Not Much Separates ‘Six Degrees’ From the Doolittle

John Guare’s “Six Degrees of Separation” is likely to open the 1992-93 Ahmanson-at-the-Doolittle season next October.

It’s by far the strongest contender for the slot, said Doug Baker, Doolittle general manager. With casting still pending, however, it’s not quite a done deal.

Guare’s 90-minute one-act won New York Drama Critics Circle and Obie awards but lost in most of the Tony categories to Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers”--which is scheduled to precede it at the Doolittle. But Jerry Zaks did pick up a Tony for directing “Six Degrees,” and he’s slated to repeat his work for the national tour, which will begin at the Doolittle, if all goes as planned.

Among the actors, Stockard Channing garnered the most praise, playing an Upper East Side matron whose home is invaded by a young impostor posing as Sidney Poitier’s son--and as the friend of her own children. Channing’s participation in the tour is undecided; “we certainly hope she’ll do it,” said Baker.

Meanwhile, August Wilson’s “Two Trains Running” is chugging into the Doolittle (previews begin Tuesday) in a version that’s revised from the script used at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre in March.

This edition, first seen in an engagement at Washington’s Kennedy Center in November and December, expands the central role of Memphis (Al White), owner of the coffee shop where the action is set. There is also “a lot more humor” in the play now, said Baker. And the always notable Roscoe Lee Browne has replaced Ed Hall, who died last summer, in the role of Holloway.

ONCE IN THESE THEATERS: “Once on This Island” has been penciled in for a July 22-Aug. 16 run at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills, to be followed by a week at San Diego Civic Theatre.

A Caribbean musical romance based on a novel by Trinidad-born Rosa Guy, “Island” is--like “Six Degrees”--an acclaimed 90-minute one-act that was largely snubbed by last year’s Tony voters; it was nominated for eight Tonys and received none.

It will be part of a tour that’s scheduled to begin in Chicago at the end of March. Its presentation at the Wilshire will probably be part of a Los Angeles Civic Light Opera season--though whether it will be the current season or the next one may depend on which shows crop up in the meantime.

A SLOW “WAGON”: Speaking of Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, its long-anticipated revival of “Paint Your Wagon” won’t happen at least until the fall.

The show was expected to complete the current season and launch a Western tour with an engagement at the Pantages beginning in February.

The producers initially had their eye on country singer Roy Clark as the star attraction for the tour. Based on preliminary talks, two of the theaters on the tour--in Seattle and Houston--went ahead and announced that Clark would be driving the “Wagon.” But Clark finally decided that it might not be smart to commit to a long tour as his stage acting debut.

Clark could make as much in two nights at his own concert hall in Branson, Mo., as he could in one week on the “Wagon,” said his manager, John Hitt.

The executive director of the Houston and Seattle theaters, Frank Young, then asked if Clark could commit to an eight-week tour, in his two cities only. Clark said yes, and he’s now scheduled to paint the “Wagon” in Houston March 6-22 and in Seattle March 27-April 12--though Hitt noted last week that contracts still hadn’t been signed.

The Los Angeles producers then tried to keep their own “Wagon” going with Gary Morris, the country singer who was seen in “Les Miserables” at the Pantages last year. But he hasn’t committed to the project yet--and two of the proposed tour’s mainstays, Seattle and Houston, aren’t likely to want a second “Paint Your Wagon” soon. So it will take a while to get L.A. ‘s “Wagon” in gear.

In the meantime, Clark may be available to do an L.A.-based tour next January, said Hitt--assuming Clark’s satisfied by his performances in Seattle and Houston.

A NEW “PLATFORM”: “The Platform,” the political cabaret launched last year by the now-defunct Los Angeles Theatre Center, lives on. The next performance is at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) on Feb. 22.

This doesn’t mean that director Binnur Karaevli has abandoned plans to continue doing her work at the LATC building itself. She hopes to take her group to LATC on the weekend after the performance at LACE. But she’s still talking terms with the LATC landlord, the city’s Cultural Affairs Department.

The hearing on LATC’s long-term future that had been scheduled for Monday before the City Council’s arts committee has been bumped off the agenda, with a replacement date yet to be set. k

LATINO SCRIPTS WANTED: South Coast Repertory is once again seeking unproduced scripts for its annual Hispanic Playwrights Project. Deadline for submission is April 10; the workshops and readings will take place July 28-Aug. 8. Information: (714) 957-2602, Ext. 215.