Artscape

CAMINO REAL PLAYHOUSE

31776 El Camino Real

San Juan Capistrano

(949) 489-8082

https://www.caminorealplayhouse.org

(Shows play weekends only)

* “Inspecting Carol” by Daniel Sullivan and the Seattle Repertory Theatre--Dec. 1-17

* “Sylvia” by A.R. Gurney--Jan. 5-27. A romantic comedy about a marriage and a dog.

* “Deadwood Dick” by Tom Taggart--March 9-31.

* “Dracula: The Musical?” by Rick Abbot--May 4-26

* “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare--July 6-22.

THE CURTIS THEATRE

1 Civic Center Circle

Brea

(714) 990-7722

https://www.ci.brea.ca.us

Box office hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; one hour before curtain

* “Christmas in a Celtic Land by Golden Bough”--Dec. 8-9. A program of old-style Celtic music and dance, with flute, fiddle, bells, percussion and vocal harmonies.

* “The Forgotten Carols with Glenn Yarbrough”--Dec. 10. Story and song by Michael McLean and performed by Glenn Yarbrough.

* Kenny Rankin--Feb. 3. Kenny Rankin helped define the singer/songwriter movement in the ‘70s and has been writing and recording ever since.

* “Cirque Oh So LA” by Mad Chad Taylor--Feb. 16-18. Comedian juggler from Los Angeles.

* “The Diary of Anne Frank” by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett--March 2-18. The true story of teenager Anne Frank is brought to life in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning drama.

* B.J. Ward in “Stand-Up Opera”--March 30-31. Singer-comedian performs well-known operatic arias.

* “Late Nite Catechism” by Maripat Donovan and Vicki Quade--April 20-22. Catechism classes were never this much fun.

* Kathak Dance of India--April 28. Anjani’s Kathak Dance of India, an ensemble of musicians and dancers, perform the dynamic, vibrant, intriguing and captivating classical Kathak-style dance of India.

* “The Memory of All That--An Evening of George Gershwin”--May 5. Rich with anecdotal insights into Gershwin’s personal life.

* ODC/San Francisco--May 11-12. Hailed by Dance Magazine, ODC is renowned for its high-energy technique and eclectic musical palette.

* “Noises Off” by Michael Frayn--May 18 through June 3. Farce-within-a-farce adventure.

CYPRESS CIVIC THEATRE GUILD

5172 Orange Ave.

Cypress

(714) 229-6796

* “Arsenic and Old Lace” by Joseph Kesselring--Jan. 26 through Feb. 17. A comedy about two charming but murderous sisters and a nephew who tries to make sense of his crazy family.

* “Moon Over Buffalo” by Ken Ludwig--March 23 through April 14. Two actors are given one last shot at theater’s big time by touring with a repertory company.

* “The Snow Ball” by A.R. Gurney--May 18 through June 9. A group of middle-age friends yearning for the old days comes together to revive an annual ballroom gala.

FULLERTON CIVIC LIGHT OPERA

218 W. Commonwealth Ave.

Fullerton

(714) 879-1732

https://www.fclo.com

* “The Will Rogers Follies”--Feb. 16 through March 4. Book by Peter Stone; music composed and arranged by Cy Coleman; lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. A fast-paced, colorful story about Will Rogers that won six Tony Awards.

* “My Fair Lady”--May 11-27. Book and lyrics by Alan J. Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe. Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion.” A brilliant, crotchety linguist tries to transform a cockney girl.

* “Swingtime Canteen”--July 13-29. Book by Linda Thorsen Bond, William Repicci and Charles Busch; orchestrations and vocal arrangements by Bob McDowell; special material by Dick Gallagher. A sentimental look at the World War II-era.

GROVE THEATER CENTER

12852 Main St.

Garden Grove

(714) 741-9555

Box Office Hours: Tuesday-Sunday noon-6 p.m.; one hour before curtain

* “Butlers, Bobbies and Boobs” by Ron House--February. Based on the playwright’s true-life experiences as a teenager serving as under-butler in the household of Klaus Van Bulow.

HUNTINGTON BEACH PLAYHOUSE

7111 Talbert Ave.

Huntington Beach

(714) 375-0696

https://www.hbph.com

Box Office Hours: Monday 4:30-8 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday 8 p.m.; Thursday 1-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 1-5 p.m.

* “Cabaret”--Jan. 12 through Feb. 11. Book by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson; music by John Kander; lyrics by Fred Ebb

* “Daddy’s Dyin’ (Who’s Got the Will?) by Del Shores--March 2-25

* “Blithe Spirit” by Noel Coward--April 20 through May 13

* “The Odd Couple” by Neil Simon--June 1-24

* “Merry Wives of Windsor” by William Shakespeare--June 30 through July 22

* “Personals” by David Crane, Seth Friedman and Marta Kauffman--July 27 through Aug. 26

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE

606 Laguna Canyon Road

Laguna Beach

949-497-2787

https://www.lagunaplayhouse.com.

