CURRENTLY PLAYING NOVEMBER 27, 2008

Backseats & Bathroom Stalls. Rob Mersola’s late-night farce throws Generation Y Manhattanites – four men, two women – into overlapping hetero and homo matches and mismatches within the sexual trenches, also allowing a few of the characters to despair over the shallowness of it all. It’s brief and fast-paced enough not to wear out its welcome. Lyric Hyperion Theatre, Silver Lake. (323) 960-7829. plays411.com/backseats. Closes Dec. 13.

By the Waters of Babylon. In Robert Schenkkan’s two-hander, a troubled Austin widow (Shannon Cochran) hires an expatriate Cuban writer (Demian Bichir) to spruce up her garden – and, he later learns, her bed and her heart. He has his own tormented past, but – no surprise – they find a connection, which ends in a visualization of being cleansed. Forget the vigor and sweep of Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle. This wispy duet is staged well enough by Richard Seyd. Geffen Playhouse, Westwood. (310) 208-5454. GeffenPlayhouse.com. Closes Dec. 7.

Eat the Runt. Playwright/director Robert Riechel Jr. stars as a crazed fledgling playwright in Fresno, who enlists his dopey, groupie girlfriend (Victoria Engelmayer) to help him kidnap the reviewer – actually a moonlighting obit writer (Peter Leake) – who panned his opus. Riechel’s pokes at the pretensions and delusions of artistes and their hangers-on are more convincing than some of the plot twists. Hudson Guild Theater, Hollywood. (323) 960-7721. plays411/com/runt. Closes Dec. 13. 

Fata Morgana. Director Marilyn Fox dusted off Ernest Vajda’s 1915 comedy about an 18-year-old Hungarian (Michael Hanson) who’s coming of age at a remote country estate. He’s momentarily swept away – and apparently deflowered during the first intermission – by a glamorous Budapest relative (Ursula Brooks), who’s 10 years older and shamelessly pampered by her hard-charging husband (Scott Conte). A few too many minor characters burden the narrative, but the heart of the play is persuasively bittersweet. Pacific Resident Theatre, Venice. (310) 822-8392. PacificResidentTheatre.com. Closes Dec. 21. 

Gem of the Ocean. August Wilson’s 2003 play is set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1904, in the home of the legendary Methuselah-like sage Aunt Ester (Juanita Jennings). Assisted by her young housekeeper (Tene Carter Miller) and handyman (Jeris Lee Poindexter), Ester washes the souls of people who seek her out, including a young sojourner (Keith Arthur Bolden) who fears he might have been responsible for another man’s death. But the plot arbitrarily pivots in the direction of an ex-slave (the magnetic Adolphus Ward), who is determined to rescue his sister from the Jim Crow South, but not before infuriating the local black political boss (Rodney Gardiner). The script is a mixed bag, with supernatural elements side by side with down-to-earth comedy. Director Ben Bradley successfully overcomes small-theater design limitations. Fountain Theatre, southeast Hollywood. (323) 663-1525. FountainTheatre.com .Dark  Dec. 22-Jan. 8. Closes Feb. 22.

Hamlet. Young Hamlet (Freddy Douglas) has started cutting himself since the death of his father. When he investigates reports of his father’s ghost’s appearance, he sees only images of…himself – Douglas also plays the Ghost, throwing his voice in a kind of Jekyll-and-Hyde routine. In other words, this prince’s feigned craziness might not be entirely feigned. Still, in Michael Michetti’s eerily effective staging, there’s no questioning of the basic facts. Gertrude (Deborah Strang) appears even more convinced of her new husband’s guilt than usual. Maybe it’s the way this Claudius (Francois Giroday) combines an eccentrically flamboyant look with such explosive tantrums. Anyway, when Gertrude takes her fatal drink, it’s as if she’ll do anything to prevent her son from falling into her husband’s traps. Plenty of interesting ideas percolate in Michetti’s somewhat stripped-down staging (only 10 actors, no Fortinbras), and the cast is terrific, including ANW newcomer but longtime local favorite Tony Abatemarco as the busybody Polonius. Contemporary touches in the visual and sound design add a sleek, modern patina. I was annoyed only by a decision to bring Dorothea Harahan back as an extra, more or less, after her Ophelia has drowned. Or maybe she’s actually supposed to be her own ghost? But she says nothing. The final torment on Ophelia’s face is too indelible for us to pretend later that we can’t spot her there in the back row and wonder why Michetti brought her back. A Noise Within, Glendale. (818) 240-0910. ANoiseWithin.org. Closes Dec. 7.

