Theaters rolling out first shows of 2005

Tom Titus

Local theater groups, emerging from the holiday hiatus, are busily

preparing their opening productions of 2005, the first of which will

be on view this weekend.

That would be “On the Mountain,” South Coast Repertory’s world

premiere of a Christopher Shinn play, opening Saturday after a week

of previews. The play, commissioned by South Coast Repertory, centers

on a rebellious mother and daughter whose past lives and present

reality are altered by an insightful stranger.

Shinn was lauded by South Coast artistic director David Emmes as

“an exciting new voice in contemporary theater. What he has already

written is remarkable, and he’s still in his 20s -- he has unlimited

potential.”

“On the Mountain” runs through Jan. 23 on the company’s Julianne

Argyros Stage.

Another South Coast Repertory commission is “Unrequited” by Robert

William Sherwood, which will be given a staged reading at 7:45 p.m.

Monday on the theater’s Segerstrom Stage. The play centers on the

recent upheaval in Kosovo and a photojournalist pursuing the

attention of an indifferent world.

Meanwhile, the Newport Theater Arts Center is open for business

this weekend with a reader’s theater presentation of “Mrs. Cage” by

Nancy Barr. Terri Miller Schmidt and George Norment comprise the cast

of the play, which will be staged as a concert reading at 8 p.m.

tonight through Sunday at the center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport

Beach. Call (949) 631-0288 for ticket information.

Both companies will open new productions the weekend of Jan. 28.

South Coast Repertory’s offering will be “The Clean House” by Sarah

Ruhl, arriving Jan. 29 on the Segerstrom Stage. Newport Theater Arts

Center will revive Lillian Hellman’s “The Little Foxes,” opening Jan.

28.

That same weekend, UC Irvine will present “Seven Guitars” by

Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist August Wilson for two weekends.

Two attractions with strikingly similar themes are ticketed for

the first weekend of February as Vanguard University offers a dance

program entitled “Sheherezade,” and UC Irvine opens Mary Zimmerman’s

“The Arabian Nights.”

South Coast Repertory will also bow in that weekend as the

theater’s Young Conservatory Players group stages “The Little

Prince.”

“The Secret Garden,” the musical based on the classic novel, comes

to the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse Feb. 12. On the same weekend,

Orange Coast College will offer “Valentines From Vonnegut,” two

one-act plays written by Kurt Vonnegut.

Openings will be scarce from then until early March, when theater

comes in like a lion -- five new shows bursting on the scene within a

two-weekend period. The first is Chekhov’s “The Three Sisters” at

Vanguard University, opening March 4.

The long-awaited production of “The Lion King” at the Orange

County Performing Arts Center arrives March 10, along with Caryl

Churchill’s “Mad Forest” at UC Irvine, focusing on the travails in

Romania. Also opening that weekend will be “Godspell” at Orange Coast

College and South Coast Repertory’s production of “Princess

Marjorie,” another world premiere.

Thus far, the year 2005 appears inviting indeed, with only a

couple of productions that will be familiar to local audiences.

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

appear Fridays.