PETER PANS, MUSIC MEN HERALD NEW SEASON

Melodrama and musicals are planned for the 1986-87 season at Orange County community theaters, college drama departments and dinner playhouses.

It promises to be a season heavy on mystery and multiple musicals. Three different productions of “A Chorus Line” will play back-to-back dates this fall, while “My One and Only” will make its county debut in a big way, with three local productions planned. “The Music Man” will march through Orange County at least twice this season, dodging two versions of the airborne “Peter Pan.”

Not surprisingly, there will be plenty of Sondheim, Shaffer and Simon.

Here’s a look at what lies ahead:

A musical parable of young love, “The Fantasticks,” heads up Ana Modjeska Players’ fall season at the Anaheim Cultural Arts Center, with November play dates still to be announced. The musical adventures of the quintessential showman “Barnum” opens Buena Park Civic Theatre’s three-show season Oct. 17-Nov. 1, followed by “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Jan. 9-31, and Lerner and Loewe’s “Brigadoon,” July 31-Aug. 31.

Brea TheatreLeague plans a season heavy on humor, featuring the spooky spoof “Dracula: The Musical?” Oct. 8-18; Neil Simon’s “Come Blow Your Horn,” Feb. 19-March 7; and a stage version of “MASH,” June 11-27. Noel Coward’s “Hay Fever” started off the new season at Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse and will play through Oct. 11. Up next will be two comic mysteries, “Whodunnit” by Anthony Shaffer, Nov. 6-29, and “Murder at the Howard Johnson’s,” Jan. 22-Feb. 14. The season concludes with the courtroom drama “Nuts”, March 19-April 11, and “Baby,” a contemporary musical about three couples facing parenthood, June 4-22.

“Flower Drum Song” leads off the Cypress Civic Theatre lineup Oct. 10-Nov. 1, followed by “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Nov. 28-30; a variety show, “Front Row Center,” Feb. 6-7; “Arsenic and Old Lace,” April 3-25; “Enter Laughing,” June 5-27; and “Egad, What a Cad!” July 24-25 as part of the Cypress Community Country Festival.

“A Chorus Line” steps into the spotlight Oct. 17-Nov. 2 as the first entry in Fullerton Civic Light Opera’s new season, which also features the early Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd Webber collaboration “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Jan. 16-Feb. 1; Meredith Willson’s endearing look at small-town America, “The Music Man,” Feb. 13-March 1; and the enduring Sigmund Romberg operetta “The Student Prince,” May 15-31.

Drama, comedy and mystery are represented in the five productions planned by Garden Grove Community Theatre: “The Rainmaker,” Oct. 24-Nov. 15; an evening of Jules Feiffer monologues, “Hold Me,” Jan. 9-31; Michael Cristofer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama set in a hospice for the terminally ill, “The Shadow Box,” Feb. 27-March 21; a double bill of comedy headed by Peter Shaffer’s “Black Comedy” and a one-act yet to be announced, April 17-May 9; and Anthony Shaffer’s tangled thriller, “Sleuth,” June 5-27.

The Grove Theatre Company opens its second year as a professional company with “Quilters,” a musical exploration of the settling of the West as seen through the eyes of women pioneers, through Nov. 1, followed by a musical version of Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” Nov. 14-Dec. 20; “True West,” Sam Shepard’s look at brotherhood, Jan. 16-Feb. 14; George Kelly’s amiable comedy “The Show Off,” Feb. 27-March 28; “Devour the Snow,” a drama based on the ill-fated Donner party attempt to cross the snowbound Sierras, April 10-May 9; and David Mamet’s “A Life in the Theatre,” May 29-June 27.

Huntington Beach Playhouse debuts Nov. 21-Dec. 20 with an old favorite--”Life With Father”--in a new location: Gisler School, 21141 Strathmoor Lane in Huntington Beach. Melodrama, mystery and a musical will follow: “Dirty Work at the Crossroads,” March 6-April 4; an Agatha Christie mystery yet to be announced, May 15-June 13; and “Dames at Sea” July 11-Aug. 8.

Irvine Community Theatre veers from contemporary drama to contemporary comedy with “The Shadow Box,” through Oct. 25; “The Girl in the Freudian Slip,” Feb. 20-March 14; “Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,” April 3-25; “Play It Again, Sam,” Aug. 7-29; and “Never Too Late,” Oct. 2-24, 1987.

