Jerry Sterner

Garfinkel and Kate are going to name their twins Bull and Bear. The line may be tongue-in-cheek, but it's symptomatic of their times--and the bitter humor of Jerry Sterner's very serious comedy "Other People's Money," opening Saturday at the Old Globe Theatre's Cassius Carter Centre Stage. It's also symptomatic that the playwright says their relationship is "no love story, it's a seduction."

For all of you thinking about filing a missing persons report on Dean Jones, don't bother. After a 10-year absence, the actor who made a name for himself in such Disney fluff as "The Love Bug" and "That Darn Cat" has returned to the big screen. About the hiatus, Jones insists it was not self-imposed. "Believe me, it wasn't by choice," says the native of Decatur, Ala. "It's just that it was hard to convince anybody that I could do anything other than the kind of shallow characters I had been doing."

Garfinkel and Kate are going to name their twins Bull and Bear. The line may be tongue-in-cheek, but it's symptomatic of their times--and of the bitter humor of Jerry Sterner's very serious comedy, "Other People's Money," opening Saturday at the Old Globe Theatre's Cassius Carter Centre Stage. It's also symptomatic that the playwright says their relationship is "no love story; it's a seduction."

You don't usually see limos parked on Le Conte on the north edge of Westwood. Limos aren't the normal mode of transportation for the fast-food folks of UCLA or those post-grads who occasionally frequent the Westwood Playhouse, especially since Stratton's closed its doors there. But here were two limos, a stretch and a human-size model, plus a run-of-the-road Rolls.

Can a ruthless, doughnut-eating, three-pack-a-day, short-of-breath ball of blubber with dollar signs on the brain turn into a someone you hate to love? That is one of the questions at the center of Jerry Sterner's "Other People's Money," which opened Sunday at the Pasadena Playhouse in a production directed by and starring--the word applies--Kevin Conway.

You don't usually see limos parked on Le Conte on the north edge of Westwood. Limos aren't the normal mode of transportation for the fast-food folks of UCLA or those post-grads who occasionally frequent the Westwood Playhouse, especially since Stratton's closed its doors there. But here were two limos, a stretch and a human-size model, plus a run-of-the-road Rolls.

Kevin Conway scans around his domain, and if he is concerned, he doesn't show it. The first real rainstorm to douse Los Angeles in far too long wasn't merely hitting the roof of the venerable but aging Pasadena Playhouse--it was coming straight through the ceiling and dripping on the rehearsal room floor. Large bowls and pans are vainly trying to catch the drips; a chorus of loud "plops" fill the room, making it difficult to hear.

Piper Laurie finally took the plunge--she recently bought a house in Los Angeles. "I resisted ever owning anything in Southern California for all of these years," says the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actress who played the evil Catherine Martell on ABC's "Twin Peaks." "It was hard to buy something. . . . But it just seemed like time, so I bought a tiny little house. It's really nice to wake up with flowers all around." But Laurie hasn't had much opportunity to stop and smell the flowers.

A San Diego branch of A. R. Gurney's "Love Letters" will open Oct. 22 in the Old Globe Theatre. It will follow the pattern established elsewhere: rotating casts that change weekly, using well-recognized stars. First up are Elizabeth Montgomery and Robert Foxworth, Oct. 22-28, to be followed by Beth Howland and Charles Kimbrough (Oct. 30-Nov. 4) and Sada Thompson and Kevin McCarthy (Nov. 6-11). The run may extend into January. Old Globe subscribers may buy discounted tickets to "Love Letters."

Kevin Conway, who created the leading role of Larry the Liquidator Garfinkle in the Off Broadway hit "Other People's Money," will repeat it in the Pasadena Playhouse production which he will also direct. It opens March 24, with previews starting March 15. Conway, who won the Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in the Jerry Sterner satirical comedy, staged a production of it in Chicago, but this Playhouse outing marks the first time that he will simultaneously act in it and direct it.

Can a ruthless, doughnut-eating, three-pack-a-day, short-of-breath ball of blubber with dollar signs on the brain turn into a someone you hate to love? That is one of the questions at the center of Jerry Sterner's "Other People's Money," which opened Sunday at the Pasadena Playhouse in a production directed by and starring--the word applies--Kevin Conway.

Kevin Conway scans around his domain, and if he is concerned, he doesn't show it. The first real rainstorm to douse Los Angeles in far too long wasn't merely hitting the roof of the venerable but aging Pasadena Playhouse--it was coming straight through the ceiling and dripping on the rehearsal room floor. Large bowls and pans are vainly trying to catch the drips; a chorus of loud "plops" fill the room, making it difficult to hear.

Garfinkel and Kate are going to name their twins Bull and Bear. The line may be tongue-in-cheek, but it's symptomatic of their times--and of the bitter humor of Jerry Sterner's very serious comedy, "Other People's Money," opening Saturday at the Old Globe Theatre's Cassius Carter Centre Stage. It's also symptomatic that the playwright says their relationship is "no love story; it's a seduction."

Garfinkel and Kate are going to name their twins Bull and Bear. The line may be tongue-in-cheek, but it's symptomatic of their times--and the bitter humor of Jerry Sterner's very serious comedy "Other People's Money," opening Saturday at the Old Globe Theatre's Cassius Carter Centre Stage. It's also symptomatic that the playwright says their relationship is "no love story, it's a seduction."

Theater William Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure," presented by Shakespeare Orange County, closes Saturday at the Waltmar Theatre, Chapman University, Palm and Center streets, Orange. Today-Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 3 p.m. $24. (714) 744-7016. "Other People's Money," Jerry Sterner's dark comedy featuring Francesca Casale's riveting performance as a lawyer working to save a small company from "Larry the Liquidator," closes at Colony Studio Theatre, 1944 Riverside Drive, playing Saturday at 2 p.