From Classroom to Standing Room : Stage: College theater programs can be the spawning grounds for the stars of tomorrow. Four San Diego universities have success stories to tell.

If the London hit “Miss Saigon” goes to Broadway, United States International University junior John Barrowman will probably be going with it.

Barrowman, 23, who spent his summer vacation in London and got rave reviews as the male lead in “Anything Goes,” has landed the pivotal role of the G.I. who impregnates the girl in “Miss Saigon.” He starts his role Wednesday at Covent Garden.

And to think that just last year and the year before, you could have caught his work in USIU productions of “The Boyfriend,” “My Fair Lady” and “Man of La Mancha” at the Theatre in Old Town for less than $15 a ticket, as against the $30 to $100 per ticket you’ll pay to see Miss Saigon.

It is this chance to see today’s minor-league stars before they become tomorrow’s major-league talents that is one of the appeals of attending theater at schools such as USIU, UC San Diego, San Diego State University and the University of San Diego.

With ticket prices ranging from $4-$15 (the lowest prices are for students), the price of checking out the talent can’t be beat. And often, because the programs are geared toward meeting the needs of the student actors-directors-playwrights, you may get a chance to see new or rarely produced works that professional theaters might find too risky to touch.

Each university’s program sports success stories.

Sterling Macer Jr., who graduated from a 2-year-old USD-Old Globe training program last year, is now starring in Athol Fugard’s “My Children! My Africa!” at the La Jolla Playhouse.

James Crawford, a UCSD acting student, is starring in “The Glass Menagerie” at the Bowery Theatre, and UCSD undergraduate playwright Josefina Lopez is working on a screenplay of her play, “Real Women Have Curves,” which has already been optioned by Warner Brothers studio. Guillermo Reyes, a recent graduate of the UCSD playwright program, will have a staged reading of “September 11,” his story of the effect of the Chilean coup on a Chilean family, at the Centro Cultural de la Raza on Sept. 22.

The UCSD program, which is now officially associated with the La Jolla Playhouse, began 16 years ago. USIU’s program started 23 years.

The granddaddy of these four programs, however, belongs to San Diego State University, which offered its first plays in 1912 and formalized its department in 1926.

Among its alumni, SDSU counts Marion Ross of “Happy Days” fame; Old Globe Associate Artist Kandis Chappell; film actress Julie Kavner; Kathy Najimy, co-creator of “The Kathy & Mo Show,” and Erin Kelly, who has created a number of memorable roles in some of the Bowery Theatre’s biggest hits, including “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea,” “Italian-American Reconciliation” and “Teibele and Her Demon.”

Best known among the current SDSU students is Rick Meads, a frequent performer at Lamb’s Players Theatre, where he starred as Joseph in the company’s runaway hit, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

So what’s on tap at the campus seasons this year?

At the fledgling USD program, the emphasis remains on Shakespeare, and the students will again put on only one show. That show, slotted for the fall season, is “Love’s Labor’s Lost” on Nov. 13-20 at Sacred Heart Hall on the campus. William Ball will direct. He is founder and former director of the American Conservatory Theatre and recently appeared in the La Jolla Playhouse production of “The Cherry Orchard.” Tickets range from $4-$8. Call 231-1941.

At UCSD, all the shows in the eight-play season are either new, new to San Diego, or rarely produced:

* The San Diego premiere of Craig Lucas’ “Reckless,” a comic satire about a woman racing across the country,” Nov. 7-11 at the Warren Theatre.

* “The Conduct of Life,” Maria Irene Fornes’ Obie-award winning play about a Latin American military officer’s brutal behavior toward his family, Nov. 28-Dec. 2 at the Warren Theatre.

* “The Castle,” by contemporary British playwright Howard Barker, explores life after the Crusades, Feb. 6-10 at the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

* UCSD playwright student Kelly Easton’s new, untitled play slotted for Feb. 13-17 at the Warren Theatre.

* A new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt,” a difficult, dreamlike story of a man’s exploration of himself,” Feb. 27-March 3 at the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

* UCSD playwright student Troy Cardenas will premiere “Deadly Calm,” a story of a grandmother’s treachery, March 13-17 at the Warren Theatre.

* Guest artist John Tillinger, who has directed on Broadway and at the Old Globe Theatre, will direct a yet-to-be-named play, April 17-21 at the Mandell Weiss Theatre

* “Roosters,” Milcha Sanchez-Scott’s story about the struggle of two cocks in a ring, concludes the season May 15-19 at the Warren Theatre.

Tickets range from $6-$12. Call 534-4574.

At SDSU, the six-play season covers:

* “Baby,” a contemporary musical by Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire, follows the story of three couples facing parenthood, Sept. 28-Oct. 6 in the Experimental Theatre.

* “Saved,” Edward Bond’s indictment of the social and economic conditions that cause violence, which was banned when it premiered in England in 1965. It will play Oct. 19-27 at the Experimental Theatre.

* “Candide,” the Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical based on Voltaire’s book, Nov. 9-16 at the Don Powell Theatre.

* Caryl Churchill’s “Cloud 9,” a parody of British colonialism and sexual identity, Feb. 15-23 in the Experimental Theatre.

* George Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man” will be presented in repertory with “The Chocolate Soldier,” the C.E. Stephenson operetta based on the Shaw play, March 8-23 at the Don Powell Theatre.

* The season concludes with Moliere’s “Scapan,” May 3-11 at the Don Powell Theatre.

Tickets range from $4-$12. Call 594-6884.

At USIU, the fare that has often reflected old-fashioned musical tastes will now reach for a greater breadth of style in a scaled down four-play season:

* The one bow to old Broadway is “Hello, Dolly!” Oct. 19-28 at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

* Mark Medoff’s “When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder?,” a violent story of strangers being held against their will in a small-town diner, Nov. 1-18 at the Theatre in Old Town.

* “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” featuring USIU’s dancers and orchestra as well as actors, March 14-17 at Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

* “The Pirates of Penzance,” May 31-June 9 at Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

Ticket prices range from $10-$15. Call 298-0082.