‘Murder’ Revisited

Not satisfied with the 1995 film version of his script, “Murder in the First,” Dan Gordon turned it into a play, whose world premiere is now running at the Laurel Theatre in Ventura, extended through July 2.

Gordon, a Ventura County resident, wrote the film a quarter-century after reading of the event that inspired it.

“It referred to the ‘Trial of Alcatraz,’ ” Gordon said last week. “I researched it and found that the jury found the prison culpable in the murder because of the conditions and the torture that the murderer [an inmate] was put under while he was in solitary confinement.”

For the next couple of decades, Gordon--who mentioned an early job as a “singing fishmonger” on the Santa Monica pier--worked his way up the film industry flagpole: as an actor with his own repertory company in East Los Angeles; then as writer, producer or occasional director of TV shows, including “Highway to Heaven,” and films, including “Tank” (1984), “Passenger 57” (1992), “Surf Ninjas” (1993), “Wyatt Earp” (1994) and the recent “The Hurricane.”

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Objecting to what he considered excessive violence, among other things, in the “Murder in the First” film, Gordon wrote a novelization of his script, then the play. Originally, it was to be presented at El Portal Theater in North Hollywood; the deal fell through, Gordon says, when construction delays forced a cancellation. Then the Gold Coast Performing Arts Assn. announced it would produce the play in association with Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre. When Gold Coast dropped out, Rubicon took full responsibility.

“It’s far enough from L.A. that if [the production] wasn’t good, we could keep it quiet,” Gordon said, “and close enough that, if we were good, we could make some noise about it.”

Rubicon operates in a renovated church, which led to production problems, noted director Linda Gray.

“The opening sentence of Dan’s script has the curtain opening, revealing five sets on the stage,” Gray said. “When I first saw the theater, I noticed that there is no curtain and no room for five sets. I asked myself, ‘Do I quit now?’ ”

She didn’t--crediting set designer Jeff Rack and lighting director Kathi O’Donohue for helping to restage the action.

According to Gordon, Gray and the Rubicon’s Karyl Lynn Burns, “Murder in the First” has been receiving uniformly hearty audience reaction.

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Gray corralled her longtime “Dallas” co-star and occasional “Love Letters” partner, Larry Hagman, to perform in much of the run in a relatively minor role, with stars Ted Neeley and Joseph Fuqua as the characters played on screen by Kevin Bacon and Christian Slater.

She acknowledges that this is her first attempt at directing a stage play. Yes, she had directed episodes of “Dallas,” and yes, she and Gordon are romantically involved. But, Gordon said, “If I wanted to give [her] a present, I’d give her jewelry. This is business. I can honestly say that Linda came into it because this was the best person for the job.”

Yet Gray said she regards the project as a gift--one she “wanted to return, with ribbons around it,” which she seems to have done.

Handling the temporary mid-run replacement of Hagman by Dana Elcar, she and Gordon have been (in their word) “tweaking” throughout the run.

How has it turned out? Well enough that Gordon, who had intended to produce the play in one other city before taking it to London or New York, says that as far as he’s concerned, he’s ready to eliminate the middle step. “We’ve had interest from several parties,” he said. “And there couldn’t be a better director.”

DETAILS

“Murder in the First” continues Wednesday-Saturday at 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. though July 2 at the Laurel Theatre, 1006 E. Main St. in Ventura. Tickets are $32.50 ($27.50 seniors) Friday and Saturday evenings; $27.50 ($22.50 seniors) Wednesday, Thursday and matinees. For reservations and casting updates, call 667-2900 weekdays between noon and 5 p.m.

Todd Everett can be reached at teverett@concentric.net.