* “Enter the Guardsman”--Continues through Dec. 3. Book by Scott Wentworth; music by Craig Bohmler; lyrics by Marion Adler. Based on “The Guardsman” by Ferenc Molnar. A “film noir” musical, “Guardsman” is a romantic comedy about a recently married show-business couple whose relationship has lost its bloom. (West Coast premiere)

* “The Price” by Arthur Miller--Jan. 6 through Feb. 4. Previews Jan. 2-5. In a New York attic, two brothers are brought together after many years to sort through their parents’ belongings.

* “Who’s Hot, Who’s Not” by Sherwood Kiraly--Feb. 24 through March 25. Previews Feb. 20-23. This commissioned play by Laguna Beach writer Kiraly, based on his novel of the same name, depicts the surprise transformation of a celebrity gossip magazine publisher who, on a lark, kidnaps a homeless woman on Laguna Canyon Road to win a rush-hour race to L.A. by taking the carpool lane. (World premiere)

* “American Buffalo” by David Mamet--June 2 through July 1. Previews May 29 through June 1. Three inept crooks bungle their planned heist of a rare coin.

MAIN STREET PLAYERS

600 N. Main St.

Santa Ana

(714) 547-1872

* “The Christmas Show”--Dec. 15-17. An evening of holiday memories

* “The Mikado” by Gilbert and Sullivan--March 16-April 1.

* “Stepping Out”--July 13-22. This British farce about a determined tap class is full of music and dance. The tale of Wendy, Michael and John and their adventures in Never Never Land

NEW VOICES

PLAYWRIGHTS THEATRE

Santa Ana

(949) 225-4125

https://www.mbuss.com/newvoice.htm

Details to be announced on Web site, including upcoming Christmas show.

ORANGE COUNTY PLAYWRIGHTS

ALLIANCE

P.O. Box 6154

Fullerton

(714) 850-1176

https://www.ocpaplaywrights.org

* Orange County Playwrights Alliance Benefit--Dec. 3. Staged readings of four to five one-act plays at Leisure World, Laguna Woods. Reservations required.

* “Forward into the Past”--Late January. Staged readings of plays with historical themes.

* “And Nothing but the Truth”--Mid-March. Staged readings of plays about honesty and dishonesty.

* “Page to Stage Festival”--Mid-May. Workshop performances of the first-, second- and third-place winners of OCPA’s statewide contest for one-act works by California playwrights.

READERS REPERTORY THEATER

2242C Via Puerta

Laguna Hills

(949) 206-9674

https://www.employees.org/~jillkat

/rrtnewseason.html

* “State of the Union by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse--Today, 1 p.m. at Vanguard Theatre Ensemble, 699A S. State College Blvd., Fullerton.

* “Rosmersholm” by Henrik Ibsen--January

* “Valley Song” by Athol Fugard--February

* “The Zoo Story” by Edward Albee--March

* “The American Clock” by Arthur Miller--April

* “Kindertransport” by Diane Samuels--May

RUDE GUERRILLA THEATER COMPANY

The Empire Theater

200 N. Broadway

Santa Ana

(714) 547-4688

https://www.nervenob.com/rude/index.html

* “Regali, Fantasmi e Canti” (Gifts, Ghosts and Songs)--Dec. 1-17. Scruglioni makes life unbearable for his three servants, but in this commedia dell’arte-style comedy, they take a page from Charles Dickens, dress up as ghosts and give him a little payback.

* “October” by Brook Stowe--Jan. 19 through Feb. 4. A waitress, fleeing a crime with her drug-addled boyfriend, finds herself mysteriously transported to the disintegrating desert home of a forgotten couple, shadowed by the specter of a young Lee Harvey Oswald. (World premiere)

* “Shopping & . . .” by Mark Ravenhill--Feb. 16 through March 11. The lives of a drug dealer, an addict, a male prostitute and two club kids intersect in this explicit black comedy. (Orange County premiere) (Rights pending)

* “House of Yes” by Wendy MacLeod--March 23 through April 15. A brother and sister’s Kennedy assassination fetish takes a violent turn when the brother brings his new girlfriend home to visit. (Rights pending)

* “The Chemistry of Change” by Marleen Meyer--April 27 through May 13. An offbeat comedy about a family of misfits whose lives are forever changed by the arrival of a smooth-talking stranger. (Rights pending)