The ribald Larry Gelbart comedy “Sly Fox,” running through Sunday, opened the season at Laguna Moulton Playhouse, and rounding out the year will be Jean Kerr’s comedy “Lunch Hour,” Oct. 30-Nov. 23; “Quilters,” Jan. 15-Feb. 8; “Sleuth,” March 12-April 5; and “The Music Man,” May 21-June 14.

“The Miracle Worker,” the story of Helen Keller and the young teacher who rescued her from a dark, silent world, is the first offering at La Habra Community Theatre through Oct. 18 in a season that includes “Bus Stop,” Nov. 21-Dec. 13; George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s “George Washington Slept Here,” April 24-May 16; and the romantic musical “She Loves Me,” June 5-27.

The Saddleback Valley-based Lake Forest II Showboaters plan two productions, with dates to be announced: “Penny Wise and Her Foolish Pound,” a melodrama to debut in December at Heritage Hill Park in El Toro before going on the road as a touring show for community organizations, and “South Pacific” in late summer.

“The Mikado” started things off at Newport TheatreArts Center with Gilbert and Sullivan’s sublime silliness. It will play through Saturday. On its heels will be “The Octette Bridge Club,” Oct. 31-Nov. 29; “The Robber Bridegroom,” Jan. 16-Feb. 14; “The Miss Firecracker Contest,” March 13-April 11; and the comic romp “Scapino,” May 8-June 6.

Orange County Variety Players’ three-show season features a melodrama, “Goldust Gertie’s Gran’slam,” which will be available to tour community organizations starting in November; “One Plus Three Equals Seven,” an original work by Pat Duffy, Jan. 16-24; and a musical version of “Heidi” in May, dates to be announced.

Three musical favorites make up Regional Repertory Theatre’s season at the Forum Theater in Yorba Linda--”A Chorus Line,” playing through Oct. 12; “Peter Pan,” Feb. 27-March 15; and “South Pacific,” starring John Raitt, June 5-14.

Stop-Gap will import the Los Angeles Theatre Unit for seven performances of “Andrea’s Got Two Boyfriends” Oct. 16-25 at the Forum Theatre in Laguna Beach.

San Clemente Community Theatre unveils its refurbished Cabrillo Playhouse with a production of “84, Charing Cross Road,” a drama drawn from correspondence between a hopeful author and a London bookseller, which runs through Oct. 11. Also scheduled is the contemporary parenting comedy “Alone Together,” Oct. 30-Nov. 22; Agatha Christie’s “The Unexpected Guest,” Jan. 8-31; Neil Simon’s “God’s Favorite,” Feb. 26-March 21; the nostalgic diner comedy “Wally’s Cafe,” April 1-May 9; and a sixth production yet to be announced, June 4-27.

South Coast Musical Theatre will stage the musical revue “Side by Side by Sondheim” Oct. 24-Nov. 16 at University High School in Irvine, as well as a second show in May, still to be announced.

Stanton Community Theatre plans three revivals: Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite,” Feb. 6-21; “The Philadelphia Story” and “Separate Tables,” dates to be announced.

A new translation of Moliere’s “The Misanthrope” ushered in Westminster Community Theatre’s fall season and will play through Saturday, followed by the eccentric good humor of “Auntie Mame,” Nov. 7-Dec. 6; the contemporary drama “To Gillian, on Her 37th Birthday,” Jan. 9-Feb. 7; the farcical “The Supporting Cast,” March 13-April 11; and the venerable comedy of raging ego, “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” May 8-June 6.

Area colleges and universities are offering a broad range of works, from classics to world premieres. The theater season at Cal State Fullerton saunters to a start with “Rodgers and Hart,” a revue of the collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart, through Oct. 12, and continues with “The Country Wife,” Oct. 31-Nov. 9, directed by Barry Kyle of the Royal Shakespeare Company; “The Seagull,” Dec. 4-14; “Romeo and Juliet,” March 6-15; Gioachino Rossini’s opera “La Cenerentola” (Cinderella), a joint venture of the theater and music departments, April 3-12; and “She Stoops to Conquer,” May 14-24.

A new addition to the CSUF theater season this year is its Second Season, which will include: an original work yet to be selected, March 18-22; and a touring show for children, “Dream Weaver,” May 15-17.

Chapman College plans three productions: “Scapino,” Oct. 15-19; Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” March 11-15; and Lanford Wilson’s “Hot L Baltimore,”May 6-10.

