A drunken Cassie, played by Ruby Hanger, flirts with Lenny, Collin Hurst, in an attempt to infuriate her husband in Neil Simon’s “Rumors.” Performances of the play will begin Oct. 2 in the Young Theatre on campus. Photo by James Bean.

By James Bean
For the Daily Titan

Who among those reading this article would like to see what would happen if Snoopy from Charles Schultz’s comic strip “Peanuts” were to die of rabies, leaving the rest of the Peanuts gang to deal with their sexual frustration, eating disorders and budding drug and alcohol abuse?

I see I only have some of you. What about if four incredibly prestigious and wealthy couples were to have a dinner party, only to find that the host has accidentally shot himself in the earlobe, causing deafness, hilarity and the deep desire of the politically-affiliated guests to keep their name out of the paper? How about if a schoolteacher from Mississippi runs from her sexually deviant past by her sister and her sister’s verbally and physically abusive husband? All of this, and much more has been happening only footsteps away from your biology classroom.

The award-winning Cal State Fullerton Department of Theater and Dance has begun its fall season, headlining with Tony Award-winning musicals and plays such as Neil Simon’s “Rumors,” a rip-roaring comedy about what would happen if the host of a very posh dinner party were to go missing, with only the gunshot from his bedroom to tell the story.
“Everyone in the cast is a comedian in their own right,” said junior Bachelor of the Fine Arts acting student Collin Hurst. “We all are just using our own comedic skill to bring out the comedy in the script, and the script is hilarious to begin with.”

“Rumors” begins its run on Oct. 2 in the Young Theatre on campus, and will be the first of the fall season to open.
Opening next in CSUF’s nearby Grand Central Theatre in Santa Ana are two one-act plays. Woody Allen’s critically acclaimed “God” will have a back-to-back run with Andrea Green’s “For Tiger Lilies Out of Season.” Woody Allen’s “God” spoofs the business of acting, writing, directing, and even being a human being. The non-sequitur show often steps outside its realm of reality to talk to the audience, and the improvisational skills of this cast will make this a show no one should want to miss. “For Tiger Lilies Out of Season” follows a woman recently diagnosed with a malignant breast tumor. The show follows her courage as she experiences the reality of cancer. These two incredibly contrasting shows will make for a very entertaining and eye-opening night at the theater. The night of one-act plays begins Oct. 8.

Next on the roster is Anton Chekhov’s “Ivanov,” a stunning Russian classic about the brilliant Nikolai Ivanov whose dying wife has caused him to question his friends around him, and the world he lives in.

“For me, the show is about insecurity,” said senior BFA acting student Andrew Campbell. “It’s a play about characters that put on a front, and many of them have a jaded view of reality.”

The show also features veteran actress Svetlana Efremova-Reed, an acting professional who regularly teaches acting classes in Los Angeles and heads the acting classes of the more advanced students. The show is the only one of the season to take place in the Hallberg Theatre, the most intimate of CSUF’s four theaters. “Ivanov” opens on Oct. 9.

A brand-new guest director, Jon Lawrence Rivera, has been brought in to direct this year’s main stage musical, the Tony Award-winning “Miss Saigon.” The show follows the tale of a Vietnamese bar girl who falls in love with an American GI in the heat of a war-torn 1970s Saigon.

“I really want this musical to be seen as much more than singing and dancing. It affects me really personally, and I would love for the audience, for one night, to see the journey of these characters and to really experience what it was like in the ‘70s during the war,” said senior musical theater BFA student Jacqueline Nguyen. “I’m really excited, though, because I get to play my dream role.”

Acclaimed and emotionally staggering, this musical is not one to miss. “Miss Saigon,” will be in the Little Theatre on campus and begins on Oct. 23.

The next show to hit our Grand Central Theatre in Santa Ana is the hilarious “Musical of Musicals (The Musical!),” which spoofs the tradition of musical theater with five very stylized acts, which imitate every major musical composer from Rodgers and Hammerstein, to Stephen Sondheim.

Each act has one very relatable theme in common: not being able to pay rent. Any fan of musical theater, or even those who enjoyed the film adaptations of “Chicago” and “Sweeney Todd” will be in stitches by the end. “Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)” will begin its run on Oct. 30.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning “A Streetcar Named Desire” will follow “Rumors” in the Young Theatre in mid-November. A show that has been called “one of the greatest stories in American theater” by critics around the world, “A Streetcar Named Desire” follows the tale of disgraced southern bell English teacher, Blanche Du Bois, to her sister’s apartment in New Orleans.

“Blanche has just been thrown into this world,” said grad student Brian Rickel, referring to the gritty world of post-war New Orleans.

Nikolai Ivanov, portrayed by Ben Lambert, left, is in deep thought about his dying wife while Sasha, played by Hannah Parsons, professes her love to him in Anton Checkov’s “Ivanov,” opening Oct. 9 in Cal State Fullerton’ intimate Hallberg Theatre. Photo by James Bean.

Blanche’s presence, although welcomed by her sister, Stella, creates a serious rift in Stella and husband Stanley’s animalistic and sexual relationship. The conflict between husband and wife, and eventually between Blanche and Stanley, reachs a fever pitch leading to a gripping climax. “A Streetcar Named Desire” will begin its run on Nov. 13.

The closing show for this fall’s Grand Central Theatre season is the quaintly titled, “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead,” directed by the award-winning Patrick Pearson. Fans of Charles Schultz’s “Peanuts” may recognize the characters as very similar to those in the comic strip, but the clever renaming of the characters has helped this play survive a possible copyright infringement.

“Dog Sees God” begins with the funeral of CB (Charlie Brown)’s beloved dog. Themes of budding homosexuality, marijuana use, and paternal abuse run rampant in this sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious play. “Dog Sees God” begins its run on Nov. 19.

Finally, the fall season ends with a bang, as the Fall Dance Theatre begins to wrap up the semester of drama and comedy. With a theme of the most precious and frail moments of life, the Fall Dance Theatre promises to be the best date-night in southern California. The Fall Dance Theatre will begin on Nov. 19.

This fall’s season of theater and dance holds two distinct advantages over other forms of entertainment: the first being that it is much cheaper than a movie. The average movie ticket costs between $11.50 to $13.50, depending on the movie and theater. The second advantage is a very simple one: performances at the theater are truly more memorable.

I can remember distinctly every show I have seen live, and most movies I have seen form into a giant blur in my head. There is something about watching the living, breathing people making the story unfold before my eyes that tops cinema in every way possible. Tickets can be purchased at the box-office near the Nutwood Parking Structure or on www.tickets.com.