STAGE / NANCY CHURNIN : Pasadena May Extend Poway Ties

Pasadena Playhouse, which signed a two-year agreement to produce its shows at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts this year, will probably exercise its option to produce in the Poway Center for the Performing Arts through 1997.

A decision will be made within 30 days, according to Lars Hansen, Pasadena’s executive director. And with sales for its first season at Poway on target, the relationship is likely to continue.

“We set a goal of having 5,000 subscribers in the audience, filling 28% of the house,” Hansen said. “We’re at 4,300 and we’re still three weeks before we start performances. I think we will be right on the money, which is encouraging given the state of the economy.”

The first three-play season begins with the Preston Sturges’ comedy, “A Cup of Coffee,” Sept. 6-20. It continues with “David’s Mother,” a romantic comedy by Bob Randall, author of “Six Rms Riv Vu,” Oct. 29-Nov. 15 and ends with “Oil City Symphony,” a popular Off Broadway musical by the creators of “Pump Boys and Dinettes” Jan. 7-24.

Pasadena’s “Closer Than Ever,” which tested the waters here in July, sold to capacity. Box office is crucial to Pasadena because it bases 98% of its budget on ticket sales.

That doesn’t give the company a lot of room to fail. But it also means that Pasadena, which is in the black, is not feeling the pain of a drop in contributed income--something which many other theaters are feeling in these recessionary times.

The playhouse is, however, trying to prepare for lean times by expanding its base of support into other cities. “We’re bringing the mountain to Mohammed,” is how Hansen describes it.

It’s a bold move that might be copied by other theaters--if it works. Pasadena is also producing plays in Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre. It opens its shows at the Pasadena Playhouse, then later moves them to Poway and the Lobero Theatre, which is selling just as well as San Diego is.

“We’ve rehearsed the play and all those pre-production costs have been paid. We still have the costs of moving the play and housing the artists and developing the audience, but we’re able to achieve an economy of scale.

“Our annual budget--$8 million to $10 million--is a function of our annual sales. We live off our resources. Expanding into new communities will allow us to face the hills and the valleys and attract better artists.”

For more information, call (800) 883-PLAY.

The San Diego Repertory Theatre has received the largest grant in its 17-year history-- $700,000 over three years from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Resident Theater Initiative program.

The troupe, which operates the downtown Lyceum Stage and Lyceum Space in Horton Plaza, was one of 15 nonprofit companies to receive $7 million as part of the program that is now in its second year.

The money has been earmarked to increase Latino and African American audiences through more culturally diverse programming, non-traditional casting, marketing, internship programs and the addition of a Latino artistic associate.

The grant cannot be used for deficit reduction. However, Sam Woodhouse, the San Diego Rep’s producing director, said that he intends to use part of the grant to increase the company’s Latino and African American subscription base--which would help the theater’s longterm financial health. His specific goal is to increase the percentage of Latino subscribers from 5% to 15% and African American subscribers from 3% to 7%.

Woodhouse said that he views the grant as “a recognition of the work that we’ve done so far and a way to expand and enrich these programs.”

“For the past two years, 50% of the artists working on the Rep’s stages have been artists of color. Simultaneously, the leadership and direction of our Teatro Sin Fronteras and African American Councils have guided and provoked our efforts to broaden our audience and to expand and diversify our staff and volunteers.

“The Lila Wallace Resident Theater Initiative recognizes these efforts and provides essential funding to enable us to expand and strengthen the diversity of our programs and build our audience for the future.”

The Rep’s upcoming season features “Spunk,” George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of stories by African American writer Zora Neale Hurston and “Latins Anonymous,” an original show written and performed by Luisa Leschin, Armando Molina, Rick Najera and Diane Rodriguez, dealing with Latino issues.

In addition, Woodhouse said that the Rep is considering the addition or the substitution of a bilingual production for another show in its upcoming season. For further information, call 235-8025.

Unlike most theater companies, Sledgehammer Theatre is not content to simply design a new set for a new show at its new home, St. Cecilia’s (formerly known as the Sixth Avenue Playhouse). For its two-hour production of Erik Ehn’s seven short plays about saints opening Sept. 6, the Sledgehammer crew is in the process of redesigning the inside of the theater itself.

