Tried-and-True Season Fare

In our current recession-cautious environment, conservatism appears to be the watchword among much of the fare announced for the upcoming season in the L.A. area. Take Jason Alexander's Reprise Theatre Company, for example, which in its pre-Alexander days, focused on seldom-revived musicals.

The group's most recent production was Man of La Mancha and the upcoming The Fantasticks is a replacement for the cancelled Chess, so the trend toward the tried-and-true is evident.

Now consider the recently revealed 2010 slate: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel (January), the classic Sondheim farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (March), and the vintage Frank Loesser favorite, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (May).

The closest thing to something on the fresh side is a series of cabarets, revues, symposiums, and readings celebrating the work of revered tunesmith Richard Rodgers, to take place throughout the year in various venues. This sounds quite appealing.

Several miles away, Cabrillo Music Theatre in Thousand Oaks offers its own rendition of How to Succeed (April), along with equally familiar fare (Guys and Dolls this October, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella in July, and White Christmas this December, which is arguably newer, as the stage adaptation of the film only debuted a few years ago, though its source material is  vintage holiday fare).  The one show that will likely feel new to many is the cross-dresssing comic romp The Andrews Brothers (February), from Roger Bean, the creator of the L.A. and Off-Broadway megahit The Marvelous Wonderettes.

McCoy Rigby Productions at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in Orange County opens the season with two similarly titled shows, Robert Harling's soapy Steel Magnolias (October) and Ron Hutchinson's moviemaking satire Moonlight and Magnolias (November). A fine often-produced offering is Donald Margulies' Pulitzer-winning drama Dinner With Friends (June). Not new but not produced too frequently is the C&W junkebox tuner Buddy--The Buddy Holly Story (April 2009). And the season's freshest title is the Broadway fave The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (February 2009).

It's comforting to see these venerable groups hanging in during tough times, and quite a few of the announced offerings sound enticing.

--Les Spindle