‘M. Butterfly’ and Morse’s ‘Tru’ Due

“M. Butterfly” will fly into town in December rather than next summer, as previously announced.

And Robert Morse’s Tony-winning performance as Truman Capote in “Tru” will also appear in Los Angeles this winter.

The two shows are part of a Playgoers’ series being assembled by the Nederlander Organization. A one-woman show starring Julie Harris, William Luce’s “Lucifer’s Child,” is also tentatively scheduled as part of the series, from April 8 to May 3 at the Fonda. It’s based on the work of Isak Dinesen, the writer who was the subject of the movie “Out of Africa.”

David Henry Hwang’s “M. Butterfly,” starring Philip Anglim and A. Mapa, is slated to open Dec. 5 at the Wilshire Theatre and play through Dec. 30. “Tru,” a one-man show by Jay Presson Allen, will play the Henry Fonda Theatre from Feb. 19 through March 24.

The Nederlanders also have announced specific dates for two previously announced Los Angeles Civic Light Opera bookings at the Pantages: April 8-May 12 for “Meet Me in St. Louis” and May 27-June 30 for “Grand Hotel.”

And a special Los Angeles Civic Light Opera offering, “Cinderella on Ice,” in which part of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical will be danced by ice skaters, is in the works for December at the Pantages.

INTO THE GROVE: The Grove Shakespeare Festival in Garden Grove is in very tight financial straits.

The Garden Grove City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to provide $7,248 to carry the theater through Friday. Faced with a cash shortage over the next six weeks, officials of Orange County’s second largest professional troupe had asked for $50,000 to help cover basic expenses, such as salaries. Without the emergency funds, they said, the season’s two remaining shows would be canceled and staff laid off.

The council majority, claiming it did not want to see the season canceled, said it would take up the issue again Monday.

After the council vote, the theater’s board of trustees met and decided to sign Actors’ Equity contracts Wednesday so that director Jules Aaron and his cast could begin rehearsals for “The Importance of Being Earnest,” scheduled to open Oct. 4.

“We’re going to find some way not to cancel,” managing director Barbara G. Hammerman said after the closed-door meeting. Grove general manager Tony Maggi told the council earlier in the evening that unless the Grove obtains $32,157 by Oct. 5, it “won’t be able to maintain our operations.”

The 12-year-old, nonprofit troupe operates two city-owned theaters. The operating budget for its 1990 season was projected at $699,000 before the season began, at $721,000 during the season and--in the latest Grove estimate on Tuesday--at $626,739.

In April, Grove officials thought that expenditures would be met from ticket sales ($450,556) and contributions ($223,056).

On Tuesday, however, Maggi indicated that total admissions are now projected to bring in $378,519, a shortfall of $71,977 due primarily to fewer subscriptions. He traced the current crisis to a combination of that and a $42,000 deficit from last season. Single ticket sales are running at 2% above projections, he said.

The financial crunch is not the Grove’s first. In the summer of 1988, the Grove nearly canceled its season when the City Council did not renew a customary subsidy of about $85,000. After a bitter dispute, the council relented and gave $53,000. That, coupled with an outpouring of community support, notably $30,000 from the Strawberry Festival Assn., kept the Grove open.