EX-SCHULLER AIDES FORM NEW TROUPE

Two Orange County producers who originated the Crystal Cathedral’s lavish Christmas, and Easter pageants and who were later dismissed by church leaders, have formed a new theater company dedicated to showcasing fresh talent from both coasts.

Michael Coleman and Conwell Worthington, owners of an Orange-based production company, hope to inaugurate Theatre for America’s first season with a pared-down version of “Glory of Christmas,” the popular extravaganza they staged at the Crystal Cathedral from 1983 to 1986. The show is scheduled Dec. 9-24 at the John Anson Ford Theatre in Los Angeles.

Their Crystal Cathedral contract was terminated in 1986 when officials for the Rev. Robert Schuller’s Garden Grove church said the show had become too costly. Schuller’s son-in-law, Paul David Dunn, was brought in to direct and produce both the “Glory of Christmas” and the “Glory of Easter” amid claims by Coleman and Worthington of copyright infringement.

Coleman said the Theatre for America version will cost about $400,000, contrasted with the $1.1 million for the Crystal Cathedral production.

As a major step in financing their first season, Coleman and Worthington will hold a “garden party” Sunday at Worthington’s home in Orange to introduce potential backers to the company.

Coleman said he and Worthington chose “Glory of Christmas” as their initial production because the show is a holiday crowd favorite that may generate needed funds.

“It’s a good first offering for us (because it will) help the company get off the ground,” Coleman said. “We will probably do some more traditional things (with a) fresh outlook in the beginning (and) two to three years down the line go into more experimental works.”

If successful, Theatre for America could fill something of a gap in the contemporary stage scene, Coleman said. Currently, works by little known or undiscovered playwrights, lyricists and librettists are not being adequately exposed to the mainstream public, he said.

To fill the void, Coleman said the group will eventually search out talented “theater artists” on both coasts and produce their musicals and plays in Southern California. The company hopes to offer at least some of its shows at the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Black Box Theater. A spokesman at the Center confirmed that officials there have talked with Coleman and Worthington.

“We’ll be advertising in trade publications for talent, looking to off-off Broadway, even colleges,” Coleman said. “We want to be open to all sorts of influences . . . we want to be open to the person who says ‘my work is as good as (the established) people, why can’t I be produced?’ ”

Besides presenting fresh voices to the public, Theatre for America will save money by using new talent, Coleman said.

The group will also try to stage musicals and plays from the New York theater scene that often don’t make it to the West Coast because they are usually too costly. Theatre for America would attempt to create less costly versions, Coleman said.