Nicholas Nickleby

Welsh actor and director Roger Rees will succeed Michael Ritchie, Center Theatre Group's next artistic director, in the top job at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in northwestern Massachusetts. Rees has directed four productions at Williamstown since 1997 and will hold the title of artistic director instead of producer, which has been Ritchie's title.

While Broadway whimpers, the West End booms. Especially in the summer, when the American tourists descend on London, making little cries of delight at how cheap theater tickets are (seldom over $20).

"For the dinner break at the 'Nicholas Nickleby' play at the Ahmanson Theatre, I made the following fruit and white chocolate salad with raspberries," Norma J.N. Camp writes. "In April, when the choice of fruit was limited, Candy and Eddie Tanaka suggested using plums and seedless green grapes. This was served at a pre-theater party and the night of the Chinese/American production of 'La Boheme' at Cal State Northridge. It has also been requested as a substitute for birthday cakes at the office."

Theater "Orphans," Lyle Kessler's drama about a couple of wild-child orphans and the mysterious patriarch who transforms their lives, closes Sunday at the International City Theatre, Long Beach City College, Clark Street and Harvey Way, Long Beach. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. $22. (562) 938-4128.

Since leaving the hottest show on Broadway in March, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick have gotten some rest and are now embarking on a series of new projects. Lane, who won a Tony for his portrayal of scheming producer Max Bialystock, has been filming "Life of the Party," a potential CBS sitcom about an ex-TV star who is elected to Congress and happens to be gay. He has also filmed "Nicholas Nickleby" in England and is working on a movie about the life of Jackie Gleason.

Allegory is a rarefied form riddled with dangerous potholes. When it's combined with "story theater," a popular '60s form that has thankfully receded into its proper sphere as theater for the young (with the sole exception of "Nicholas Nickleby"), it's as chancy as skateboarding across Death Valley. In "Goose Girl" at Theatre of NOTE, Matthew J. Wells blends both idioms to describe the horror of Nazi Germany filtered through Grimms' fairy tales.

With the network's fall season in full swing and CBS swinging for the fences with Game 4 and Game 5 (if necessary) of the World Series, there is still room for a smattering of eclectic programs on cable and independents stations this weekend. Nickelodeon will try to crack up the kids tonight at 6:30 with "Hot Rod Brown: Class Clown." Whoopi Goldberg stars as a guardian angel who comes to the aid of a class cut-up, whose shenanigans have put him in danger of flunking out.

With only an hour between Parts 1 and 2 of "Nicholas Nickleby," it doesn't make much sense to drive to a restaurant for dinner. One solution is to book a table at one of the Music Center's restaurants, either the Pavilion (972-7333) or the Hungry Tiger (972-7322). Another is to order a box lunch through the Ahmanson's Back Stage Cafe, which for $9 offers a choice of cold chicken or roast beef, plus salad, fruit and a muffin. Orders have to be received three days before the show you'll attend.

"Continental Divide," David Edgar's two-part epic about a gubernatorial election in an unnamed state very much like California, will open La Jolla Playhouse's season, June 6 to Aug. 1. Consisting of one play about Republicans and one about Democrats -- "Mothers Against" and "Daughters of the Revolution," respectively -- "Divide" opened last spring at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and later played Berkeley Repertory Theatre. It will travel to two venues in England before the La Jolla run.