Summertime: A Guide to Entertainment, Activities And Excursions : Hot Stuff : * Local venues work independently to bring quality art and entertainment to the Valley this summer.

Theater, art exhibits and musical events fill an increasingly crowded calendarthis summer in the Valley. But, with the exception of the major entertainment acts that appear at the Universal Amphitheater, most area productions have to work harder to earn the same level of respect awarded similar shows mounted on the Westside, local artists complain.

Although the Valley arts scene is vibrant and enjoys significant success at most individual venues, “I’m just not sure it’s growing as fast as it could,” said Ariel Heart, director of Installations One gallery in Encino, echoing the sentiments of many.

There has been little significant movement to develop relationships among the arts. “There is a lot of good theater going on in the Valley,” said Scott Campbell, president of the Alliance Repertory Company in Burbank. “I just regret that more of the theaters in the Valley don’t come together and work together. The theaters on Melrose Avenue set themselves up a few years ago as a Theater Row. And we have that same opportunity here.”

Campbell said that with just the half a dozen nearby theaters sharing Magnolia Boulevard, a group effort in cross-promotion and advertising would work to their mutual benefit. “It’s basically the same audiences that we’re serving,” he said.

“Right now it just makes it inefficient. People go to plays for two reasons: They know someone in it, or it’s good. If it’s good, there is not a shortage of audience. It would behoove the theaters to get together.”

Similarly, the Valley’s fine-art picture is fragmented, several gallery directors agreed. For example, Heart said, his gallery has regular contact only with the four-decade-old Orlando Gallery across the street.

None of this has dampened the imaginations or spirits of those at local venues who--independently--have organized quality art and entertainment events this summer in the Valley. These are some of the highlights of the coming season:

THEATER * Among those is the Actors Alley Repertory Theatre production of “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,” by the late Lorraine Hansberry, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “A Raisin in the Sun.”

“The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” concerns an idealist and newspaper owner caught up in a local election, as relationships with friends and family reflect the turbulent period of the mid-1960s. The play was the subject of widely diverse reviews during its short Broadway run in 1964, and has been performed only intermittently since.

“Every time it’s gone up, it has been a source of a great deal of controversy,” said Terry Evans, a member of the cast. Issues of civil rights, homosexuality, political integrity, prostitution and friendship are explored in the dramatic work, he said. “It’s in turn very compassionate and bombastic.”

The new production is directed by actor Al Ruscio, with set design by his daughter, Nina, who also did the set design for the film “A Rage in Harlem.”

“You’re going to walk in and see a real professional quality set,” said Evans, a longtime member of the the North Hollywood theater. “It will be a lot better quality than a lot of people are used to seeing in a 99-seat house. We’re trying to give it the kind of production it deserves.”

The play previews June 26-27, and opens June 28 at the Actors Alley Repertory Theatre, 12135 Riverside Drive. For more information, call (818) 508-4200.

* The third annual Evening of One-Acts at the Alliance Repertory Company in Burbank offers a collection of plays by both established and newer writers through Sept. 14. Three of the works were chosen during the theater’s recent one-act play contest, which solicited manuscripts from across the country.

Campbell said the contest and festival were created to encourage writers working in a genre often overshadowed locally by television and film script writing. “We found that with the one-acts there’s a lot more writers working in the format,” he said. “So that it was a great opportunity to find new playwrights and new voices out there.”

The $500 first-place award went to “Rain,” by Garry Williams, a former Los Angeles actor who lives in Indiana. Directed by Peter Fox and featuring Cheri Caspari, Lee Ryan, Hilary Davis, Betsy Randle and Arnie Starkey, the play is about a farmer who is trying to keep his family together during tough times. The play will be performed during the festival July 11 through Aug. 3.

Tennessee Williams’ “27 Wagons Full of Cotton” and Dan Zukovic’s “The Running of the Bulls,” also part of the festival, conclude their run Sunday. Also to be performed in the 49-seat house is “War Companion Pieces,” a collage of monologues, interviews, letters from soldiers, nurses, mothers and other victims of war through the years.

The theater is located at 3204 W. Magnolia Blvd. For more information, call (818) 566-7935.

ART * The Installations One gallery has adopted the style of a late-1800s gallery for a group exhibition showing through August titled “The Salon.” More than 210 artworks, spanning painting, sculpture and photography, are crowded dramatically in rows along the walls and floor space beneath the Encino gallery’s 18-foot-high ceilings. In all, 91 artists are represented.

