Roberson’s Latest Caters to S.D.’s Appetite for Lite

In New York, lighthearted shows that invite audience participation--such as “Tony ‘N’ Tina’s Wedding”--are known as Theater Lite. In San Diego, director Will Roberson just hopes his new interactive show, “Knock ‘Em Dead,” will be called a hit.

“Knock ‘Em Dead” opens tonight at the new Reuben E. Lee Dinner Theater on the Reuben E. Lee Showboat restaurant. The open-ended run features shows on Friday and Saturday nights.

So far, judging from the success of the Mystery Cafe’s still-running “Murder at Cafe Noir” at the Lake San Marcos Resort and “Killing Mr. Withers” at Imperial House restaurant in Hillcrest, San Diego has shown itself to have an appetite for death-over-dinner theatrical fare.

Roberson, who directed “Killing Mr. Withers” for the Mystery Cafe, now hopes that appetite will extend to his latest work, which he wrote with Tom Oldendick. “Knock ‘Em Dead” had a seven-month run last year at the Phoenix Little Theatre, where Oldendick is producing director.

“We’d been experimenting for a long time with this new wave of theater ventures, which not only breaks down the fourth wall but demands audience participation,” Roberson said from his San Diego home. “Here, the audience is what makes it funny. Many people have seen it many times, but no one has seen the same show twice.”

Kevin Dowling, the general manager for one popular interactive show in New York, “Pageant,” speculated recently in weekly Variety that the current recession may be one of the reasons for Lite Theater’s popularity.

“These are economic hard times,” Dowling said, “and people want to have fun.”

In “Knock ‘Em Dead,” fun is what Roberson seems determined to deliver. Several would-be comics show up for auditions at a comedy club called Vinnie’s Belly Laugh. After the death of one character, the entire second act is highly improvisational as one of six endings kicks into gear, depending on whom the audience pegs as the killer. The show, written in May, 1990, was at first a last-minute replacement for a previously scheduled show that fell through at the Phoenix Little Theatre. Roberson and Oldendick were so unsure about how it would go over that they opened the show without giving themselves writing credits. After the applause of the first night, however, they put their names on the program.

Although the question of whether or not “Knock ‘Em Dead” will knock ‘em dead in San Diego is as up in the air as the show’s second act, Roberson’s association with theater projects here has proved to be consistently lucky.

Roberson, 32, had his first theater venture here at the tiny, now defunct Triteria Theatre on top of Busalacchi’s restaurant. He is now one of the most successful young directors in town, having directed two highly popular and critically acclaimed shows at the Old Globe--”Suds” and “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill”--as well as the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company hit “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.”

Roberson is also in negotiations with the Globe and the Gaslamp for future shows. For the Globe, he may do a musical revue he is developing called “Back to Bacharach,” built around the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Also under consideration at the Globe is a play Roberson directed as a staged reading last year, “Swamp Gas and Shallow Feelings.”

For the Gaslamp he has agreed to direct “The Heidi Chronicles” and is discussing the possibility of substituting Charles Ludlam’s “Reverse Psychology,” a story about two married psychiatrists in love with each other’s clients, for the just canceled “Only Kidding,” which had been set to open Sept. 5.

In yet another variation on the Theater Lite theme, comedy will be on the menu--literally--when another new theater opens in San Diego.

Bill Withers, the entertainment coordinator for Events West, is now preparing the Fritz, a 49-seat space at 330 7th Ave., off K Street, for the opening of the Circus Cafe on Aug. 2.

The show, directed and orchestrated by local comedian Don Victor, features Victor as one of six actors who will offer theatergoers menus of as many as 55 skits, from which the audience can choose what they like.

The skits have names such as “Between the Sheets,” “Idle Conversation” and “The Meaning of Love” and are listed as Aperitifs, Appetizers, Vegetables, Entrees or Desserts.

Withers envisions two shows on Fridays and two on Saturdays, all in the evening.

Interactive comedy will also be served up at the Ruse at the Marquis Public Theatre on Monday nights at 8 during July. The Mighty Grunion Players, an improvisational comedy troupe, performs its new show, “Something Fishy,” with pieces including “Audrey in the Afternoon,” a parody of afternoon talk shows, and a version of “Jeopardy” in which the audience quizzes the performers--who play the contestants.

PROGRAM NOTES: Anasa Briggs-Graves, now starring in the San Diego Repertory Theatre production of “Still Life” at the Lyceum Space, already has another show lined up. She will direct “State of the Art Heart,” a new pop-rock musical by Ron Covington about young people coping with love, sex and materialism. The show will open Aug. 15 at the Kingston Playhouse for a three-week run. . . .

“Tales of Tinseltown” has been extended from July 7 to July 21 at the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company’s Hahn Cosmopolitan Theatre. . . .

The San Diego Actors Theatre production of “The Lady and the Clarinet” has been extended through July 13 at the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company’s small space. . . .

Political comic Paul Krassner will do his one-man show Saturday at 10 p.m. at the Lyceum Space. . . .

The name of the San Francisco Mime Troupe production of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” set to open at the San Diego Rep on Oct. 12-Nov. 9, has been changed. The new name is “I Ain’t Yo’ Uncle--A New Jack Revisionist Production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” According to Mime Troupe general manager Patrick Osbon: “We needed to overcome the negatives (associated with the original title) within the African-American community. This new title is helping to overcome those images.”

CRITIC’S CHOICE

‘THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW’ REVISITED

The record for seeing “The Rocky Horror Show” at the San Diego Repertory Theatre belongs to Bill Balsley, who, at last count, had seen the rock musical 15 times at the Lyceum Stage. Balsley is such a hard-core fan that he also performs as part of the live cast that duplicates the action in the movie on the screen at the Ken Cinema. Though you may not go to such extremes, the Rep is encouraging return visits to the show. After the performance, you get a flyer that reduces the cost of return tickets to $10. Shows are at 8 p.m. Thursday-Fridays, 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays, through July 14.