THEATER PREVIEW:

As the new year settles in, local theater companies are preparing their latest productions in what shapes up to be a potpourri of live stage offerings.

First out of the blocks, as usual, will be South Coast Repertory, which unwraps the West Coast premiere of Sarah Treem’s “A Feminine Ending” this weekend on the Julia Argyros Stage. Described as a “life-affirming comedy,” the play focuses on a young woman dealing with the various issues in her life.

After pausing during the third weekend of January, the local theater scene heats up again, but good, on the fourth with three productions raising their curtains. The Newport Theater Arts Center summons all hands on deck for Herman Wouk’s Navy drama “The Caine Mutiny,” while Vanguard University revives a golden oldie, the Kaufman-Hart comedy “You Can’t Take It With You.”

Sharing the opening weekend with these two is UCI’s “Dark of the Moon,” the folk tale about a witch boy who falls in love with a human. UCI will be back in action the following weekend with “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” a “what if?” treatise that promises to stretch its intellectual point into farcical jurisprudence.

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” has become a popular venture for community theaters, and the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse will take its crack at the Ken Kesey drama Feb. 2. Three days later, the Orange County Performing Artscenter will have a “Blast,” bringing the instrumental show back for an encore.

Another certified oldie, Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” will mount South Coast Rep’s Segerstrom state Feb. 15, the same weekend SCR’s Theater for Young Audiences lifts the curtain on the children’s classic “Charlotte’s Web.”

The Performing Artscenter has served as a showcase for musical theater since its inception, but come Feb. 26, the instruments will be silenced for the Center’s first “straight” play, Reginald Rose’s “Twelve Angry Men.” This drama about a jury deciding the fate of a teenager accused of murder will feature Richard Thomas in the role of the holdout juror, made indelible by Henry Fonda in the movie version.

Other shows await in the coming months, with a return visit from the “Phantom of the Opera” ticketed at the Center for late March. As usual, there will be something for just about everyone on stages in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews appear Thursdays.