 Joe’s Garage. This Pat Towne/Michael Franco adaptation of Frank Zappa’s album (1979), musically directed by Ross Wright, provides a few lively moments of rock spectacle but not much of a coherent story or a prescient satirical parable. Even after Bush/Cheney, Zappa’s scenario about music being banned feels remote – in many ways, music is more accessible than ever. Zappa’s shaggy-dog story depicts Joe (vigorous Jason Paige) constantly watched by a Central Scrutinizer (a cutely cheesy puppet), but the tale itself can’t withstand the scrutiny it receives in this format. It’s no surprise that a plaintive cut from the original album, played in darkness with no actors on stage, is the most effective moment. Open Fist Theatre, Hollywood. (323) 882-6912. openfist.org. Closes Dec. 20.

The Joy Luck Club. Susan Kim’s cumbersome dramatization of Amy Tan’s novel about four Chinese American mother-daughter relationships, with scenes spread over decades in both the old and the new countries, is a difficult challenge for director Jon Lawrence Rivera. Although there are some good moments, the overall impression is that the material is too sprawling, episodic and diffuse for a 130-minute script. Nathan Wang’s incidental musical score, performed live, tries to help unite the various pieces but instead serves mainly to underline the studied somberness. With 11 actors playing from two to four roles apiece, it all becomes something of a blur. East West Players at David Henry Hwang Theater, Little Tokyo. (213) 625-7000. eastwestplayers.org. Closes Dec. 21.

Leaving Iowa. A middle-aged reporter (Kevin Symons) returns to his Midwestern roots for two road trips – a literal one, in search of the ideal spot to scatter the ashes of his father (Gregory North), and a voyage down memory lane, as he recalls an excruciating family excursion led by his father three decades earlier, with vital roles played by mom (Jill Brennan) and kid sister (Erin Bennett). This Tim Clue/Spike Manton creation has a funny, sharp, cartoonish texture but also succeeds in demonstrating that even the cheesiest Americana can become glowingly nostalgic within the context of family. Laguna Playhouse, Laguna Beach. (949) 497-2787. LagunaPlayhouse.com. Closes Dec. 14.

Lions. The lower-middle-class regulars at a Detroit bar meet to monitor the success of their mostly beloved gridiron team (hence the title), but they gradually disintegrate in their private lives, thanks to a dead-end economy and a variety of personal shortcomings. The focal point is the unemployed John “Spook” Waite (Matt McKenzie), who’s bedeviled by Loman-like thoughts of the roads not taken. In one explosive scene, his wife (Valerie Dillman) invades his lair and confronts him. Most of the characterizations are well-observed, under the direction of Guillermo Cienfuegos. But like many barroom plays, Vince Melocchi’s needs a vigorous trim, which could make way for clarification about how Waite finally obtains a job and how it plays out. Pacific Resident Theatre, Venice. (310) 822-8392. PacificResidentTheatre.com. Closes Dec. 7. 

The Little Dog Laughed. And so does the audience at Douglas Carter Beane’s tale of homophobic hypocrisy in Hollywood (why, then, is most of the play set in New York?). A brazenly manipulative and tirelessly witty agent (Julie White) tries to steer her upcoming movie star (Brian Henderson) away from his closet romance with a genial hustler (Johnny Galecki), whose complications include a sometime girlfriend (Zoe Lister-Jones). The monologues, dialogues and quartets crackle, and the final plot twist is audacious. Director Scott Ellis brought two of his original New York actors to this Center Theatre Group revival. Just grin and bear Beane’s/the agent’s uninformed wisecrack about L.A. theater. Kirk Douglas Theatre, Culver City. (213) 628-2772. CenterTheatreGroup.org. Closes Dec. 21. 

Louie & Keely Live at the Sahara: This extraordinary bio-musical, about the postwar lounge duo that consisted of the jittery dervish Louis Prima (Jake Broder) and his deadpan-wielding wife Keely Smith (Vanessa Claire Smith), is now in a slightly larger venue than the Sacred Fools Theatre where it originated. Maybe because of the position of my seat in each of the venues, I felt as if I couldn’t see the stage-left blocking as well as I could the first time. Still, that’s a minor matter, compared to the jazzy jolt of adrenalin that rules this show. The two primary actors wrote the show for themselves, but it gallops past the limitations of most showcases and star bios to become an exquisite evocation of the joys and the sorrows of a performance-obsessed life, staged by Jeremy Aldridge. The stars and Dennis Kaye’s onstage, seven-man band bring breathless revelations to 16 oft-heard standards. Matrix Theatre, Melrose district. (800) 838-3006. louiskeelyshow.com. Closes Dec. 21.

Miss Witherspoon. Satirist Christopher Durang follows a deeply depressed woman (brilliant Kelly Lloyd) into the after-life, saddling her with unpleasant reincarnations and encounters with other, more famous souls, when all she really wants is to just fade away. Yes, it’s hilarious. Durang veers into some of his snappy dismantlings of various religions as well as less cosmic matters, before he ends the odyssey on a sweetly upbeat note. In Joel Swetow’s brisk staging for West Coast Ensemble, Pia Ambardar’s spirit guide is a calming counterpoint to the central character’s high anxiety, and Andrew Morris, Sara J. Stuckey and LeShay Tomlinson-Boyce are superb in supporting roles. El Centro Theatre, Hollywood. (323) 460-4443. tix.com. Closes Dec. 14.

