‘Few Good Men’s’ Producer a Most Unhappy Fella

The biggest surprise in last week’s announcement of the Ahmanson-at-the-Doolittle season was the absence of “A Few Good Men,” Aaron Sorkin’s military courtroom drama.

“I thought it was all set,” said “A Few Good Men” producer Robert Whitehead, referring to his negotiations with the Ahmanson management. His plan was to open the show’s national tour, starring Timothy Busfield, at the Doolittle in the fall.

But nothing was signed, and a couple of weeks ago, “I found them saying ‘There’s something else’ and ‘We need bigger stars.’ ”

Which sounds odd, considering that the “something else” that finally filled the Oct. 17-Dec. 29 slot, Goodspeed Opera House’s revival of the 1956 Frank Loesser musical, “The Most Happy Fella,” has no big stars--yet. It featured Spiro Malas and Sophie Hayden in its Connecticut production, which closed Friday. Because Hayden is due to give birth in October, she won’t be in the Los Angeles cast; her replacement has not been set.

“It’s not about a star,” responded Ahmanson producing director Gordon Davidson. “It’s about the strength of a production. . . . Tim (Busfield) is a wonderful actor, but I needed to know what else was in it. They never gave me anything but Tim Busfield.”

He acknowledged that “names are a consideration at the Doolittle.” But not so with “Fella,” apparently. Davidson had seen this two-piano, no-orchestra “Fella” at Goodspeed and “really liked it”--so much that he hopes the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson will co-produce it on Broadway, along with the Goodspeed, Lincoln Center and the Shubert Organization.

Another point in favor of Gerald Gutierrez’s staging of “Fella” was Davidson’s desire to present a musical each season at the Doolittle. The decision “was not a put-down of (“A Few Good Men”), but of its relative strength in a season.”

Whitehead, speaking from New York, said he would open the “Few Good Men” tour in the East now. There are no plans for a West Coast visit, but “it will probably get out there eventually.”

After “Fella” was added to the Doolittle season, Davidson still had an April 16-June 28 slot to fill, “and I thought that a farce would be fun there,” he said. So he shifted Terrence McNally’s “It’s Only a Play” from a list of Mark Taper Forum possibilities to the Doolittle list.

He had originally assigned it to the Taper because “Taper audiences are more familiar with McNally,” having seen his “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune” and “The Lisbon Traviata” in recent seasons. But “Terrence always wanted it at the Doolittle . . . and farces work better on proscenium stages (like the Doolittle) than on thrust stages (like the Taper).”

Davidson hopes the two “Lisbon” stars, Richard Thomas and Nathan Lane, will appear in “It’s Only a Play,” but no one has been signed. John Tillinger will direct.

Coming Attractions: Tend your theatergoing garden for a whole year, and you’ll harvest “The Secret Garden,” the musical adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett book, which just won a Tony for writer Marsha Norman. It’s expected here next summer. Tentative dates are July 14-Aug. 16, 1992 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, followed by an Aug. 18-23 run at Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Another Hollywood-to-Orange County move is scheduled for the end of 1991. Raul Julia will star in a Broadway-bound revival of “Man of La Mancha,” penciled in for Nov. 26-Dec. 22 at the Pantages, preceding the just-announced Dec. 23-Jan. 5 booking at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Meanwhile, the Orange County center’s recently announced bookings of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” in mid-March and “My Fair Lady” with Christopher Plummer in June have not yet been supplemented by engagements elsewhere in Southern California. But a spokesman for the “Buddy” tour said it will probably return to the area later in 1992. And a spokesman for PACE Theatrical Group, the company that’s co-producing and booking “My Fair Lady,” said bookings are continuing . . . apace, and may include other Southern California dates.

There has been a slight shift in the local dates for the earlier-announced booking of “Private Lives,” starring Joan Collins, at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills. It’s now expected Dec. 17-Jan. 4, Arvin Brown directing.

Keach in ‘Solitary’?: Will Stacy Keach star in Rupert Holmes’ “Solitary Confinement” at the Pasadena Playhouse in November and December? He told at least one reporter so in an interview about another project. The show’s New York co-producer Norman Kurtz said “negotiations are ongoing . . . we are so close.”

Butterflaps: A lot of people complained about the acoustics at the Wilshire Theatre after the opening of “M. Butterfly.” But the theater manager’s Kerrin Clark said the sound is sharper now than it was on opening night July 3. The initial sound levels “erred on the side of subtlety,” she said, but “we’ve been adjusting them so we get more brightness.”

Also, she said the cast had been playing in larger houses, and “that can prompt underplaying (when moving to the smaller Wilshire). It took them time to find out what would work.”

We’ve also heard gripes about the charges for reserving tickets for “M. Butterfly” over the phone: $5 per ticket as well as a separate $2.05 per order. Unless you know how to order tickets through the mail, the only alternative is to show up at the box office. Hours are 12-7 on Sundays, 10-6 on Mondays, 10-8 on Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Box Office Watch: For the second week in a row, the seven Los Angeles/Orange County shows that report grosses to Variety set a record, with a $2,701,474 total for July 1-7. Gaining ground were “Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll,” “Grand Hotel,” “City of Angels” and “Love Letters.”