‘Eastern Standard’ to Open at Coast

“If you were to translate one of Noel Coward’s comedies to ‘80s terms, this would be it,” said director Johnathon Pape of Richard Greenberg’s New York-set “Eastern Standard,” opening Saturday at the Coast Playhouse.

“Standard’s” credentials are impressive: a reading at Seattle Rep, followed by a run at the Manhattan Theatre Club and six-month stint on Broadway in ’89. “It’s a comedy for our time,” Pape noted. “The characters are sophisticated, intelligent, witty; I hate to use the word ‘yuppie,’ but OK, let’s use it. They look good, they talk good, they went to the best schools, they eat at the best restaurants. But for some reason, they’re not happy.”

At fault, the director believes, is a go-for-the-gold culture that’s been high on external achievements but low on moral values.

“Let’s face it: The ‘80s were a lot about greed, haves and have-nots,” he said dryly. “Now these two couples--one’s a gay couple, the other’s straight--are having to learn to relate to other people, find the human side. In a world that’s been about being young and successful and beautiful and charming, they’re suddenly forced to re-evaluate, regroup, deal with issues. It’s also a language play, with a lot of snappy repartee. And it’s about the way people talk to each other, instead of with each other.”

The cast includes Lorna Patterson, Gordon Thomson, Lynn Milgrim, Richard Waterhouse, Christie Mellor and Andrew Kreiss.

THEATER BUZZ: Inquiring minds wanted to know if it was true that Charlotte Rae (playing buried-up-to-her-neck Winnie in “Happy Days” in the Taper’s “50/60” series) was accompanied by an unseen prompter, hidden beneath the huge mound. A Taper spokeswoman confirmed that a prompter “is there as a security blanket.” There were gaps as long as two weeks between some of the performances, which are done in repertory with five other shows, she noted, and “there are a lot of words to remember (in the play), when you’re doing it that infrequently.”

CRITICAL CROSSFIRE: John Burrows wrote the book/lyrics and Andy Whitfield the music for “It’s a Girl!” (at the Odyssey Theatre), about a quintet of spirited British women facing pregnancy--and fighting a nuclear waste dump.

Said The Times’ T. H. McCulloh: “On a realistic, typical Brit pub setting by Craig Lathrop and under Kathi O’Donohue’s smooth lighting, ‘It’s a Girl!’ brings a breath of fresh air to a couple of less than fresh subjects. It’s a charmer.”

From the Daily News’ Lawrence Enscoe: “You’re not likely to find a better directed or acted show anywhere in town. This is political theater at its best, most engaging, and with several spoonfuls of sugar to make the medicine go down.”

Wrote the L.A. Weekly’s Ellen Krout-Hasegawa: “Though blessed with a fine ensemble . . . (it) still strains the ear, sounding tediously ‘politically correct’ and painfully out of tune with the paradoxes and questions facing feminism today.”

Yet Drama-Logue’s Larry Jonas found “a delicious musical, stylishly cast with five distaff charmers, and with a social message well worth a listen.”