By Christopher Cappiello

Obie-Winning Lucas Play at Odyssey

Craig Lucas, whose screenplay for Longtime Companion earned him a place in the hearts of many gay men of a certain age, is known for writing dense, sometimes meandering plays chock full of ideas and themes. This winter, the Odyssey Theatre stages the Southern California premiere of Small Tragedy, Lucas' 2004 Obie Award-winning play about a Boston community theater group putting on a new adaptation of Oedipus Rex.

The play-within-a-play story begins with Nathaniel, a failure in Hollywood, who decides to direct his own adaptation of Sophocles' timeless tale of fate and the futility of trying to avoid it. The arrogant auteur with a conservative streak meets his match with liberal actress Jen, while his HIV-positive female partner has her own problems. Add an ambitious, sexually voracious gay actor and a brilliant Bosnian economics student who turns out to be the best actor in the bunch, and you've got the makings of a classically delicious Lucas stew of conflict, comedy and big ideas. Small Tragedy follows this merry band of Waiting for Guffman types from auditions through rehearsals and beyond their Boston opening night.

Bill Brochtrup, who has become a frequent presence on Southland stages since making a name for himself as the gay presence on NYPD Blue, stars as Nathaniel under the direction of television producer John Perrin Flynn. Lucas' other plays include Prelude to a Kiss, Reckless and the book for the musical The Light in the Piazza, a recent resident at the Ahmanson. He is currently associate artistic director at Seattle's highly respected Intiman Theatre.

Small Tragedy runs Jan. 27-April 1 at the Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. For tickets ($20.50-25) and more information, call (310) 477-2055 or visit www.odysseytheatre.com.

Reprise Has Faith in Prince for Baby

Reprise! Broadway's Best presents a concert-style reading of the 1983 Broadway musical Baby on Feb. 5 starring Tony-winning Broadway fixture Faith Prince. Presented under Reprise's Musical Mondays series, which allows SoCal audiences to enjoy the equivalent of “unplugged” versions of Broadway musicals, Baby is directed by Kevin Chamberlin.

The musical follows the triumphs and travails of three couples at different stages in the child-rearing process, celebrating the joys and frustrations of parenthood. The score, by David Shire and Richard Maltby Jr. (Closer Than Ever, big, The Musical) includes the cabaret staple “I Want It All.”

Faith Prince catapulted to Broadway superstardom with her knockout, Tony Award-winning performance as Miss Adelaide opposite Nathan Lane's Nathan Detroit in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls. Since then she has appeared in numerous productions, most notably headlining revivals of The King and I, Little Me, Bells Are Ringing and Noises Off. Southland audiences may recall her Ovation-nominated turn in James Joyce's The Dead. Her on-camera work includes turns on Huff, Monk and House.

Chamberlin is best known as a Broadway actor, having first attracted attention as Charlie, the cross-dressing shy film archivist in Dirty Blonde, Claudia Shear's play celebrating Mae West. He also earned a Tony nomination for playing Horton the Elephant in Seussical.

Baby plays Monday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m. at the Freud Playhouse, UCLA. For tickets ($60) and more information, call (310) 825-2101 or visit www.reprise.org.