Laguna Takes Its Show on the Road

The Laguna Playhouse production of “The Belle of Amherst,” seen there in September, is considerably closer to the real Amherst (in Massachusetts) these days. Today the show finishes six nights in Nyack, N.Y., and it’ll do a one-nighter on Monday in Albany. The first national tour ever co-produced by the playhouse will then move on to Providence, R.I.; Springfield, Mass.; and Boston.

For those who would prefer Laguna Beach in January over anywhere north of Florida, that may not sound like an enviable journey. But for Laguna Playhouse executive director Richard Stein, the tour of the solo show about Emily Dickinson, starring Julie Harris, is “well worth doing, not only financially, but because it’s spreading our name around the country.”

Indeed, the tour is visiting every corner of the continental U.S. Its first stop after the Laguna launch was a three-week run in Seattle; in March it will play in St. Petersburg, Fla. Harris already performed for 10 days in Wilmington, Del., and she’ll come relatively close to the Southland again with a March 20-25 engagement in Scottsdale, Ariz. She’ll do springtime gigs in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania before closing--at least for now--with two stops in New Jersey in April.

Laguna got the rights for its presentation of “Belle” from commercial co-producer Don Gregory, who lives in Newport Beach and frequently attends shows at the playhouse. The agreement required the playhouse to do most of the production work for the tour following the Laguna run, Stein said. Funds for the tour were raised by Gregory, so Laguna’s money isn’t at risk--in fact, Laguna gets a fee for its production services, the amount of which Stein wouldn’t disclose. Laguna’s responsibilities include the hiring of five behind-the-scenes personnel who go on the road, as well as the tour’s bookkeeping. A prominent tour booker, Columbia Artists, did the actual booking.

Laguna’s fee is not contingent on how well the tour does at the box office--although Stein said it was doing well so far.

Stein emphasized that he believes the tour will indirectly serve local audiences by enhancing Laguna’s ability to secure projects it might want in the future. “Our primary mission is not to serve Muncie,” he said.

GARLAND TIME: The Garland Awards for West Coast theater achievement, presented annually since 1998 by the trade newspaper Back Stage West, are becoming more prestigious this year.

To receive one of this year’s awards, a show or artist must be mentioned on at least three lists submitted by the 37 Back Stage West critics--compared with a minimum of two in previous years. Also, the number of shows and artists who can be mentioned by each critic has declined to only five in each category except performances, where 10 are allowed.

This means fewer awards--73 this year, compared with 200 last year. And that translates to “more cachet, more of a spotlight on the winners,” said Rob Kendt, the newspaper’s editor.

Those who fondly remember the annual awards issued by Drama-Logue, the predecessor and then the rival of Back Stage West before the two papers merged--may not be happy with this turn of events.

In its final year, 1998, Drama-Logue presented 914 awards. You could win one simply if you were deemed worthy by the one Drama-Logue critic who reviewed your show--even if none of the paper’s other critics saw it. Many poorly paid artists thought this was swell--at least the honor could be cited in the program bios of future shows. But others thought that the number of awards devalued each one. “I think L.A. theater has grown up a little since then,” Kendt said.

The new Garland requirements also mean that this year’s awards are more L.A.-oriented. Last year, only half of the Garlands went to L.A. productions. Because 21 of the Back Stage West’s critics are L.A.-based, however, it became harder this year for out-of-town productions to attract the minimum number of three critics to their shows. Only seven of the 73 winners are from shows that didn’t play in the L.A. area.

Kendt played himself in one of the award-winning shows this year: Cornerstone Theater Company’s “For Here or to Go?” at the Mark Taper Forum. Although he disqualified himself from voting for the show, his colleagues nevertheless awarded the cast a Garland for ensemble performance, which means Kendt will be one small part of an award-winner. “It’s a little embarrassing,” he said.

The top winners: “The Berlin Circle” with six awards, “In Flagrante Gothicto” with five and “Metamorphoses” with four.

The ceremony takes place Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Admission is free. Information: (323) 692-6015.