JOIN THE PARTY : Music, Comedy and Latino Playwrights Make Inviting ‘Una Noche del Teatro’ at SCR

They’re calling it the “party of the people,” but it has nothing to do with politics, the year of the woman, or the upcoming presidential election.

“We’re going to have a wonderful evening--about five hours worth of music, laughter, comedy, theater and lots of food,” says Jose Cruz Gonzales of the party, officially titled “Una Noche del Teatro” and scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday at South Coast Repertory.

Intended to raise about $20,000 for two SCR programs--the Hispanic Playwrights Project, which Gonzales heads, and the Neighborhood Conservatory--the evening’s entertainment will feature the Latin jazz band Minimum 3 with Santa Ana fluegelhornist Tony Guerrero and three Latino comedy troupes: Culture Clash, Chicano Secret Service and Latins Anonymous.

Adding a touch of Hollywood glitter to the party will be Ricardo Montalban, who will serve as one of three emcees. (Ada Maris and Tony Plana are the other two.) Gonzales plays down the celebrity glamour that Montalban represents along with Raul Julia, the honorary chairman of the event (who can’t make the party in person because he is off working in Spain).

But Gonzales readily notes that Julia’s and Montalban’s association with the fund-raiser can only help publicize two programs that have been kept “a pretty good secret.” And, he emphasizes, “we don’t want it to be kept a secret any more.”

SCR’s Neighborhood Conservatory is an outreach program offering free drama instruction to children throughout the county, Gonzales says. Acting teachers are sent into multicultural communities to give two-hour classes once a week for 11 weeks.

The Hispanic Playwrights Project, which began in 1986 as part of SCR’s Collaboration Laboratory, brings emerging Latino writers to the theater every summer from all over the country to help them develop their scripts in private workshops and public readings.

“Over the last seven years we’ve had close to 640 plays submitted,” says Gonzales, who has an MFA in directing from UC Irvine and has headed the HPP program since its inception. “Of those, 50 have been workshopped, and, at last count, 17 have gotten productions around the country or here at South Coast. Some have had multiple productions.”

This summer’s gathering of playwrights, which begins Tuesday and runs until Aug. 8 at SCR, will feature public readings of “Cocks Have Claws and Wings to Fly,” by Houston’s Amparo Garcia (Aug. 7 at 7:30 p.m.); “Bitter Homes and Gardens,” by Los Angeles’ Luis Alfaro (Aug. 8 at 2:30 p.m.), and “Kuba,” by New York’s Roger Schirra (Aug. 8 at 7:30 p.m.).

For Montalban, who won an Emmy in 1978 for “How the West Was Won” but gained his widest exposure as the star of “Fantasy Island” for seven years, the chief significance of “Una Noche del Teatro” will be the support it generates for the playwrights project.

“You realize that what is not on the page is not on the stage,” he says. “The one thing we Latinos simply neglected for a long time was to encourage our young men and women to turn to writing. And therefore our roles have reflected that.

“Ever since I arrived in this country in 1945 I’ve been aware of this lack of roles for Latinos,” adds the actor, who was born and raised in Mexico. “I don’t think others know our heartbeat as we do ourselves. That’s why I applaud this movement and stand behind it. Young Latino playwrights are vitally important to our culture.”

What: “Una Noche del Teatro ‘92,” featuring music by the Latin jazz band Minimum 3 with fluegelhornist Tony Guerrero, and the Latino comedy troupes Culture Clash, Chicano Secret Service and Latins Anonymous.

When: Saturday, July 25. Reception beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Where: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.

Whereabouts: From San Diego (405) Freeway, exit at Bristol Street and go east. Turn right on Town Center Drive.

Wherewithal: Admission $25 (includes reception with open bar before performance and dessert-and-coffee buffet afterward).

Where to call: (714) 957-2602, Ext. 221.