Cryer Isn’t Himself in LATC ‘Boys’ Life’

“Basically, I’ve had to unlearn 24 years of post-feminist training,” said Jon Cryer of his role in Howard Korder’s “Boys’ Life” (opening Friday at the Los Angeles Theatre Center). “The story with Jack is that he’s in a perpetual state of arrested adolescence. He’s still a kid--that vicious kid you remember from when you were little. He’s very misogynist, his major motivation is anger. And that anger takes its toll on his friends.”

Cryer, Greg Kean and Charlie Stratton play the post-college buddies; Kari Lizer, Jennifer Tilly and Maria Tirabassi are the women in their lives. “It’s about understanding male/female relationships, becoming a man and accepting responsibility,” Cryer continued. “It also deals with a lot of base instincts, a lot of truths--sometimes frightening. What other people think, Jack says.” The tone, he admits, is dark. “What the play’s saying about men . . . is not good.”

Although the actor claims that he knows a lot of people like his character, playing the role--with all of its adult complications--has been a new experience. “You get into bad habits forever playing teen-agers,” Cryer acknowledged. “But this director (David Beaird) is working on getting something out of me I’ve never done before. Usually, I play people pretty close to me. Even Ducky--in ‘Pretty in Pink’--though he was way out there, was kind of like me. This guy Jack is nothing like me.”

Cryer is looking forward to another stretch this fall, when his new comedy series “The Famous Teddy Z” premieres on CBS in the coveted Monday slot following “Murphy Brown.” In the series (from “Frank’s Place” creator Hugh Wilson), Cryer plays a young guy just out of the Army who lands a job in a talent agency mail room--and is suddenly catapulted into being the hottest agent in Hollywood. Explained the actor: “It’s a normal person’s adventures among the world of show biz.”

THEATER FILE: Local playwright Robert Schenkkan won first place--and $5,000--in the 1989 Beverly Hills Theatre Guild/Julie Harris Playwright Competition for his “Heaven on Earth.” Second place ($1,000) went to New Yorker Bryan Williams for “Icarus Variations,” with third place ($500) to Richard Hellesen of Fullerton for his “Once in Arden.” Schenkkan’s work will be staged this summer at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, Conn. Hellesen’s play will be given a mainstage production next season at South Coast Repertory.

Film commitments were cited in actor Andrew Stevens’ withdrawal from the Pasadena Playhouse production of the one-man show “JFK: Of Cabbages and Kings.” As a result, the Playhouse replaced “JFK” with Betty Garrett’s solo piece “No Dogs or Actors Allowed” (opening July 13) and Grammy-winning comedian Dale Gonyea’s “An American in Pasadena” (opening July 28).

The Padua Hills Playwrights Festival hosts a benefit fund-raiser July 9 at the Cal State Northridge Art & Design Center, featuring a retrospective selection of works presented at previous festivals--with some of the original casts. The evening includes Murray Mednick’s “Coyote 1: Pointing,” with Norbert Weiser and Darrell Larson; Leon Martell and Elizabeth Ruscio in their “Hoss Drawin’ ” and John O’Keefe’s “The Magician,” featuring Matthew Goulish. Also planned: excerpts of John Steppling’s “Neck” with Jack Slater, Roxanne Rogers, John Diehl, Kathleen Cramer and Lola Glaudini; and Maria Irene Fornes’ “Fefu and her Friends” with Lorinne Vozoff, Susan Krebs and Laura Fanning. Hosting are Ed Harris, Amy Madigan and Joe Spano. For information: (213) 281-6799.

CRITICAL CROSSFIRE: Steven Dietz’s “Ten November,” a new drama (with songs by Eric Peltoniemi) based on the 1975 disappearance of the ore carrier S. S. Edmund Fitzgerald, recently opened at Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Said The Times’ Dan Sullivan: “Since Dietz directed the show, as well as supplying the text, he deserves some of the credit for its visual sureness. But it’s not at all clear what story Dietz the writer wants to tell.”

From Charles Marowitz in the Herald Examiner: “As an evocation of mood and an imaginative reconstruction of a historic event, it has unquestionable impact. But as soon as one looks beyond its sentiments to its sense, it begins to lose credibility.”

In the Orange County Register, Thomas O’Connor wrote: “Perhaps if Dietz were not his own director, he’d have a better fix on ‘Ten November’s’ lack of focus, its tendency to ramble. Dietz is like a dutiful reporter on a feature assignment, determined to cram in every jotting in his notebook, when judicious editing would help.”

Said Tom Jacobs in the Daily News: “There’s no dramatic arc here. But it’s not missed. Dietz’s writing is vivid. He manages to be angry without getting self-righteous or preachy. And his direction is superb. This show really moves, but it never seems rushed.”

And from Bruce Feld in Drama-Logue: “ ‘Ten November’ eloquently, in shifting documentary style, tries to find the answers to this tragedy and becomes a paean to the significance of loss in general. The cast is impeccable . . . Much praise is due composer-lyricist Peltoniemi and guitarists Marcos Loya and Jeffrey Willkomm.”