'TRIANGLE' DRAWS ON SAME OLD THEMES\But play's still packing 'em in at bigger venue.

Byline: Paul Hodgins Orange County Register

Maybe I'm missing something.

"Bermuda Avenue Triangle" is one of the hottest properties to hit an L.A. stage this season. The Renee Taylor/Joseph Bologna comedy opened at the tiny Tiffany Theaters in October, took off faster than Playboy's Kim Basinger issue, then moved to the larger Canon Theatre last week to reap the rewards of its mega-popularity.

It was almost impossible to get a seat for opening weekend at the Canon; at its second-weekend Sunday performance, the line for tickets stretched well down the block.

What audiences are flocking to see is a modest, by-the-numbers comedy with a few good laughs, some pleasant if unremarkable performances by familiar TV/film faces, and plot twists that are visible from Phoenix on a clear night.

As the play opens, old pals Tess and Fannie (Beatrice Arthur and Renee Taylor) are being moved into a horrendously decorated Las Vegas retirement condo by their daughters, Angela and Rita (Caroline Aaron and Randee Heller). Tess and Fannie complain as only retired Italian and Jewish New Yorkers can. The place is a Trader Vic's-style nightmare of bamboo and Polynesian pastels. "I always wanted to live in the Tiki Tiki house," Fannie says with a quaver, her voice dripping with poor-little-me self-pity.

Both women are husbandless. Fannie smothers and manipulates her daughter, Rita, ridiculing her lifestyle and torturing her with that age-old, universal mother's ploy: "Whatever makes you happy, dear."

Angela and her widowed mom are more distant, their sadder relationship the result of a boorish, unloving husband/father.

Into Tess and Fannie's sorry, barren lives falls Johnny (Bologna), a rakish rascal with a shady past, expensive clothes and an unerring talent for seduction. In the play's best scenes, he sizes up each woman like a scheming romantic warrior, discovers her weaknesses, then moves in for the kill. Even as you suspect his underlying motives, it's a delicious pleasure to watch Johnny in action, thanks mainly to Bologna's relaxed, charming performance.

At first, through a combination of major-league guile and luck, Johnny manages to keep each woman ignorant of his romance with the other. But the president of the homeowners association, the perpetually befuddled Rabbi Levine (Manny Kleinmuntz, in a priceless near-cameo), spills the beans. Johnny has been careless enough to carry on with each woman publicly - in the pool and behind the Coke machine, no less - and there have been complaints.

To give away the ending would breach all rules of professional conduct (yes, critics have some), but anybody with a knack for predicting sitcom plots after the first scene will be able to fill in the blanks. Indeed, Taylor and Bologna's script rarely rises above the level of competent sitcom writing, and there's an annoying reliance on overobvious, bawdy jokes. You half expect John Ritter to appear.

Arthur is surprisingly subdued as the prim, stern Tess, and though she gets to pump up the estrogen in the second half, her aging sexpot act never seems convincing.

But Bologna and Taylor have the juiciest parts - not surprising, since they wrote the show - and they're dependable scene-stealers. Taylor, particularly, has a whale of a time with Fannie, overcoming her predictable, Jewish-mother qualities through the sheer bigness and confidence of her performance.

Still, there's a feeling of untapped potential after the final bows. A powerful trio of actors and a talented writing duo should aim higher than south-of-the-belt laughs and easy maxims about parent-child relationships. There's nothing particularly bad about their creation; there's just precious little to take home with you afterward.

THE FACTS

The show: "Bermuda Avenue Triangle."

Where: Canon Theatre, 205 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills.

When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sundays; through April 21.

Running time: Two hours, 20 minutes.

Tickets: $36 to $40. Call [phone] or [phone].

CAPTION(S):

PHOTO

Photo Beatrice Arthur, left, Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor star in the comedy "Bermuda Avenue Triangle."