“We thought it was risky, but it’s working,” Heart said. “We were worried that the artists would feel their work wasn’t being presented properly. The second concern was that the buying public wouldn’t really look at the work. That hasn’t been the case. People have spent two hours here looking at the work.”

All the artists shown are members of L.A. Art, which collects an annual fee from artists to exhibit and advertise their work, represent and consult with them about their careers. Artists are also free to seek other representation. “This is mainly to launch new careers and to assist those that are already established,” Heart added.

The gallery is at 15821 Ventura Blvd. in Encino. For more information, call (818) 981-9422.

* At the Art Store Gallery in Studio City, “Opening Shots by Saxon/Ross Design” takes visitors through the process of creating the spectacular opening sequences of some recent films. About 50 pieces demonstrate each step, from initial idea to design to layout to video.

Among the opening credits designed by the Saxon/Ross Design company, and presented in the show, are such popular recent films as “The Little Mermaid” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

The show continues through June 28. The Art Store Gallery is at 11450 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City. For more information, call (818) 505-1383.

POP MUSIC

* “The Pure Rock Search ‘91” contest at FM Station in North Hollywood is certain to attract rock acts from around the Southland. Beginning in August, bands will compete over a 10-week period for valuable music equipment and a place on an upcoming live record.

Local act Stiletto was declared last year’s winner out of hundreds of entries. “We had so damn many, we never bothered counting,” club owner Filthy McNasty said. “We had a heck of a time cutting it down.”

The late-summer contest has five bands competing each Thursday night before a panel of celebrity judges. All finalists will compete for an as-yet-undetermined grand prize and all will be recorded during the final night for a live album, he said.

“I think it’s a good tool for all the musicians,” McNasty said. “They get a chance to come out and play, without having all kinds of money. They draw only on their talent.”

All proceeds from the Pure Rock Search will again go to Children of the Night, a nonprofit, Los Angeles-based group that rescues teen-age runaways, he added.

FM Station is at 11700 Victory Blvd. For more information, call (818) 769-2220.

JAZZ

* Veteran jazz artists continue to showcase their talents at several Valley jazz clubs, often attracting audiences from outside the area looking for a darker “Chicago-style bar,” said Rob Davis, general manager of Jax in Glendale.

Although new clubs in Pasadena have threatened to steal business, Davis said his crowds have been faithful and consistent. But, again, the interaction between the clubs has been minimal. “More communication would always help,” Davis said. “But it is tough when everyone is scrambling for the business that is out there.”

At Monteleone’s West in Tarzana, club owner Tom Monteleone found himself turning away 100 people or more a night during a recent series of sold-out dates by pianist-vocalist Buddy Greco. Monteleone said he had always been unsure whether audiences would drive out to the West Valley venue and then pay a cover charge to see a bigger name.

The crowds that appeared for Greco changed his mind. “I’ve been delving into some bigger things lately,” Monteleone said. “The Buddy Greco shows here at the beginning of May did very well for us. Now we’re going to go after some other names.”

Greco is to return to the club for two more weekends, July 5-6 and 12-13. Monteleone’s West is at 19337 Ventura Blvd. For more information, call (818) 996-0662. Jax, now spotlighting Med Flory and Lanny Morgan of Supersax Wednesday nights, is at 339 N. Brand Blvd. For information, call (818) 500-1604.

CLASSICAL

* Composer-conductor Lalo Schifrin leads his Glendale Symphony Orchestra through several decades of film music July 20 in the ensemble’s sixth annual Summer Pops Concert, this year titled “Saturday Night at the Movies.”

Among the film scores performed during the concert will be “The Music Man,” “Peter Gunn,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and Schifrin’s own “Cool Hand Luke” and “Bullitt,” said Shirley Seeley, executive director of the symphony. The 8 p.m. show is presented in the Glendale High School Stadium, 1440 E. Broadway Ave.

“Every year attendance seems to almost double,” she said of the annual production, which closes annually with Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” and cannon-fire. “We’re up to 7,500. So this year we expect many more. The blankets are set up all over the grass and chairs, with the little babies and grandmas and grandpas.”

A former pianist with Dizzy Gillespie, Schifrin is in his third year as the group’s musical director and conductor. And he is still creating film scores regularly, including for the recent “FX2.”

Seeley said the annual outdoor concert in Glendale offers locals an opportunity to see the city’s symphony orchestra in an atmosphere more casual than its appearances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. “It’s just something that has become very special to the community,” Seeley said. “And the music is something everybody can relate to.”

Admission to the concert is free. For more information, call (818) 500-8720.

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