AIDS Drama at Comedy Store Playhouse; Stars Paired for Pasadena ‘Love Letters’

To paraphrase Stephen Sondheim, it’s “comedy tomorrow, tragedy tonight.”

That could be the motto for the new Comedy Store Playhouse, which will open its doors with the landmark AIDS drama, “As Is.”

When the Comedy Store took over, refurbished and re-named the former Hollywood Playhouse in 1988, it was announced that the 246-seat theater on Las Palmas would be a forum for comedies and comics’ solo shows.

“As Is” does not fall into either category. “It does have a lot of comedy in it, but I wouldn’t say it’s a comedy,” acknowledged its co-producer Libby Nicholson.

Comedy will still be a priority at the theater, said a spokesman for Comedy Store owner Mitzi Shore. In fact, the auditorium itself (as opposed to the entire structure, which also includes studio and restaurant space) will be named after comedian Richard Pryor.

But Shore “felt the subject matter (of ‘As Is’) was important.” And “getting the place open with a good play was the important thing,” said the spokesman. The theater has been dark since a production of “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” in October, 1987.

“As Is” is being produced by Nicholson and Dan Millington, who also mounted it at the South Orange County Community Theater in Laguna Beach, Jan. 18-Feb. 10. Its Hollywood run will be a non-Equity production--though Nicholson said the actors will be paid $50 per performance. At least 10% of the gross will be assigned to organizations fighting AIDS or supporting people with AIDS. Free valet parking will be provided.

‘LETTER’-WRITERS: Carol Burnett and Leslie Nielsen are among the couples cast in A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters” at the 384-seat Canon Theatre. The casting, which will change weekly, continues in the starry tradition established in New York and at the warm-up production that’s playing in the 121-seat Balcony Theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse.

The couples:

Christine Lahti and Treat Williams (April 17-22), Michael Learned and Ned Beatty (April 24-29), Meredith Baxter Birney and Richard Thomas (May 1-6), Julie Hagerty and Christopher Reeve (May 8-13), Helen Hunt and Matthew Broderick (May 15-20), To Be Announced (May 22-27), Burnett and Nielsen (May 29-June 3), and more of the dynamic To Be Announced (June 5-10).

99-SEAT NAME GAME: Two weeks ago Stage Watch asked readers for a new name to replace the dated term “Equity Waiver.” Although the old Equity Waiver system was replaced by Actors’ Equity’s 99-Seat Theater Plan in October, 1988, the old phrase is still used in press releases, interviews and conversations, as shorthand for Equity-sanctioned productions in theaters of fewer than 100 seats.

“Equity 99” was submitted by Ken Stone of Glendale. “It lets us all get halfway through saying ‘Equity Waiver’ and still make a graceful, undetected recovery,” wrote Stone.

“Mini Equity” or “MinEquity,” suggested Jim Buckley, artistic director of the Pewter Plough Playhouse in Cambria.

“Equity W” or “Equity double-U,” offered Robert W. King of Redlands, who explained that it “derives from “Equity Undersize, Understanding . . . undersize to describe the capacity . . . understanding refers to the type of agreement with the union.”

“Small professional,” wrote Al Rossi of Van Nuys, who nevertheless acknowledged that there might be some confusion between this and Equity’s existing Small Professional Theatre contract, which is sometimes used in theaters with more than 99 seats.

HEAR, HEAR: An infrared listening system has been installed in the three largest theaters at Los Angeles Theatre Center. Hearing-impaired spectators will be able to rent headsets in the lobby, beginning April 4.

The system is courtesy of a $25,000 contribution from Prudential-Bache Securities, Inc. The grant also will provide for sign language interpreters at some of LATC’S “Theatre as a Learning Tool” performances.

HEAT ON AT FONDA: “Hollywood’s Hottest New Night Spot!!” proclaimed the ad, along with announcements of four rock shows and a jazz concert. The venue?

The Henry Fonda Theatre.

Does this mean that the theater will no longer present theater?

Not at all, replied Stan Seiden, president of James Nederlander Companies, operators of the Fonda.

“This is the first time we’ve run an ad like that,” he acknowledged, “because we have two or three (actually, five) shows in a row (April 12-June 1).” But the concerts are “just to fill in time” in an otherwise dark theater. And this isn’t a new policy--”we’ve done a few small rock shows there from time to time.” The last he recalled was “maybe 6 to 8 months ago.”

As for plays at the Fonda, a Los Angeles Playgoers series of bookings is being assembled, said Seiden, and should be ready to announce within several weeks.

CALFEST: South Coast Repertory’s second annual California Play Festival (CalFest) will include full productions of Octavio Solis’ “Man of the Flesh” May 4-20 and Shem Bitterman’s “The Ramp” May 15-June 3, on the theater’s Second Stage. Four plays will receive staged readings.