PEEKING IN WINDOW AT ‘3 POSTCARDS’

Mum’s the word for Craig Lucas and Craig Carnelia’s “Three Postcards,” opening Tuesday on the South Coast Repertory Mainstage.

Lucas, you may remember, is the author of last year’s elegant and moving “Blue Window” (which opened to critical acclaim at SCR and later moved to Santa Monica’s Mayfair Theatre). Now the New York-based playwright has reteamed with “Window” director Norman Rene and composer/lyricist Carnelia for this new work, a five-character “play with music.”

“We’ve decided not to talk about it before the show opens--which I really think is best,” began Carnelia, 37. The best information we could get is that the story involves three women having dinner at a restaurant, a waiter and a piano player (Carnelia) “who talks a little, sings a little more than that--but mostly plays.”

Why a “musical play” as opposed to a musical? “I didn’t just want to write a book for a musical. There are few enough songs so that this play can really be a play.” The tone? “A blend of everything--like ‘Blue Window.’ It’s indefinable.”

The style? “I think Craig has a very strong style; you’d recognize his writing, though these two plays are drastically different.”

How?

“I really can’t answer that.”

Carnelia, a good sport clearly bound by his agreement not to divulge any of the play’s details, was happy to discuss his life away from the show, which includes living in New York with his wife, actress Maureen Silliman, who appeared in Lucas’ previous play, “Reckless,” as well as in “Window” and now, “Postcards.”

The composer’s life, he acknowledged, “is hard, but it’s not that great a struggle. The hardest thing is finding out what kind of writer you want to be. Since this play took 1 1/2 years to write, you obviously have to pick things that are fulfilling. Writing for trumped-up stories or characters you don’t care about is a real bore.” His personal assessment: “I don’t consider that I write music, but songs --words and music. And I specialize in putting the two of them together.”

At first pursuing an acting career, Carnelia has since taken to performing his own songs (from such shows as “Is There Life After High School?” and “Working”) and is finding this composing/singing/playing detour particularly welcome: “I always enjoy having my own hands on the work, without someone else standing between me and my music.”

Kathryn Grayson--yes, the Kathryn Grayson--is back on the boards, opening Tuesday at La Mirada Civic in a production of Michael Frayn’s farce, “Noises Off.”

“My agent said, ‘Why would you want to take it? It’s all sardines and slamming doors,’ ” the actress said cheerfully of the role. She plays Mrs. Clackett, the housekeeper (“I’ve never done a character part!”), as well as Dottie, an English actress who’s lived abroad for many years and “comes back and puts all her money into a play.

“It’s a third-rate production with third-rate actors--a real lark. And the audience sees the play from both front and back: The first act is a rehearsal, the second act is us doing it (backstage)--and the third act is when we all screw up, getting into petty jealousies and love affairs.

“It is frantic and a challenge, but it’s fun,” continued Grayson, whose screen credits include “Anchors Aweigh,” “The Ziegfeld Follies,” “Desert Song,” “Kiss Me Kate” and “Show Boat” (the last two which she also played onstage). Lately she’s been touring the country with her own one-woman retrospective.

“I was concertizing in Europe with Tony Martin a couple of years ago,” she explained, when she was asked to do such a show. “I thought, ‘Why not?’ My agent said, ‘Why not?’ ” This year she’ll touch down in 40 cities in a program featuring a screening of film clips, live singing and a question-and-answer session. (“They want to know everything, my public and private life. But I can answer them, since I haven’t lived that kind of a life.”)

The life she’s lived appears tranquil: With a grown daughter and two grandchildren, Grayson happily ventures out for the weekend bookings, then returns to her 4 1/2-acre Santa Monica home (where she’s lived for 40 years), surrounded by mountain/ocean views and avocado, lemon and plum trees.

“It’s been good,” she agreed. “But no one escapes heartbreak completely.”

LATE CUES: The 16th annual High School Theatre Festival (sponsored by the Southern California Educational Theatre Assn.) will be held this week at Occidental College. The “examples of excellence” include: Megan Terry’s “Viet Rock,” performed by Palisades High, Friday; Michael Frayn’s “Noises Off” (so popular this week), performed by Palm Springs High School on Saturday; and Steven Berkoff’s version of Kafka’s “The Trial,” by San Diego’s Patrick Henry High School next Sunday.