TOM TITUS -- Theater Review

Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? Not South Coast Repertory, nor

resident actor Howard Shangraw, who’s bringing his original children’s

play back for an encore next weekend, Aug. 25-26.

Shangraw -- a member of the Costa Mesa company since 1975 and a

regular in the theater’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol” -- is

directing his own play, “The People vs. B.B. Wolfe,” for SCR’s Young

Conservatory. And he’s also co-written the musical score.

For Shangraw, it’s the second time around for “B.B. Wolfe.” He staged

it originally with SCR’s young thespians in 1989.

“That show had a cast of 12,” he recalled. “In this one, we have 30

kids. We’ve enlarged the show to fit the program.”

Shangraw’s concept has the wolf going on trial for “crimes against

humanity,” with prosecution witnesses such as Peter (from “Peter and the

Wolf”), the “Three Little Pigs” and “Little Red Riding Hood,” all of whom

have reason to send B.B. up the proverbial river.

Sound familiar? “Sondheim stole the idea from me,” he quips, referring

to Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” in which various fairy tale

characters cross paths.

What Shangraw has “borrowed” is a gimmick from Ayn Rand’s “Night of

January 16th,” in which audience members form a jury and decide the guilt

or innocence of an accused murderess. So the verdict will be at the whim

of the kids (and their parents) attending the show.

Shangraw, a native of Massachusetts, moved to California in 1974 and

promptly aligned himself with South Coast Rep, appearing in the company’s

1975 production of “Jumpers.” Then, in 1980, SCR dramaturge Jerry Patch

adapted Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” for the stage, and Shangraw

played young Ebenezer Scrooge.

From that year to this, he’s been home here for the holidays, missing

only one production -- when he was performing in “Romance Language” at

the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Of course, at 49, he’s not playing

the junior Scrooge anymore -- he graduated to Scrooge as a young man and

finally, Ebenezer’s nephew Fred. That puts Shangraw second in “Christmas

Carol” seniority, behind only Scrooge himself, Hal Landon Jr., who has

headlined all 21 productions.

Shangraw’s “day job” is teaching acting on the college level at Los

Angeles’ American Academy of Dramatic Arts and at the Idyllwild Arts

Academy. In between classes, he scans the trade papers for professional

acting jobs.

His most memorable local moment, however, came not at SCR but at the

Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, where he directed a production of “Monday

After the Miracle,” William Gibson’s sequel to “The Miracle Worker,” in

1989. That show won top honors at LA’s ACT Fest, repeated the coup in

Iowa, then toured Europe in connection with the world festival in

Barcelona, Spain, where yet a third “Miracle” transpired -- first prize

again.

This fact-based drama about the young adult Helen Keller drew

Shangraw’s attention partly because Keller and her teacher, Annie

Sullivan, had lived in his home town of Wrentham, Mass. And, he added,

being blind and deaf didn’t stop Keller from leading a full, eventful

life, even then.

Shangraw is putting the finishing touches on his new incarnation of

“B.B. Wolfe,” along with co-composer and musical director Nelms McKelvain

and choreographer Donna Corey, whose work, he beams, “is incredible.”

When “B.B. Wolfe” hits the stage next weekend, it’ll be for a

much-shorter run than SCR usually offers. Performances will be given

Saturday at 4 and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 and 4 p.m. on the theater’s

Second Stage. For ticket information, call (714) 708-5518.

“That’s quite a lot of work for just four performances,” Shangraw said

with a sigh. But with relatives of 30 cast members lining up at the box

office, ticket sales shouldn’t be a problem.

And whether “B.B. Wolfe” is guilty or innocent, well, that’s for the

jury to decide.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Thursdays and Saturdays.