Kushner Finds an Angel in the Taper

Tony Kushner and the Mark Taper Forum have big plans for each other.

Kushner’s “Angels in America” epic will receive its first complete production next spring at the Taper, Too. And the Taper just received $125,000 to develop his “The Heavenly Theatre: Hymns for Martyred Actors.”

Kushner is in San Francisco, preparing the world premiere of the two-part “Angels in America” at the Eureka Theatre, where part one, “Millennium Approaches” opens Friday and part two, “Perestroika,” opens on May 31.

Although the “world premiere” title goes to the production at the Eureka, which commissioned “Angels,” Kushner explained that the Reagan-era epic will not be fully staged until the Taper production next spring. In San Francisco, only one of the five acts in “Perestroika” will be fully staged. Two of the acts will be staged readings, and only excerpts will be presented from the remaining two acts.

Part one, “Millennium,” was presented at the Taper, Too last year, creating a stir with its parallel depictions of three stories involving gay characters and the inclusion of supernatural elements in the play’s final scenes. It’s now somewhat shorter, Kushner said, because an Antarctica scene has been moved to “Perestroika” and the number of “ghost scenes” has been reduced from three to two.

“Perestroika,” which focuses on some of the characters who seemed more marginal in “Millennium”--including an angel--will “always be much longer than ‘Millennium,’ ” he added. And how long is that?

“I’m not going to tell you,” laughed Kushner. He’s all too aware that some people may feel intimidated by the length of “Angels.” But seriously, he added, “Perestroika” will probably clock in at between 3 1/2 and 3 3/4 hours. The two shows will alternate.

“I’m never writing a long play again,” declared Kushner. His “The Heavenly Theatre,” for which the Taper just received $125,000 from the W. Alton Jones Foundation, is “unbelievably brief, only 86 pages long.”

Yet it’s intended for the Taper mainstage (perhaps in the 1992-93 season), instead of the smaller Taper, Too, where “Angels” will be presented.

Kushner agrees with the Taper’s assignment of venues for his shows. “Heavenly Theatre” is about a French peasant uprising during Mardi Gras, 1580, and includes a musical score by Mel Marvin; it probably wouldn’t fit comfortably into Taper, Too. And “Angels” needs “a more intimate space” not only because of its smaller physical scale, but also because “it’s an enormous financial risk”--a risk that the Taper might not feel comfortable taking on its mainstage.

Kushner is best known for his adaptation of “The Illusion,” which won awards at Los Angeles Theatre Center last year.

Keeping Up With Jones Grants: That grant for “The Heavenly Theatre” was one of seven W. Alton Jones new American play grants this year, totaling $925,000. Among the others recognized were Los Angeles writers Larry Gelbart ($150,000 for his “Power Failure” at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Mass.), Jane Anderson ($125,000 for “Defying Gravity” at Williamstown Mass. Theatre Festival; it was seen at Ensemble Studio Theatre in Los Angeles in 1987) and John Bettis and Frank Wildhorn ($125,000 for “Svengali” at Alley Theatre in Houston).

A Rose Is a Rose?: When “Bye Bye Birdie” opened last weekend in Long Beach, two largely enthusiastic reviews chided the production for retaining the ethnic slurs delivered by Mrs. Peterson (Marilyn Cooper), the protagonist’s meddling mother, against his Latina girlfriend Rose Alvarez (Ann Reinking).

It was also noted that Rose’s surname was changed from the original Broadway production’s Grant to Alvarez. But Long Beach producer Barry Brown and lyricist Lee Adams said the name change occurred long ago. And although a musical number has been added for this production, the dialogue remains as it was delivered in the original 1960 production.

Regarding the use of the slurs, Brown compared the character who utters them to Archie Bunker and asked: “Was it hard for me as a Jew to hear Archie Bunker talk about the Jews? You have to consider the source. It’s done as a cartoon; it’s all tongue-in-cheek.”

“We were satirizing the squeaky-clean people of Sweet Apple, Ohio, who made racist slurs,” said lyricist Adams. “Those were the mind-sets of people we observed in 1959.”

Brown said there were no plans to change any of the lines.

Sayonara, ‘Sayonara’: As widely predicted, Pasadena’s California Music Theatre has called off the costly “Sayonara,” which was slated for its West Coast premiere next month. It will not be replaced.

To make amends, CMT hopes subscribers will choose to renew for next season under special four-shows-for-the-price-of-three terms. However, should subscribers decide not to renew, they may choose among a “Sayonara” refund, additional tickets to one of the remaining shows of this season (“Show Boat” and “The Wizard of Oz”) or single tickets to one of next season’s shows.

Next season will include “Camelot,” “Anything Goes,” “My One and Only” and “Scrooge,” said a CMT subscription seller.

Directors Lab: Los Angeles Theatre Center has started yet another lab, this time “for the best young directors in Los Angeles,” according to LATC artistic director Bill Bushnell. The lab will enable its participants to test their ideas in workshops and staged readings. Brian Nelson, whose adaptation of “The Joy Luck Club” played the Mark Taper Forum Literary Cabaret last year, is organizing the lab. Information: (213) 627-6500.

Hype of the Week: “Go even if you have to steal a ticket!”--Toronto Sun, in the ad for “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.”

Does this mean the producers won’t mind--or prosecute--if you hold up the box office?