WOLK TURNS CRIME INTO A LAUGHING MATTER

“It’s about a comedian who falls in love at first sight with a girl, who, unfortunately, is with another guy--and more unfortunately, proceeds to murder him,” said Michael Wolk of his “Heartstopper,” a “crime comedy” making its world premiere Thursday at the Eagle Theatre. “It leaves the comedian thinking, ‘Would a nice girl commit murder on the first date? And why did she do it?’ Audiences do find out the answer, but they have to wait through intermission.”

The New York-based writer is no newcomer to the mystery format: he’s produced two novels, “Big Picture” and “Beast on Broadway,” and is at work on a third. And his first play, “Femme Fatale” (which played the Cast Theatre in 1985) was also a murder mystery.

“I like stories that aren’t predictable, that keep you going to the last minute--and I like to give that to an audience,” said Wolk. “And I’ve always been fascinated with ‘40s movies; they left a huge impression on me when I was a kid. With a murder mystery, there’s that blackness, solemnity: You can deal with life-and-death issues, yet people view it as entertainment. . . . In this play, the murders and near-murders are light, lively and fun. People should laugh--and I really hope they do.”

As for the difference between plays and books, “Books are a solo effort,” said the 34-year-old Wolk, “but the theater is very collaborative. Working with directors and actors, people ask you about character, structure; the whole thing becomes more of a lively art. Of course, in a novel, your imagination spins it out any which way. In a play you’re more accountable (to a traditional form).”

“Heartstopper” is being presented by the Los Angeles Theatre Unit (which last year gave us “Andrea’s Got Two Boyfriends”). Gregg Henry, who played the lead in Wolk’s “Femme Fatale,” is again featured.

Also in the crime mode comes “Iron City,” a pair of one-acts about Pittsburgh by David Higgins, a writer who lives there. “Airgood” and “Partners” open Friday at Burbank’s Night Flight Theatre.

“ ‘Airgood’ is a detective drama taking place in 1947 Pittsburgh,” said Higgins. “It’s a matter of a statutory rape case. The lawyer’s name is Amos Airgood; the detective is a smear specialist, campaigning to get the charges dropped.

“ ‘Partners,’ set in 1981 Pittsburgh, is about a drug dealer who had to leave town after he ran off with some cocaine belonging to a former employer. He wasn’t supposed to come back, but he has. And now two of his friends have been hired to take him out.”

The writer (whose credits include “Bad Dream and Be-bop,” a full-length play which he quips is a “light, frothy comedy about a jazz drummer/heroin addict, murdered by a policeman”) did not originally write these one-acts to go together. The connecting thread? “The characters are all on the sleazy side, which I prefer. They’re more interesting. I mean, for myself, I’d rather see ‘Raging Bull’ than ‘On Golden Pond.’ And it’s real easy to research these kinds of characters in Pittsburgh. They’re all over the place.”

As for watching those characters come to life, Higgins, who is in town to supervise the staging, said the company “is doing a very good job. But then, I’m here to enjoy, not rant and rave about my visions. Anyway, these plays are pretty much foolproof.”

LATE CUES: “A Salute to Sondheim: Part II” is the theme for the third annual benefit for AIDS Project/Los Angeles, taking place March 27 and 28 at the Variety Arts Center downtown.

With musical direction by Ron Abel and choregoraphy by Larry Hyman, David Galligan will direct a program featuring appearances by--among others--Jane Carr, Carole Cook, George de la Pena, Edward Evanko, Penny Fuller, Bill Hutton, Paula Kelly, Lu Leonard, Brad Maule, Linda Michele, Pamela Myers, Linda Purl, Teri Ralston, Barbara Sharma, Jean Simmons, Madolyn Smith and Robert Yacko. Actress Doris Roberts returns as event chairwoman.

Tickets are $30, and can be purchased through Ticket Express at (213) 465-0070.

CRITICAL CROSS FIRE: Donald Freed’s new one-man show “Villa!,” on the life of legendary outlaw Gen. Francisco (Pancho) Villa, opened recently at the Bilingual Foundation for the Arts’ Theatre/Teatro, offering alternating performances in Spanish and English. Here is a sampling of what the local reviewers had to say.

In this paper, Sylvie Drake found the play’s device of Villa’s come-to-life statue tell the tale “too dispassionate if it can turn the vivid color and richly turbulent events in Villa’s life a uniform shade of gray,” and noted that despite actor Julio Medina’s “striking resemblance to the peasant-general and the accuracy of his costumes, his performance ultimately lacks fire. . . .”

In the Herald-Examiner, Richard Stayton offered that for Freed (“Circe and Bravo,” “The White Crow,” “Secret Honor,” “The Quartered Man,” “Alfred and Victoria”) “prolific is not always prodigious. . . . For a gringo, ‘Villa!’ is a slightly irritating, slightly amusing, slight one-act, one-performer play about the opposing views held on Pancho Villa,” the dream aspect being “an intriguing premise that BFA seems to have sabotaged.”

In Drama-Logue, T.H. McCulloh found that “as in most current political theater, the ideas overshadow the man.” On the research gleaned by director Hector Elizondo and actor/translator Medina: “It’s a shame that Freed’s script doesn’t allow them to use much of it. Elizondo stages the piece with as much visual and physical interest as he can wring out of it, and Medina gives his characterization as much color and depth as the words permit. They just don’t have much to work on.”