Serious theater and Snoopy too

Six years ago, Nick DeGruccio was an actor who never had considered directing. Now he is a rising notable, nominated in both of the Ovation Awards’ directing categories -- for a play (“The Laramie Project”) and a musical (“Side Show”), both staged at his longtime home base, the Colony Theatre Company in Burbank. At 41, he is making his directorial debut for an established regional theater, overseeing the West Coast premiere of the musical “The Spitfire Grill,” which runs Saturday-Dec. 1 at the Laguna Playhouse.

How does knowing that more people will see “The Spitfire Grill” than any show you’ve directed affect your approach?

DeGruccio: It doesn’t at all. I serve the play as I know how. I don’t think of how many people will see it.

Besides directing a drama, two musicals and a concert version of “How Now, Dow Jones” this year, you played Snoopy in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” That’s pretty wide-ranging.

DeGruccio: I live for the extremes of this business and letting your imagination go wild. You can go from something so special and amazing as “The Laramie Project” to playing everybody’s favorite dog.

East Coast critics have complained that the musical adaptation of “The Spitfire Grill” lost the darkness and complexity that tinged the original film drama.

DeGruccio: I understand what they’re saying, because the movie is definitely darker. I can only assume it was changed to make it more accessible. But a good musical is a good musical, regardless whether it is dark or challenging. We’re going with the script, of course, but we’re mining every possible event or character flaw to explore the darker possibilities. It’s a story of redemption and healing, and I just love the lost-lives-reclaimed thing.

Have you been daydreaming about winning both best director Ovations on Nov. 24?

DeGruccio: Sure, you sit there and formulate how you think it’s going to go, you play out the scenes. Both casts are coming with me; it’s mostly to celebrate the incredible year we’ve had together. You try to be really cool -- “It’s just awards” -- and of course, you’re ecstatic.