Cleaning Up on ‘Brooklyn Laundry’

One of the hottest tickets in town is for a show in previews being directed by a newcomer to the stage. This week, newspaper ads offered $95 tickets for Saturday night’s preview of “Brooklyn Laundry” at the Coronet Theatre in West Hollywood. Another ticket agency said “Brooklyn” tickets could be obtained for $125 each. The regular ticket price range is $20-$25, but tickets for the first announced dates--including 10 previews--sold out four hours after the opening of the box-office.

That’s a lot of money to see an unreviewed play (it opens Wednesday) by a virtually unknown playwright, Lisa-Maria Radano, staged by a stage novice.

But when that novice is James L. Brooks--who’s famous for his movies (“Terms of Endearment,” “Broadcast News”) and television (“Taxi,” the Mary Tyler Moore and Tracey Ullman series)--audiences apparently will pay top dollar to see him do anything.

Perhaps he should sell tickets to his next family reunion.

Of course, the heat for “Brooklyn” was also turned up by the names in the cast: movie stars Glenn Close and Laura Dern and TV star Woody Harrelson.

“Brooklyn” has been extended one week, through May 19.

‘Spunk’ in store?: George C. Wolfe, whose “Jelly’s Last Jam” just set a box office record at the Mark Taper Forum, may be back in September. That’s when he says his “Spunk,” based on three stories by Zora Neale Hurston, will appear at the Taper.

“Spunk” started as a Taper Literary Cabaret project in 1989 and has since gone on to productions in New Jersey and New York.

The official word from the Taper: “Spunk” is being “talked about” but “nothing is finalized.”

Museum Theater: The Mark Taper Forum is expanding into the art museums of Los Angeles.

Wallace Shawn will perform “The Fever,” May 21-June 1 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, under Taper auspices.

And David Dukes will read Julian Barnes’ “Shipwreck” at the Getty Museum in Malibu, as part of the Taper’s Literary Cabaret. Performances are Wednesday, next Sunday and May 8.

The two works follow on the heels of another piece that’s presented in conjunction with an art museum--”Cabaret Verboten,” which was timed to accompany LACMA’s “Degenerate Art” exhibit. “Cabaret Verboten” is being held at the Itchey Foot Restaurant, however, not at the museum.

“The Fever” and “Shipwreck” will be the first Taper projects held at art museums since “Carplays,” staged at MOCA’s Temporary Contemporary in 1985.

Museums “tend to contact us about the possibility of (hosting) particular events” more than most institutions, said Robert Egan, Taper associate artistic director.

So don’t expect the Taper to expand its venues into car washes or people’s homes any time soon.

But don’t entirely dismiss the idea, either; Egan said he considered trying to open “The Fever” in a series of private apartments, which is how Shawn initially performed the one-man show in New York and London.

Shawn won’t be in Los Angeles long enough to go the apartment route, however. And because the Taper, Too--where Shawn’s “Aunt Dan and Lemon” was staged in 1987--was already occupied by “The Task,” Egan had to look elsewhere. MOCA’s 160-seat Ahmanson Auditorium was available.

“The Fever” might even disturb a Taper or MOCA audience more than did the notoriously disturbing “Aunt Dan,” said Egan. In “Aunt Dan,” “a fascist tries to rationalize violence,” while in “The Fever,” “a liberal tries to rationalize apathy.”

“Enlightened theatergoers tend to think of themselves as liberal people who care about the problems of the world,” said Egan. “But what do they do about them?”

Meanwhile, “Shipwreck” will play a 150-seat space in an partially outdoor atrium at the Getty Museum, surrounded by classical sculpture. Producer Edward Parone suggested doing it at a museum because of the subject matter--Julian Barnes’ “conjecture” about the Theodore Gericault painting, “The Raft of the Medusa,” and “the circumstances of how it came to be painted.”

“Shipwreck” may be as important for what it portends as for its own merits. Getty and Taper officials were already discussing the possibility of staging Greek dramas at the Getty when the idea of doing “Shipwreck” arose.

Although no decisions have been reached, the idea envisions programs of excerpts at first, followed by full-length plays. The major obstacle may be the lack of a proper venue within the museum.

The museum’s auditorium “is not a welcome place,” said Kenneth Hamma, associate curator of antiquities. As for the rest of the museum, “we can’t just go moving about large pieces of sculpture to make rokm for art” he added.

Acoustics are untested for spoken drama--in fact, the atrium where “Shipwreck” will be presented “has no carpeting and a 20-foot ceiling,” said Ann Friedman, a museum administrator. “The challenge is to overcome the acoustics.”

Still, classical drama at the Getty is a tantalizing idea, not only because of the ambience but also because the Getty is the world’s best-endowed art museum. If any institution could afford such a project, it would be the Getty.

And while we’re speculating, we might as well mention “a pipe dream” of Hamma’s--to build a Greek amphitheater at the Getty. “It would be terrific,” said Hamma. “We have talked about it, but there are no plans.”