Spirit Moves Playwright : Levin’s Story of a Haunted Synagogue Is Being Co-Produced by University, Theater Group

Playwright/novelist Ira Levin was intrigued by magic when he was a kid. But, he says, for some reason the tricks never worked when he got them home from the magic store. The fascination never left him, however, and helped inspire his work as a writer.

Levin has used sleight of hand in his mystery novels, such as “A Kiss Before Dying,” for which he won, at age 23, the mystery writers’ Edgar Award. Witchcraft became a central device in “Rosemary’s Baby” as did the magic of theater in his puzzler “Deathtrap.” He has tried his hand at a little spiritual conjuring in his mystery-comedy “Cantorial,” about a young couple who buy an abandoned former synagogue in New York to convert into a home. When they realize the building is haunted by the synagogue’s cantor, their lives and the building are altered indelibly.

“Cantorial” was first produced in the early ‘80s and went through several major rewrites before its successful New York run a few years ago--first at the Jewish Repertory Theatre, then at the Lambs Theatre just off Times Square.

The play’s first production in Southern California opens Saturday for five performances at Gindi Auditorium at the University of Judaism, then transfers Jan. 2 to Actors Alley Repertory Theatre in North Hollywood.

The play was chosen by Actors Alley and the University of Judaism as their first co-production partly because of the Jewish background of the play. Actors Alley’s artistic director Jeremiah Morris, who is directing the joint production, says: “I love the mysticism in it. I’m at a time in my life when I’ve discovered spiritualism, late in life. This fulfills that within me, and with the audience. This seemed like the perfect vehicle. The university wanted a play that reflects Jewish life to be part of the series. This most certainly does.”

Levin says he hopes the fact that theaters around the country are doing the play after its New York run will spread the word that its story and message are universal.

“I intended it as a mainstream play,” Levin says. “I never thought of it as a Jewish play, in spite of the fact that it’s set in a haunted synagogue. I thought it would be very theatrical to hear that cantorial singing in a Broadway theater. I very much wrote it with Broadway in mind. But it has always been perceived as a quote Jewish unquote play. So there you are.

When Levin’s remarks are quoted to Morris, he chuckles. “A friend of mine,” he says, “once did a play about Trotsky, and he said, ‘Well, it’s not political.’ I said, ‘How can you help it?’ ”

Levin, however, is adamant. “I think it’s universal. When it was playing at the Lambs’ we got lots of audiences from the universities and we had one audience that was almost all Chinese drama students.”

This production of “Cantorial” is only the first of possible collaborations between the two theaters. In the spring, Actors Alley and the university will also join forces for a production of “Crossing Delancey.” It’s an important step for both institutions.

The first important step in Levin’s career was “A Kiss Before Dying,” which was originally turned into a film starring Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward and was recently remade with Matt Dillon and Sean Young. His big break, however, came with the television and Broadway adaptations of “No Time for Sergeants,” which made a star of Andy Griffith.

Levin says he takes a long time to write. Most of that time is taken up mentally, working out his tricks, which hat to pull the rabbit out of. Sometimes plays don’t work in the original production and he puts them on the shelf. “Cantorial” had problems in its first staging at the Hartman Theatre in Stamford, Conn.

In 1988, when Levin took it off the shelf, the problems were obvious.

“The light bulb lit up,” Levin says with a chuckle. Cutting a couple of characters and rewriting the personality of the male lead turned it into the play that exists today.

Some writers give that shelf life to plays before anyone sees them.

“I find that hard to do,” Levin admits. “When I finish something, I want to show it to people. I always say: ‘This time I’m going to sit on it for a few months,’ but I never do. I don’t get that many good ideas.”

He gets enough good ideas to make himself comfortable, at 62, divorced with three grown sons. The youngest, Nick, 26, is involved in theater--he’s currently playing keyboards in a bus-and-truck tour of “Kiss Me Kate.”

Levin rewrites a great deal. He admits, “When I’m working on something I really become a workaholic. Very long days, seven days a week. When I’m not working on something, I just sort of loaf. I’ve got to have that big target in mind. Once I’ve got it all worked out, it takes about a year. ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ took nine months, almost to the day, just what a baby should take. Overall, it certainly takes me many years to write something. I usually carry an idea around for several years before it sort of clicks into shape. With ‘Deathtrap,’ I had the idea of this playwright getting this perfect script in the mail. I went back to that time and again, over many years. The last time I started making notes on it, the first note is ‘Oh, God, not again !’ Then suddenly the pieces began to fall into place.”

His magic tricks are working better now, and he doesn’t have to work as hard as he once did. “No, I guess not,” he admits. “I don’t know whether it’s a function of advancing age, or discrimination in what I do. I’m a little lazier now, and a little less feeling that I have to prove myself.”

And being 62? He laughs loudly. “It’s much younger than I ever thought it was.”

“Cantorial” plays at Gindi Auditorium, University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. today and 8 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; ends Wednesday. Tickets are $15-$20. Call ( 310 ) 476-9777 ext. 203. The production reopens Jan. 2 at Actors Alley Repertory Theatre, 12135 Riverside Drive, North Hollywood, and plays at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays , on Jan. 5 and 19 Feb. 2 and 16; through Feb. 16. Call (818) 508-4200.