YEAR IN REVIEW 1995 : THEATER NOTES : The Whole World Was a Stage

In 1995, some of my more memorable theatrical experiences were in some of the unlikeliest places.

But first, the usual disclaimer: No one sees even half of the shows offered in any given year in this area. So don’t interpret the shows here as a “best of 1995” list.

I’m avoiding mentioning most of the more familiar, acclaimed shows. Instead, I’m concentrating on some of the unsung--or less sung--shows that nevertheless linger in my mind.

Although Padua Hills Playwrights’ Festival, the local champion of site-specific productions, died last summer, the concept of staging shows in unconventional venues lives on.

Cornerstone Theatre, for example, carved a dynamic theatrical space out of a plain vanilla building in Watts for the troupe’s “The Central Avenue Chalk Circle,” a modern adaptation of “The Caucasian Chalk Circle,” set in a war-torn California.

At one point in Bill Rauch’s staging, the back walls of the production’s primary arena were pulled back, and a child who had been smuggled to safety was allowed to run freely to the far horizon to play with other children, while the woman who loved him watched from our vantage point. Then, to our horror as well as hers, cars suddenly pulled into the distant site where the children were playing, and soldiers snatched the child away from his play and drove off. It was a harrowing, heart-stopping moment.

Michael Arabian directed Theatre InSite’s “The Trojan Women” in and around a lagoon at CBS Studio Center in Studio City last May. Greek gods and modern military vehicles alike parted the waters. At one point, a garment bag floated across the pond toward the audience. Finally beached, it opened and out stepped the glamorous Helen of Troy, in a red cocktail dress, with not a hair out of place.

Near the year’s end, a production of “Macbeth” occupied the imposing Hollywood United Methodist Church. Unlike the above examples, this one required the audience to move from site to site, following the action.

We were in the vestibule when a triumphant Macbeth returned home, Lady Macbeth swept down the stairs to greet him and they began to make love on the floor. We were in another room, watching in dismay as Lady Macduff and her children were assaulted by thugs, when suddenly the lights went out. When they came back up, our heads turned to the other side of the room and we watched Macduff get the grim news about his family. We were seated at tables in a banquet hall during the banquet scene.

Not every space in this “Macbeth” (which was directed by Michael Holmes and apparently will reopen after the holidays), served the play well; action set in the vast sanctuary got lost. If every producer tried this sort of thing, the genre would soon deteriorate into the realm of amateur theme-parksmanship. Still, in the right hands, this kind of production is intoxicating.

Unlike Padua Hills plays, all of the above productions were based primarily on classic texts instead of new ones. And they were hardly the year’s only interesting revivals. Among those with more conventional stagings, I was most surprised by Fullerton Civic Light Opera’s “The Secret Garden”--because this musical seems better every time I see it--and Occidental Theatre Festival’s alfresco “The Devil’s Disciple.” The latter, by Shaw, is a talky play that might not be expected to work very well in an outdoor amphitheater, but the Occidental production made it sing.

No new play this year took the town by storm. But beyond the usual Justin Tanner entries at the Cast, there were several that I found fascinating.

Douglas Carter Beane’s “The Country Club,” at Mojo Ensemble in Hollywood, took a bunch of whining, over-privileged young people and still made us care about them. Harry Kondoleon’s “The Houseguests,” in a vaulting Culver City space called Evidence Room, did the same thing in a more riotously surrealistic style.

Eduardo Pavlovsky’s “Senor Galindez” at Stages, West Coast Ensemble’s production of Brad Fraser’s “Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love” and Kenneth Branagh’s “Public Enemy” at the Court Theatre were funny and creepy. Lynda Barry’s “The Good Times Are Killing Me” at Long Beach Playhouse was an aptly titled, bittersweet reminiscence and “The Gay 90s” revue was a winning way of crossing the gay-lesbian gulf at Celebration Theatre. Margaret Edson’s “Wit,” at South Coast Repertory, burned with passion as well as wit.

Finally, a salute to the performers who made me laugh the most in 1995: David Fenner in “Pterodactyls,” Neil Vipond in “Habitation of Dragons,” David Margulies in “Hysteria,” Sandra Tsing Loh in her solo “Aliens in America,” Beatrice Arthur in “Bermuda Avenue Triangle.” And, yes, Jerry Lewis in “Damn Yankees.”

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Geffen Gives: The new mid-sized theater company housed at the erstwhile Westwood Playhouse announced that it will be blessed with $5 million over 10 years from music mogul David Geffen. Both the company and the venue were promptly renamed the Geffen Playhouse. His gift is believed to be the largest ever made to an already constructed nonprofit theater.

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Taper West: The Mark Taper Forum’s long search for a permanent mid-sized venue focused on Bergamot Station, a thriving gallery complex in Santa Monica, after artist-philanthropist Hiro Yamagata offered to buy two Bergamot buildings--former industrial properties--for use by the Taper. The deal still wasn’t complete at year’s end, but Taper artistic director Gordon Davidson said the resolve of all parties on the subject is “total” and that he hopes to move experimental programming, formerly presented at Taper, Too, to Bergamot by next fall.

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Long Beach S.O.S.: The Southland’s most prominent musical theater company, Long Beach Civic Light Opera, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At year’s end, a spokesman said a reorganization plan should be ready by the end of January, but he cautioned that “we are not inclined to make a quick judgment for a quick fix even if it means we may not have a full season.”

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Theater League Expands: Theater League took over the musicals series at Glendale’s Alex Theatre, in the wake of the Theatre Corp. of America’s 1994 fiasco at the same venue. Kansas City-based Theater League also brings musicals to Thousand Oaks and offered to strike yet another deal with the bankrupt Long Beach Civic Light Opera.

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Padua Hills R.I.P.: After the long-running Padua Hills Playwrights Workshop/Festival held a summer session at USC, director Murray Mednick declared that the organization is kaput.

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East West Moves Southeast: East West Players signed a 10-year lease to operate a mid-sized theater in the former Union Church in Little Tokyo and plans to move there permanently in 1996.

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Ovations Move Southeast: The second annual Ovation Awards ceremony was held at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, far from home for most of the nominees. Although “Beauty and the Beast” led in the nominations, “Master Class” won the most awards.

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More Mid-Sized Moves: Mid-sized Laguna Playhouse signed its first ongoing Actors’ Equity contract. Latino Theatre Co. staged its first mid-sized production in the Margo Albert Theatre at Plaza de la Raza. The Colony and CalRep made moves toward obtaining mid-sized venues in Burbank and downtown Long Beach, respectively.

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Ahmanson Opens: The remodeled Ahmanson Theatre opened with “Miss Saigon,” still at the hall’s former seating capacity, then downsized to 1,626 seats for “Candide,” the first Center Theatre Group production there.

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Assassinated: Although Los Angeles Theatre Center hummed with more activity than many theatergoers realized, the conspicuous failure of “Assassins” after it moved from a small LATC space to the building’s largest theater put a damper on other producers who might have followed in its footsteps.

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Equity Changes: At a sparsely attended Actors’ Equity meeting in October, members voted to put a strong clamp on the 99-Seat Theater Plan, which allows so many sub-100-seat theaters to operate in L.A., and to investigate an even more severe measure. Producers expressed outrage, and a flare-up of the Waiver Wars of the late ‘80s looms for 1996.