Playhouse adds West Coast premiere to season

Tom Titus

It’s bound for Broadway, but first “The Secret Order” will pay a

visit to the Laguna Playhouse.

This West Coast premiere of a new play by Bob Clyman will fill the

previously unannounced slot in the playhouse’s current season,

running from May 27 through June 29, according to the theater’s

executive director, Richard Stein.

“The Secret Order” focuses on a cancer researcher laboring in

relative obscurity at a Midwestern university who achieves an

apparent breakthrough. But his big break proves to be much more than

he had bargained for.

“Snapped up by one of the nation’s leading cancer centers, the

researcher enters the hidden world of high-stakes medicine, where

brains, egos, ethical quandaries, romance, institutional politics and

public expectations combine to create a pressure cooker that only the

strong can survive,” Stein noted.

“The Secret Order” had its world premiere last April in New York’s

Off-Broadway Ensemble Studio Theater. The New York Times described it

as “a whirlwind tale full of dazzling moments.”

After the spring production in Laguna, “The Secret Order” will be

seen on Broadway during the fall, 2003, season. It’s also in

development for a movie.

CHARLES NELSON REILLY

The appearance of Charles Nelson Reilly for a one-night stand at

the playhouse last summer apparently was a huge success -- he’ll be

back for another next month.

Reilly -- an award-winning actor, teacher, stage and opera

director -- will return to present his show “Save It for the Stage:

The Life of Reilly,” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27.

“The show traverses the diverse, sometimes volatile and always

hysterical journey of one of our nation’s leading theater artists,”

Stein declared. “Reilly’s is truly a life worth sharing.”

“Save It for the Stage” was written by Reilly and his director,

Paul Linke. Tickets for the Jan. 27 performance are $40 and may be

ordered by calling the playhouse at (949) 497-2787.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Coastline Pilot.