Dog Days Not Allowed on the Stage

The summer theatrical season opens with a bang in late May, recedes a bit in late June, returns in full fury in July, then goes through a comparative lull in August.

On May 29, shows open at three major venues: Richard Greenberg’s “Hurrah at Last” at South Coast Repertory, Culture Clash’s “Bordertown”--a docudramatic portrait of San Diego--at San Diego Repertory Theatre, and the second show at East West Players’ new mid-sized Hwang Theatre, “Heading East.”

Throw in the opening of “Coyote Woman,” the first play in more than a year from the Cast Theatre’s Justin Tanner, and La Jolla Playhouse’s launching of the solo show “Guitar Lessons: The Springhill Singing Disaster” two days later, and you’ve got one busy weekend.

The following week brings the Geffen Playhouse’s “All in the Timing,” one of the most popular sets of one-acts in America’s resident theaters, though the closest it ever got to L.A., before now, was Long Beach. Summer alfresco Shakespeare kicks off with “Romeo and Juliet” at the Theatricum Botanicum, and Kathy Buckley brings her Ovation-winning solo “Don’t Buck With Me!” back for a run at the Tiffany.

On July 7, separate companies from the same production of the musical “Chicago” will open at the Shubert and Orange County Performing Arts Center. Perhaps a rabid “Chicago” fan might want to rent a helicopter for a quick intermission commute.

July 11 is the summer’s busiest opening date, starting with an all-day marathon for the two-part epic “The Cider House Rules,” based on the John Irving novel, at the Mark Taper Forum. Meanwhile, four blocks away, Shakespeare Festival / LA opens the summer’s most site-specific event, a “Julius Caesar” set on the steps of City Hall. If you thought the acrimony inside L.A. City Hall gets hot and heavy, just wait’ll you see how the Romans handled their civic disputes.

Meanwhile, on the same night in San Diego, an “As You Like It” directed by Stephen Wadsworth (of “Changes of Heart” fame) opens at the Old Globe’s outdoor theater, followed one night later by Athol Fugard’s latest, “The Captain’s Tiger,” opening at La Jolla Playhouse (and at the Mark Taper Forum in the summer of ‘99).

Later that week, East West Players’ “Big Hunk o’ Burnin’ Love” and Shakespeare Orange County’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” with Jenna Cole, open.

July 19 marks the beginning of the first full Pasadena Playhouse season that’s been planned since new artistic director Sheldon Epps came aboard. Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter” is the initial show.

The Royal National Theatre’s production of Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” opens at the Ahmanson Theatre on July 22, starring Ian McKellen. It might make an interesting companion piece to “The Crucible,” opening at the Theatricum Botanicum Aug. 2.

Reprise! moves to a big theater for the first time on July 30, when it exports its “Wonderful Town,” seen last year at UCLA, to the Orange County Performing Arts Center, graced by Lucie Arnaz.

Four big musicals return to the Southland in August: “Peter Pan” with Cathy Rigby at the Pantages on Aug. 4, “Rent” at that oh-so-bohemian Orange County Performing Arts Center on Aug. 5, “Cats” on Aug. 18 at OCPAC, and “The Phantom of the Opera” on Aug. 30 at the Pantages.