All-Star ‘Tempest’ Blows Into Balcony Theater

After the recent weather, it was a small irony that the Shakespeare Festival/L.A. presented “The Tempest” as its annual all-star fund-raiser Saturday night at the Pasadena Playhouse’s Balcony Theater.

The space had leaked so badly the night before that director Benjamin Donenberg joked: “We had our own tempest in there.” But things got mopped up and the performance went off without any unplanned rainfall in the audience.

With tickets priced at $175 and $100, a standing-room-only crowd of 120 patrons turned out to see a cast that included Ed Asner, James Greene, Michael Gross, Hal Holbrook, Earl Holliman, Will Hunt, Michael Jeter, Carol Kane, Geoffrey Lower, Alyssa Milano, Joe Morton and Wil Wheaton. The stars joined patrons at a post-show dessert reception at nearby Jacob Maarse Florists.

“We can stage this for one night for free,” explained producer Pat Skipper. “If we did it for a week, with all the actors’ salaries and the union rules, it would probably cost $100,000.”

“They make so much good money on film and TV that doing this is a treat for the actors,” said Donenberg. “They love Shakespeare.”

No doubt there was some personal vindication for the performers as well, most of whom are classically trained actors best known to the public for their work on sitcoms. One person at the party trying to identify Kane finally pegged her as “that girl on ‘Taxi.’ ”

Holbrook admitted that the role of Prospero was not one he “particularly ever wanted to play because there’s so much language involved. I spent a whole month studying for the role.”

The reading was this year’s major fund-raiser for the festival, which stages summer productions of Shakespeare’s works at the John Anson Ford Theatre and the Citicorp Plaza. Those performances are free to the public; the only charge is a donation of canned food. (Last summer’s production of “Love’s Labours Lost” brought in 35,000 cans, which were matched two-for-one by a supermarket chain and distributed to the needy.)

In its third year, the group has outgrown the 120-seat Balcony Theater; there was a list of 30 people waiting for cancellations. The festival will probably have to move to a bigger venue for the 1993 fund-raiser.

As for this summer’s production, Donenberg wouldn’t specify which play the group plans to stage, except that it will be “one of the comedies.” That’s probably a good idea. It’s hard to imagine enjoying “King Lear” while breathing smog and swatting gnats on a hot summer night.