OCC announces scaled-back 2003-04 season

Tom Titus

Orange Coast College has long been proud of possessing one of the

most active drama departments in the United States. Upwards of 30

productions a year, in one form or another, have been offered in past

seasons by the ambitious OCC thespians.

This, however, was before the college absorbed the grim realities

of California’s fiscal crisis. It started with the touring

productions being erased from the Robert B. Moore auditorium. Then,

OCC was forced to cancel its summer theater program for the first

time in recorded history.

Next season, OCC will offer a slightly scaled-back season -- from

13 shows in 2002-03 to 11 in the upcoming schedule. And the

student-operated OCC Repertory Theater will be back in action for its

19th season.

The Rep will lead off the new campaign with a two-person play

entitled “Some Men Need Help” by John Ford Noonan. The drama,

centering on a young alcoholic, will be staged Sept. 13 to 21 in the

Drama Lab Studio.

The annual “Ten or Less Festival,” also produced by the OCC Rep,

will be offered Oct. 4 to 12, also in the Studio. The festival

consists of a collection of plays that are 10 minutes in length or

shorter, all student selected, directed and acted. Another student

work, yet to be selected, will enjoy a two-day run Oct. 24 and 25 in

the Studio.

One of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, “Twelfth Night,” will

be the college’s annual Shakespeare Month observance. The show will

break from the usual two-weekend stint and will have a three-weekend

engagement, from Nov. 7 to 23, in the Drama Lab Theater.

The approach of Christmas means one of two shows at OCC -- either

“The Lutz Radio Theater” or “An Old Fashioned Christmas and Ice Cream

Social.” This year, it’ll be the latter, a melodrama and songfest, to

be performed Dec. 5 to 14 in the Drama Lab.

Playwright Lanford Wilson (“The Hot L Baltimore,” “Talley’s

Folly”) also penned a plethora of one-act scripts, and OCC will

showcase several of these from Feb. 14 to 22 in its Lanford Wilson

Play Festival.

“Solo Voices,” a festival of monologues and one-person plays, will

be presented for a single weekend, March 6 and 7, in the Studio

Theater. These will be directed by OCC drama students.

A full-length play, yet to be selected, will occupy the March 11

to 21 slot in the Drama Lab. Another, also unchosen, production will

be presented April 16 to 18 by the Rep company in the Studio Theater.

The college’s annual Spring One-Act Play Festival is ticketed for

March 11 to 21 in the Studio. More than a dozen different

student-directed one-acts will be presented, classic and modern

works, as well as original pieces by OCC students.

OCC’s Touring Theater Company, which mounts productions each year

at local schools to pique youngsters’ interest in theater, will

tackle an ambitious work, a stage version of Herman Melville’s

classic “Moby Dick.” The show will run May 19 to 22 at OCC before

going on the road.

It may be a slightly abbreviated season, but Orange Coast College

will still offer its actors innumerable opportunities to strut their

stuff. More information on the OCC drama program may be obtained by

calling (714) 432-5640.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.