Personal Works, ‘Big Stars’ on the Bill : SCR Offers ‘Road to Mecca’; Center Will Stage ‘Fiddler’

Any discussion about the coming year in Orange County theater is obliged to give the customary nod to South Coast Repertory, that rarely swaying monolith on the local stage scene.

SCR is the best because it’s not nervous about experimenting with new plays or toying creatively with revivals. SCR is the best because it works with new writers and offers a supportive forum for their work. SCR is the best because it won a Tony last year. SCR is also the best, at least around these parts, because it doesn’t have much competition.

Not that everything has been completely rosy at the repertory where rarely is heard a discouraging word. Respected young playwright Ellen McLaughlin, obviously aching over the cancellation of her complex play “Infinity’s House,” recently cast some aspersions on the theater’s reputed commitment to writers. We’ll see whether the whole incident will have any impact this year or in future seasons.

Now, back to the nice stuff. Yes, SCR is the best in Orange County, by a long stroke, and one of the best on the West Coast, if not the country. Last year’s record--with a handful of acclaimed productions including “The Crucible” and “The School for Scandal”--will be tough to match in 1989, but the potential is there.

SCR begins the year with Athol Fugard’s “The Road to Mecca” on the Mainstage beginning Jan. 13, directed by Martin Benson and featuring Nan Martin. Considered one of the most important voices to come out of the racial and political unrest of South Africa, Fugard is best known for exposing the pain of apartheid in many of his dramas, including the moving “Master Harold . . . and the Boys” and the bleak “Boesman and Lena.”

But Fugard has also written personal pieces designed more to examine the role of the artist in a world complicated by moral and spiritual questions, and society’s too frequent disdain for the artist’s commitment. “The Road to Mecca,” which focuses on the relationship between an elderly sculptor, her cleric friend and a young radical woman, is such a work. Coming March 3 is a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s “You Never Can Tell.” Beginning June 9, audiences will get to see SCR handle the Broadway hit “Sunday in the Park With George,” Stephen Sondheim’s 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning musical based on the life of pointillist artist Georges Seurat.

On the smaller, more intimate Second Stage, one of Lanford Wilson’s most memorable characters will be spotlighted in his comic romance, “Talley’s Folly” beginning Jan. 27. In this earlier work, Wilson, a writer known for his intriguing people and often wonderfully disheveled plays, introduces us to Sally Talley before she’s grown into the more mature and cynical woman who strides through his “Fifth of July.” Also worth noting will be Stephen Jeffries’ adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Hard Times,” opening March 17 on the Second Stage.

A short walk from SCR lies the visual grandeur and middle-of-the-road sensibilities of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. If the Center is the most obvious manifestation of a dream to bring culture to the region, then it’s a fitful dream at best, at least from a stage perspective.

In 1988, the Center, for the most part, brought in traveling shows of veteran hits--”South Pacific,” “Cats,” “Me and My Girl,” etc. Some were pretty good, others seemed tired, marked by cart-and-carry production values and routine performances.

Like last year, the Center leans toward the tried-and-true in 1989, this time featuring more “big stars” than ever. Topol is scheduled to reprise his starring role in “Fiddler on the Roof” (dates to be announced), and Leslie Uggams is slated for Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” (Sept. 19-24).

Probably the most anticipated show will be a traveling production of Sondheim’s 1988 Tony Award-winner, “Into the Woods,” scheduled to open March 7. Elvis (actually, three actor versions of the king) will materialize when the Center offers “Elvis: A Musical Celebration” (May 30 to June 4).

Despite financial threats to its Shakespeare Festival, the Grove Theatre Company in Garden Grove made some strides last year, especially with its strong Shakespeare productions. The festival will revisit in summer. Until then, there are regular season shows worth watching for, including the Jan. 20 opening of “Lily Dale,” Horton Foote’s tale of a family reunited and the changing societal values in 1909 America, and Rod Serling’s “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” scheduled for March 17.

The biggest event for the Grove may have nothing to do with an individual production--1989 should bring some clarity to the troupe’s ambitious plan to further raise itself above the provincial by becoming a classical repertory with touring productions aimed beyond Southern California.

SMALLER AND COMMUNITY THEATERS: With the new year comes the usual advice--just take more chances, especially with show selection. The Garden Grove Community Theatre did last year when it produced Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and the Alternative Repertory Theatre, even though the results are mixed, continues to do so. Your audiences crave challenges and intelligent surprises--trust me.

Some interesting choices for the new year:

The Laguna Playhouse, the region’s top community theater, stages “I’m Not Rappaport” (Jan. 19 to Feb. 12) and a new musical based on the life of French Impressionist painter Edouard Manet (May 18-June 11). Santa Ana’s Alternative Repertory Theatre offers Jean Cocteau’s “An Eagle With Two Heads” beginning Feb. 10. The La Habra Depot Playhouse produces “The Glass Menagerie” (April 7-29).

The Orange County Black Actors Theatre presents the musical “Raisin” (July 7 to Aug. 13). The Buena Park Civic Theatre stages “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” (dates to be announced). The Cypress Civic Theatre has scheduled “Chekhov in Yalta” (Jan. 12-28) and “Bleacher Bums” (May 11-12). The Huntington Beach Playhouse presents “Of Mice and Men” (March 3 to April 1).

COLLEGES: Kudos to all the theater departments that leaned toward risk-taking last year. The casts may not always be the most experienced, but the production values are usually strong and the show choices are sometimes remarkable.

The preliminary, incomplete schedules for 1989 aren’t as intriguing as in 1988, but here are a few that may be a little different:

Cal State Fullerton offers Brecht’s “Good Woman of Setzuan” (March 3-12). Fullerton College stages “Tracers” (May 4-14). Orange Coast College presents “Inherit the Wind” (May 4-14). UC Irvine offers “King Lear” (Jan. 26 to Feb. 4) and “Cloud Nine” (March 9-18).