Theaters Pitch In to Help ART Survive

Things are looking up--slightly--at the Alternative Repertory Theatre in Santa Ana, which is faced with a financial crisis because of poor attendance.

The plucky troupe drew an overflow audience last Saturday for its production of William Hanley’s “Slow Dance on the Killing Ground,” according to artistic director Patricia Terry. So far, Terry said, ART has raised $1,000 toward the $7,000 it needs by mid-June to survive. “Slow Dance” runs Fridays and Saturdays through June 17.

In the meantime, the local theater community has responded to news of the troupe’s plight by donating items for auction at a fund-raiser, “The Slaves to ART Parking Lot Sale,” to be held June 10 at the storefront theater (1636 S. Grand Ave.) from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Laguna Playhouse has offered a pair of season tickets to its 1989-90 subscription series at the Moulton Theatre, as well as a pair of season tickets to its youth drama series.

The Grove Shakespeare Festival has given a pair of tickets to a production this summer at the Festival Amphitheatre. And South Coast Repertory has donated a pair to “Sunday in the Park With George,” the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical now in previews for a June 9 opening.

“We also have three sets of dinners from various restaurants,” Terry said, “and we’re thinking of putting together a dinner-theater package.”

Meanwhile, The L.P.R. Dinner Theatre in Tustin, reported elsewhere as folding, is very much alive and “far from closing,” said board member Suzi Cunningham. “Things are looking very good.”

In fact, the company is about to offer two shows rather than the usual one to maximize use of its 150-seat storefront theater (15732 D. Tustin Village Way)

“Play It Again, Sam,” Woody Allen’s comedy about a neurotic divorce who idolizes Humphrey Bogart, opened there last night and will run Thursdays through Saturdays in the evenings with matinees on Sundays through July 30.

“Tracers,” a wrenching Vietnam war drama conceived by John DiFusco, will be offered on Mondays and Tuesdays in the evenings through the month of July. This show, which is being staged by an independent producer, will pre-empt “Play It Again, Sam” for its opening two performances, June 15 and 16.

Wait a minute. “Tracers?” At a dinner theater? The producers thought of that and have decided that during this engagement, no dinners will be served. Maybe just hors d’oeuvres.