated author of “Frozen,” will

play for Laguna audiences from April 22 through May 21.

“The Sleeper,” also a West Coast premiere, is Catherine

Butterfield’s account of a suburban housewife who finds herself

irresistibly drawn to her son’s tutor, who may be involved in some

dangerous political activities. The play won the 2004 Kaufman and

Hart Prize for best new American comedy. Opening night for this one

is June 3 and performances will run through July 2. Playwright

Butterfield also was represented in Laguna with “Joined at the Head”

in 1997.

Not only will “Late Nite Catechism” continue through most Monday

nights, heading into its third year of dark night performances,

co-author Maripat Donovan will be unveiling “Sister’s Christmas

Catechism” each Monday evening from Nov. 21 through Dec. 23. More

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