South Coast Musical Theatre

When South Coast Musical Theatre's production of "A Chorus Line" opens Friday in Irvine for a three-week run, it will be the most expensive and very probably the most scrutinized show in the troupe's six-year history. The $10,000 cost is hardly more than a deluxe shoestring. In fact, some high schools mount more expensive productions. But timing has turned this particular opening at the 100-seat Little Theatre on the University High School campus into a pivotal moment.

When South Coast Musical Theatre's production of "A Chorus Line" opens Friday in Irvine for a three-week run, it will be the most expensive and very probably the most scrutinized show in the troupe's six-year history. The $10,000 cost is hardly more than a deluxe shoestring. In fact, some high schools mount more expensive productions. But timing has turned this particular opening at the 100-seat Little Theatre on the University High School campus into a pivotal moment.

Stephen Sondheim has arguably been the most important songwriter in the American theater for the past two decades. There are few as adept at probing the foibles of modern love and living, all the while maintaining subtle wit and what can only be described as good taste.

OK, movie buffs, time for a trivia quiz. Which actress crooned love songs to Nelson Eddy? What was Sonja Henie's trademark footwear? And for the bonus point--who were Richard Whiting and Sidney Clare? Jeanette MacDonald; ice skates, and the songwriters responsible for "On the Good Ship Lollipop," of course. And what do all of the above have in common?

Although the South Coast Musical Theatre's production of "Revenge of the Space Pandas" at University High's Irvine Little Theatre is a cartoonish muddle, it is of some interest--chiefly because the play was written by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet. Yes, the same Mamet who is known for razor-edged humor and strong language in such adult plays as "American Buffalo" and "Glengarry Glen Ross" wrote this lightweight saga of 12-year-old Binky Rudich and his adventures on the planet Crestview.

Although the South Coast Musical Theatre's production of "Revenge of the Space Pandas" at University High's Irvine Little Theatre is a cartoonish muddle, it is of some interest--chiefly because its playwright is Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet. Mamet, known for razor-edged humor and strong language in such adult plays as "American Buffalo" and "Glengarry Glen Ross," also wrote this lightweight saga of 12-year-old Binky Rudich and his adventures on the planet Crestview.

Two musicals at the Music Center, largely imported from previous New York productions, lead the nominations for the 2004 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, announced today, with "Caroline, or Change" winning seven nods and "A Little Night Music" netting six.

When children's theater groups begin their new season later this month, some serious topics will be tackled: Nazi concentration camps and the poverty of Victorian London will be among the themes dramatized by young thespians. But fairy-tales will not be forgotten. "Sleeping Beauty" will be put to song, "Hansel and Gretel" choreographed and "The Hobbit" dramatized. And near the Christmas holidays, an old-fashioned circus will unfold with Tom Thumb, Jenny Lind and Jumbo the Elephant.

With more offerings than in past years and varied playbills at several houses, the condition of children's theater in Orange County appears to be robust. As Diane Doyle, director of South Coast Repertory's influential Young Conservatory Players, puts it: "Everything is definitely on the way up." Looking at last season and at what's planned for the near future, Doyle is impressed that many theaters will be presenting more sophisticated fare to families.

Ten local arts groups have been added to the roster of the Irvine Barclay Theatre, it was announced Tuesday, completing the projected programming schedule for the 1990-91 season. The $17.6-million facility, formerly called the Irvine Theatre, is under construction on the UC Irvine campus and is expected to open in mid-October. The latest round of performance dates has been given to five dance companies, two drama troupes and three cultural organizations.

Neither Robert Cohen nor his wife, Lorna, speaks German. Yet they've come up with a new English translation of the Mozart opera "The Magic Flute" to launch the fall theater season at UC Irvine in November. "We speak tourist German," said Robert Cohen, who is the chairman of the UCI drama department. "But all the German there is is in the dictionary. The translation of meaning is not the difficulty; it's setting the words to the music."