Review: On Theater: Newport Theatre and Vanguard chart new seasons

Two local performing groups, the Newport Theatre Arts Center and Vanguard University’s theater program, have announced their plans for the 2017-18 season, featuring a smattering of oldies and a few new offerings.

The NTAC campaign gets under way Sept. 15 with one of the new ones, “Death by Design,” a comical murder mystery inspired by the works of Agatha Christie and Noel Coward. The show runs through Oct. 15.

The popular drama “Proof” arrives Nov. 17 and plays through Dec. 17. This Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner concerns the daughter of a recently deceased genius mathematician who fears she’s inherited his madness.

Another golden oldie is “Charley’s Aunt,” a play about an Oxford student who impersonates an elderly chaperone from Brazil — “where the nuts come from.” The comedy takes the stage from Jan. 26 to Feb. 25.

A new twist, musically, on an old script is “The Spitfire Grill,” an off-Broadway hit in 2001. It concerns a feisty parolee changing lives at a Wisconsin eatery and runs from March 30 to April 29.

Closing the NTAC season is a real knee-slapper, “Lend Me a Tenor,” focusing on a madcap mix-up at an operatic performance. This one is ticketed from June 1 through July 1.

Vanguard also opens its season Sept. 15 with “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” also a local favorite. The comedy, directed by Susan K. Berkomas, runs through Oct. 1.

Moliere’s “Tartuffe,” the play that introduced South Coast Repertory to local audiences in 1965, arrives Oct. 27 under the direction of Kevin Slay and continues through Nov. 5. It’s a classic tale of hypocrisy that’s now been done three times at SCR.

Celebrating the holidays will be a pair of musical revues, “Holiday Hoopla” from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9 and “ACTC’s Christmas Cabaret” from Dec. 10 to 23. Both will be directed by Vanda Eddington.

Eddington also will stage the energetic musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” the stage version of the movie about lusty pioneers. Performance dates are Feb.15 to March 4.

Finally, a vintage novel adapted for the stage, “Lord of the Flies,” will close out the season from April 13 to 22 under Berkompas’ direction.

The Newport Theatre Arts Center is located at 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach, and ticket information is available at (631-0288).

Vanguard’s Lyceum Theater is at 55 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. For more information, call (714) 668-6145.

TOM TITUS reviews local theater.