A dramatic comedy drawing on the life of Wild Bill Hickok,”Fathers and Sons,” started off the season at Cypress College, playing through Saturday. Cypress also plans a hip, musical journey through the land of Oz with “The Wiz,” Oct. 24-Nov. 2; an original drama about aviator Amelia Earhart, “Amelia,” Dec. 5-13; Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” March 6-15; the World War II comedy-drama “Mister Roberts” April 1-11, staged at the Yorba Linda Forum Theater; “The Great Easter Egg Hunt,” April 8-9; and the musical comedy “The Pajama Game,” May 22-31.

Fullerton College opens the year with Oscar Wilde’s arch comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Oct. 16-19, and continues with “Mister Roberts,” Dec. 2-7; “Peter Pan,” Dec. 9-14; “Man of La Mancha,” with performances in both English and Spanish, March 12-22; and another production still to be announced, May 7-17.

Golden West College in Huntington Beach has scheduled four productions on its mainstage: “Frankenstein,” based on the Mary Shelley novel, Oct. 24-Nov. 2; a return of the holiday heart-warmer “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” Dec. 5-14; Kaufman and Hart’s “You Can’t Take It With You,” Feb. 27-March 8; and “Hello, Dolly!” May 8-23. Also on campus, in the Actor’s Playbox will be “Terra Nova,” Nov. 14-Dec. 14; “Going to See the Elephant,” Nov. 21-Dec. 13; “The Lion in Winter,” March 27-April 5; and “Saturday Movie Matinee,” May 8-17.

Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa will debut an original play by OCC drama professor John Ferzacca, “The Haunted One,” based on the life of playwright Eugene O’Neill, Oct. 9-19. Also upcoming are two one-acts, “The Actor’s Nightmare” by Christopher Durang and “The Fifteen-Minute Hamlet” by Tom Stoppard, Oct. 30-Nov. 2, as well as Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Nov. 13-23, with special weekday performances for high school English classes; “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” Dec. 5-13; “Hedda Gabler,” Feb. 13-15; “Crimes of the Heart,” Feb. 26-March 8; an evening of contemporary one-act plays, March 12-15; an evening of Chekhov one-acts, April 3-5; “The Frogs,” a musical comedy based on Greek playwright Aristophanes, May 1-3; and a south-of-the-border nightclub spoof, “El Grande de Coca Cola,” May 7-17.

Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana dips into the past with the 1926 melodrama “Broadway” by PhilipDenning and George Abbott, Oct. 9-19, followed by the madcap musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” Nov. 14-29; Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” March 26-April 12; and a fourth show yet to be announced.

Saddleback College in Mission Viejo begins the season with an American standard, “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams, Oct. 10-26, followed by “Everything in the Garden” by Edward Albee, Nov. 7-16; “Medea,” Dec. 5-21; the rock musical “Tommy,” Feb. 13-22; “Desire Under the Elms” by Eugene O’Neill, April 3-12; and “Sassafras” by Jack Matthews, April 30-May 10.

UC Irvine’s drama department opened the season with “The Nativity” as part of the Medieval Theatre Festival, running through Saturday. Up next is “A Chorus Line,” Nov. 7-22; “Curse of the Starving Class” by Sam Shepard, Jan. 22-31; “The Ghost Sonata” by August Strindberg, March 10-14; and “Not by Bed Alone,” a French farce by Georges Feydeau, May 21-30.

On the dinner theater scene, the key words are laughter and music. “Man of La Mancha,” which sets the adventures of Don Quixote to music, is now playing at Elizabeth Howard’s Curtain Call Dinner Theatre in Tustin, to be followed by a visit to King Arthur’s court in “Camelot,” Nov. 13-Feb. 2, and the Gershwin-inspired “My One and Only,” Feb. 5-April 26.

A musical trip back in time to the heyday of vaudeville, “Sugar Babies,” is making its Orange County--and dinner theater--premiere in an open-ended run at the Grand Dinner Theatre in Anaheim.

“Brighton Beach Memoirs,” the autobiographical Neil Simon comedy, will run through Nov. 16 at Harlequin Dinner Playhouse in Santa Ana, to be followed by Gilbert and Sullivan’s hilarity on the high seas, “The Pirates of Penzance,” Nov. 19-Feb. 8; and “My One and Only,” Feb. 10-April 5.

For those who can’t wait until February, “My One and Only” will premiere at Southampton, a Dinner Playhouse (formerly Sebastian’s/West) in San Clemente this fall. Al and Barbara Hampton, who also own the Harlequin Dinner Playhouse, have refurbished the longtime dinner theater and have tentatively scheduled its reopening for Nov. 12.