The one-time funeral parlor’s original stained glass windows that had long been blacked out, have been exposed. Extending over the audience is a 21-foot aluminum balance beam that spans two construction scaffold towers. Below it, a 400-square foot net will drop within a few feet of the audience when an actor leaps from the balance beam into the net. There are eight additional scaffold towers linked by a system of platforms and grids.

All of which comes in handy for the saint play that includes circus acts: “Radio Elephant” about St. Barbara.

The plays range from the historical (“Wholly Joan’s”--a West Coast premiere about St. Joan) to the contemporary “Songs from the Bone Orchard” (a world premiere about St. Cecilia written expressly for the company that deals with San Diego/Mexican border issues). The historical plays are about the saints themselves; the contemporary efforts show people praying to the saints, trying to establish communication with them.

Scott Feldsher, Sledgehammer’s artistic director, who is directing the plays, said the design work was inspired by the subject matter--it helps to get people looking upward when you touch on spiritual matters--and also by the playwright.

“Erik wrote that he thought the plays should be big and cheap,” Feldsher said. “Cheap wasn’t a problem because we don’t have any money. So we tried to make it as big as possible.”

Feldsher and Sledgehammer’s executive director, Ethan Feerst, expect the construction to continue right through to opening night.

They also hope that theatergoers will find the tickets cheap enough to suit their tastes. The previews, which begin Sept. 3, cost a modest $2.99. Regular performances, which continue through Sept. 27, cost the usual $10-$15, but, for an evening of seven plays, that’s roughly $2 a play. Call 544-1484.

PROGRAM NOTES: “The Heliotrope Bouquet,” the Eric Overmyer play that had its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse last summer, will have its New York debut at Playwrights Horizons next season. . . .

Michael Crawford will star in the San Diego Playgoers presentation of “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber” Dec. 1-6 at the San Diego Civic Theatre. Crawford will not appear at the final Sunday evening performance on Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m., although he will perform at the matinee. Call 231-8995. . . .

Starlight Musical Theatre has already extended “Camelot” through Sept. 6. The show opens tonight at the Starlight Bowl. Call 544-7827 for tickets. . . .

The Friday performance of Holly Hughes’ work-in-progress, “Snatches,” will be interpreted for the hearing impaired. The show starts at 8 p.m. The show ends Saturday with 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. shows at Sushi Performance Gallery. Call 298-4916 or 235-6152. . . .

San Diego Actors Theatre will substitute Lanford Wilson’s “Serenading Louis” for Paul Rudnick’s “I Hate Hamlet” on Monday as part of its monthly reading series at Mary Pappas’ Athens Market Restaurant. The company will also offered staged readings of Lee Blessing’s “Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music” Sept. 21 and “The Vampires” by Harry Kondoleon Oct. 29. Call 268-4494 for additional information. . . .

San Diego “Suds” stars Steve Gunderson, Melinda Gilb and Susan Mosher will star in a new revue, “Back to Bacharach,” at New York’s Steve McGraw’s--the original home of “Forever Plaid.” The company first tested the show out in a workshop production at the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre Company’s Hahn Cosmopolitan Theatre last year. . . .

Old Globe casting for “The Winter’s Tale,” opening Sept. 13 on the main stage, features a 28-person cast, including Old Globe associate artists George Deloy, Deborah May, Richard Easton, Katherine McGrath and Jonathan McMurtry.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

STRONG VOICE IN ‘MISERY’

There is an important new voice struggling to be heard in “Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery,” a San Diego premiere of Shay Youngblood’s play by the Southeast Community Theatre.

Youngblood creates a world of wise old black women advising a young black girl on her transition to womanhood. The stories that Youngblood tells are warm and witty--the characters she creates are memorable. The main frustration is that the portraits don’t go deep enough. Once introduced, you want these women to stay a while and tell you what’s really going down.

The production values were shaky on opening night, but the performances were inspired. A particular delight was the debut of Monica Gaffney as Daughter.

Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday with Sunday matinees at 2:30 through Aug. 30. Tickets are $12. At the Lyceum Space, 79 Horton Plaza, San Diego, 235-8025.