Oliver Twist. This is NOT the musical Oliver!, a school production of which happened to be playing about three blocks away on the night when I saw Neil Bartlett’s newer version of the Charles Dickens classic. Fagin’s ending is decidedly unhappier here. However, Julia Rodriguez-Elliott’s staging is musical, thanks to David O’s haunting (and occasionally amusing) choral and rhythmic refrains and strolling violinist Endre Balogh. Be prepared to suspend more disbelief than usual in the casting of Oliver (Brian Dare) and the Dodger (Shaun Anthony), who look like young adults, not kids. But Tom Fitzpatrick’s Fagin, Geoff Elliott’s Sikes and Jill Hill’s Nancy are all convincing, and Ken Booth’s lighting makes everything look atmospheric. This production approaches, but doesn’t quite reach, the company’s previous rendition of Dickens’ Great Expectations. A Noise Within, Glendale. (818) 240-0910. ANoiseWithin.org. Closes Dec. 14. 

The Rainmaker. N. Richard Nash’s 1954 drama focuses on a young Western woman (Bridget Flanery), beleaguered by the excessive fretting of her father (Mitchell Edmonds) and brothers about her lack of a beau. A charismatic con man (Bo Foxworth) improves her self-image with some romantic hokum. It isn’t very convincing, though the fault is Nash’s, not director Andrew J. Traister’s. A Noise Within, Glendale. (818) 240-0910. anoisewithin.org. Closes Dec. 6. 

The School of Night. Christopher Marlowe (Gregory Wooddell) is the primary focus of an otherwise unfocused 1992 drama by British playwright Peter Whelan, set 400 years earlier, amid Elizabethan intrigues. Whelan offers a provocative take on the young Shakespeare (John Sloan), but more often the play remains mired in a talky bog that won’t interest non-academic audiences. Bill Alexander directs. This makes two largely irrelevant play choices out of two at the re-opened Taper. Mark Taper Forum, Music Center, downtown L.A. (213) 628-2772. CenterTheatreGroup.org. Closes Dec. 17.

 Song of Extinction. EM Lewis attracted notice last year with Heads, a gripping drama about Iraq hostages. Now working in a considerably more nuanced vein, she examines mortality on three, ingeniously connected layers. A woman (Lori Yeghiayan) is told by her doctor that she has only about a week to live. Her husband (Michael Shutt) is preoccupied with the potential eradication of an endangered Bolivian insect he has been studying. And their troubled teenage son (Will Faught) receives crisis counseling from his biology teacher (Darrell Kunitomi), a Cambodian émigré whose memories of his country’s genocide are never far from his thoughts. Heidi Helen Davis’ staging for Moving Arts elegantly prods us toward a more considered awareness of the inevitability that all good things must come to an end, with expert contributions from an incidental score by Geoffrey Pope, evocative scenic design by Stephanie Kerley Schwartz and impeccable performances by a gifted cast. [Inside] the Ford, Cahuenga Pass, Hollywood. (323) 461-3673. FordTheatres.org. Closes Dec. 14.

Spring Awakening. Frank Wedekind’s once-scandalous 1890 play becomes a vibrant 21^st century musical. The German teenagers still look as if they’re in 1890, but they express their feelings about S-E-X and other verboten subjects through a contemporary alt-rock score by Duncan Sheik and hectic, jerky choreography by Bill T. Jones. The story’s tragic, and a closing chorus tries to transcend all that angst, not quite successfully. But Michael Mayer’s staging is ingenious, despite a venue that’s too large. And this cast’s Wendla, Christy Altomare, is better – more artlessly innocent – than her original counterpart in New York . Ahmanson Theatre, Music Center. Downtown L.A. (213) 628-2772. CenterTheatreGroup.org. Closes Dec. 7.

Wicked. Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty, who were the first to play the Wicked Witch and Glinda in the long-running L.A. production of the musical steamroller, return to Oz for the rest of the run. Stephen Schwartz’s score and Winnie Holzman’s script (from Gregory Maguire’s novel) are simultaneously tongue in cheek and heart on sleeve, with Joe Mantello’s propulsive staging providing plenty of wizardry. Pantages Theatre, Hollywood. (213) 365-3500. BroadwayLA.org. Closes Jan. 11.

The Year of the Hiker. On an Irish farm in 1960, the former man of the house (Barry Lynch) returns to his wife (Rebecca Wackler) their now-grown sons (Shawn Savage, Zack Gold) and just-marrying daughter (Amanda Deibert), plus his unmarried sister-in-law (Josie DiVincenzo), after an unexplained 20-year absence. John B. Keane’s script does offer an explanation, of sorts, in the second act, but it’s not especially convincing. Sean Branney’s production is solidly acted. Theatre Banshee, Burbank. (818) 846-5323. theatrebanshee.org. Closes Dec. 7.