‘42nd St.,’ Lily Tomlin Set for Ahmanson

Lily Tomlin and “42nd Street” will join “The Producers” and one additional non-musical play, yet to be determined, to make up the 2002-2003 season at the Ahmanson Theatre, producer-artistic director Gordon Davidson said Tuesday. He also announced a brief return of “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk,” starring Savion Glover.

Tomlin will return to Los Angeles in a May 21-July 6, 2003 run of “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe,” her solo show written and directed by Jane Wagner. The odyssey of intertwined stories, as related by a bag lady, played the Doolittle Theatre in 1986 and the Wilshire Theatre in 1990. A slightly rewritten version appeared at Orange County Performing Arts Center in 1999, landed on Broadway in the 2000-2001 season, and recently played San Francisco.

The touring company of the recent Broadway production of the Depression-set backstage musical “42nd Street,” which won the best musical revival Tony in 2001, will visit the Ahmanson July 11-Aug. 31, 2003. Mark Bramble, who co-wrote the movie-inspired book of the tap-heavy 1980 musical about a chorine who becomes a star, directed the Broadway revival and will stage the tour.

The season’s non-musical entry, slated for December 2002, will be selected from the recent Broadway productions of “The Crucible,” “Fortune’s Fool” and “Morning’s at Seven,” Davidson said. On Sunday, Alan Bates and Frank Langella won Tony Awards for their performances in Turgenev’s “Fortune’s Fool,” but the casting in L.A. would not necessarily match that of Broadway.

Davidson said the three shows are not currently scheduled to tour but that he is trying to arrange a special Ahmanson appearance of one of the shows that would resemble the Broadway staging as closely as possible.

In addition, the Ahmanson will be bringing in two other “bonus” shows as part of its season: the previously announced return of “Mamma Mia!” to L.A., Sept. 19-Nov. 3, 2002, and a revival of “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk,” Jan. 28-Feb. 9, 2003, that will feature Glover, the tap musical’s original star and choreographer. Glover’s role was played by Derick K. Grant during the show’s previous Ahmanson run in 1998. Ahmanson and Mark Taper Forum subscribers will get a chance to buy tickets prior to the general public. As previously announced, the biggest ticket on the Ahmanson list, “The Producers,” will play the larger Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, not the Ahmanson. The Ahmanson subscribers’ dates for the musical are June 1-Aug. 24, 2003. Subscribers to the Pantages’ resident group Broadway L.A. also will receive “The Producers” as part of their subscriptions, May 6-June 1.

Davidson said that this year’s crop of possible musicals for the Ahmanson was “slim pickings.” However, “I have seven or eight musicals to choose from for the following season”--among them, the Tony-winning “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and the revival of “Oklahoma!” Regarding the Tony-winning “Urinetown, the Musical,” Davidson said it “belongs in a smaller theater” than the Ahmanson. But a “Urinetown” tour is expected in L.A. at some point in 2003.

Davidson tried to put together two home-grown productions for the Ahmanson’s next season, he said. One of them, which he would identify only as a play from around 1900, was delayed because the desired actress was not available. The other, a large-cast classic that he also declined to name, was deemed unaffordable when a co-producer or another booking could not be found. However, Davidson said the gap in the Ahmanson bookings between “Noise/Funk” in February and Tomlin’s show in May could yet be filled--although any such production would be a bonus option, not a component of the subscription season.