On Theater:

Ever learn something juicy that you can’t tell any of your friends because . . . it’s a secret? If so, then you know how the folks at the Huntington Beach Playhouse feel.

The playhouse has come up with its 2010 season, but due to contractual restrictions, the name of the fourth show can’t be revealed yet. So they’re dropping enough hints so that just about anyone north of kindergarten could identify it.

First up is a knockout musical about the ultimate stage mother. It’s “Gypsy,” playing from Jan. 15 to Feb. 7 under the direction of Larry Watts. The playhouse is hoping everything will be coming up roses when it revives this popular show about how stripper Gypsy Rose Lee got into the business.

For those who missed “Leading Ladies,” recently staged at Golden West College, the playhouse will put the Ken Ludwig comedy on from March 19 to April 11. Greg Cohen is directing this farcical fable about a pair of Shakespearean actors who dress in drag to claim a sizable inheritance.

Tennessee Williams’ drama “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” ticketed from May 7 to 30, is the only serious business that’ll be offered at the playhouse next year. Michael Serna will stage the skirmish that pits Maggie the Cat against her reluctant husband, Brick, as Big Daddy celebrates what may be his last birthday.

Then comes the “mystery show,” slated from June 25 to July 18. It can’t be identified yet, but perhaps “Tomorrow” audiences will learn the identity of an orphan from the comics who has a “Hard Knock Life” but winds up on “Easy Street.” Stephen Reifenstein is directing and, oh yes, there’s a role for a dog.

Currently on stage at the Laguna Playhouse, “Moonlight and Magnolias” will take up residence from Aug. 13 to Sept. 5 under the direction of Gigi Fusco-Meese. This comedy focuses on the travails of producer David O. Selznick in getting a screenplay written for his epic movie “Gone With the Wind.”

Finally, a pair of geniuses from the worlds of art and science square off in Steve Martin’s freewheeling comedy “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” on stage from Oct. 15 to Nov. 7, 2010 with Terri Miller-Schmidt directing. The famed painter and a young Albert Einstein mix it up in this inventive offering.

The playhouse has season tickets up for grabs. You can reserve yours by contacting the box office at (714) 375-0696.

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.