* Keith Neilson Play Festival--May 25 through June 10. Several Beckett-esque one-act plays by Cal State Fullerton English professor Keith Neilson. “Kiss of the Spiderwoman” by Manuel Puig--July 20 through Aug. 12. Puig’s theatrical adaptation of his novel about a gay window dresser and a political activist sharing a South American prison cell. (Rights pending)

* “The Swan” by Elizabeth Egloff--Continues through Dec. 2. A swan crashes through the plate glass window of a woman’s home, transforming into a young man in this surreal fairy tale for adults. (Rights pending)

SAN CLEMENTE

COMMUNITY THEATRE

Cabrillo Playhouse, 202 Avenida Cabrillo, San Clemente

(949) 492-0465

https://san-clemente.com/cabrilloplayhouse

* “An O. Henry Christmas,” adapted by Peter Ekstrom--Nov. 30 through Dec. 17

* “Wait Until Dark” by Frederick Knott--Feb. 8 through March 4

* “Agnes of God” by John Pielmeier--April 5-29

* “On Golden Pond” by Ernest Thompson--May 24 through June 17

SHAKESPEARE ORANGE COUNTY

At Waltmar Theatre

301 E. Palm Ave.

Orange

(714) 997-6812

(714) 997-6813

* “A Shakespearean Christmas”--Dec. 16

* “Othello”--June-July

* “As You Like It”--July-August

SOUTH COAST REPERTORY

655 Town Center Drive

Costa Mesa

(714) 708-5555

https://www.scr.org

Mainstage

* “Art” by Yasmina Reza--Ends today. This international hit humorously explores identity, peer pressure and the strange lure of popular culture as three men find their friendship threatened by a feud over an expensive, colorless painting.

* “A Delicate Balance” by Edward Albee--Jan. 5 through Feb. 11. This Pulitzer Prize-winning drama follows a couple who discover their complacent marriage no longer protects them from fear of the unknown.

* “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare--Feb. 23 through April 1. An air of celebration fills the Italian countryside as Beatrice and Benedick find their way to happiness.

* “Kimberly Akimbo” By David Lindsay-Abaire--April 6 through May 13. Kimberly is a 16-year-old with an extraordinary condition that makes her old beyond her years, living in a dangerously eccentric family that would age anyone. (World premiere)

* “The Beard of Avon” by Amy Freed--June 1 through July 1. This play asks if it was really the Bard who wrote those famous plays. (World premiere)

Second Stage:

* “The Countess” by Gregory Murphy--Continues through Dec. 3. The story of 19th-century art, critic John Ruskin, his wife, Effie, and his protege, John Everett Millais.

* “Bosoms and Neglect” by John Guare--Jan. 23 through Feb. 25. In this dark comedy, two therapy patients discover each other while their doctor is away.

* “The Lonesome West,” by Martin McDonagh--March 13 through April 15

* “Tom Walker” by John Strand--April 24 through May 27. Inspired by an American folk tale, “Tom Walker” is the story of a man who bargains with the devil. (West Coast premiere)

Holiday Shows

* “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens--Saturday through Dec. 24. Celebrate the spirit of an old-fashioned Christmas as SCR presents the 20th annual production of this classic.

* “La Posada Magica”--Dec. 8-24. By Octavio Solis with music by Marcos Loya. Inspired by the traditional Hispanic enactment of the travels of the Holy Family.

TRILOGY PLAYHOUSE

2930 Bristol St., Bldg. C-106

Costa Mesa

(714) 957-3347, Ext. 1

https://trilogyplayhouse.go.cc

Box office hours: Friday 6-8 p.m.; Saturday noon-2 p.m.; 30 minutes before performances

Shows play weekends only

* “A Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas Tail” by A.A. Milne--Dec. 8-23

* “Arsenic and Old Lace” by Joseph Kesselring--Feb. 9-25. A dark comedy about two kooky sisters’ peculiar habit and the trouble it causes their nephew.

* “The Secret Garden” by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon--March 16 through April 8. Joyous story about the blossoming of the Earth and the human spirit.

* “Ruthless!” by Joel Paley and Marvin Laird--May 25 through June 17. Spoof of a Broadway brat--a story filled with absurd plot twists and multiple identities.

* “Anne of Green Gables” by Joseph Robinette--Aug. 17 through Sept. 2. The children’s classic about an orphan girl and her austere guardian.

* “Forever Plaid” by Stuart Ross--Nov. 30 through Dec. 22. Returning from “beyond,” four young men give the ‘50s concert they only dreamed of giving in life.

WEST COAST TEN-MINUTE PLAY PROJECT

P.O. Box 18438

Irvine

(949) 552-6256

https://www.calactors.com/upnt.htm

* West Coast Ten-Minute Play Festival--June