SAN DIEGO ARTS : From ‘Making It’ in U.S. to Making a Hollywood Contact : Theater

San Diego will be the only Southern California stop for El Teatro de la Esperanza’s production of “Hijos: Once a Family.” The show, which will be performed partly in English and partly in Spanish, tells the story of a Texas family who moves to Los Angeles in the hope of “making it,” only to have the children grow ashamed of their roots. Staging is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday at Chula Vista Junior High School Auditorium. The Centro Cultural de la Raza is sponsoring this event and a workshop with El Teatro from 2-4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Robert Israel, chairman of the theater design program at UC San Diego, has won the prestigious American Theatre Wing Award for the set and costumes designed for the off-Broadway production of “The Hunger Artist.” He adds this award to the Obie he also picked up for design and costumes for this show and last year’s Maharam/American Theatre Wing Award for the off-Broadway play “Vienna: Lusthaus.”

Doug Roberts, playing in “The Genius” at the San Diego Repertory Theatre, kept busy when he was in Los Angeles earlier this year for “Largo Desolato” at the Taper Too. He sent his press packet to all major casting directors and ended up with an audition that landed him a part in “Clean and Sober,” a new Michael Keaton movie at Warner Brothers. Roberts has already finished filming his part--he plays a cocaine addict. The rest of the movie should be in the can soon.

Thomas Hall, managing director of the Old Globe Theatre, will be installed Thursday as president of the League of Resident Theaters. This marks the first time the 20-year-old organization has elected a president from one of the two San Diego theaters--the La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe--that belong to the 78-member organization. The league, which is responsible for setting management and labor agreements for its member theaters, is the largest employer of actors in the United States, surpassing the Broadway theaters. Hall’s term of office will last 2 1/2 years. The ceremony will take place at Hilton Head, S.C.