From `Chicago' to `True West'.

Byline: The Register-Guard

THEATER

The fall theater season in Eugene brings to town a serious Sam Shepard comedy at Lord Leebrick theatre Company, several Broadway plays - including a road show of "Chicago" - and at least two versions of "A Christmas Carol."

Willamette Repertory Theatre kicks off its new season with its final incarnation of the traditional fundraiser for the group, "Ashland Salutes Willamette Rep." It is Oct. 23 at the Soreng Theatre at the Hult Center.

Rep Artistic Director Kirk Boyd used to work at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and he has brought friends and former colleagues to Eugene to provide an evening of theatrical entertainment each year for the last several years. Boyd's been gone from the Ashland scene for a while, though, and this is the Lane County event's last hurrah.

On Nov. 22, Willamette Rep comes back with Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." This adaptation is by David McCann, whose script, the company says, "will return you to the real spirit and redemption of Dickens' holiday classic."

For tickets, call the Hult box office at 682-5000.

Actors Cabaret, 996 Willamette St., opens its first fall show on Friday: a reprise of the Broadway musical "Pump Boys and Dinettes." It runs through Sept. 30.

On Oct. 13, ACE opens "Bat Boy: the Musical" in the cabaret theater, then moves it to the Hult Center's Soreng Theatre on Nov. 10. The comedy is about a half boy/half bat creature who is discovered in a cave near Hope Falls, W.Va.

The cabaret closes out the fall with a Broadway version of "A Christmas Carol," which opens Nov. 17 and runs through Dec. 23. Get Actors Cabaret tickets by calling 683-4368.

Eugene's Lord Leebrick Theatre Company, 540 Charnelton St., kicks off the season on Sept. 22 with Sam Shepard's "True West," which runs through Oct. 14. Company co-founder Chris Leebrick and his brother, Richard Leebrick, star in the dark comedy about two brothers who find themselves engaging in a showdown of intellect, raw emotion and scare tactics.

Next up is Anton Chekhov's classic "The Seagull," in a translation by Tom Stoppard. It flies Nov. 10.

Lord Leebrick also is producing "Kimberly Akimbo," "Frozen" and "Mother Courage" this winter and spring.

Tickets are available at 465-1506.

Very Little Theatre opens its 78th season with Matthew Barber's comedy "Enchanted April," which opens Oct. 20.

"Chicago" comes to the Hult Center on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Also at the Hult this fall, check out "Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy" on Oct. 12, "Danny, King of the Basement," a family play, on Nov. 8; and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" on Dec. 4-6.

On campus at the University of Oregon, last year's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was so popular with audiences that the William Shakespeare comedy is being brought back for two performances, Sept. 29-30.

The first show of the University Theatre's Second Season, produced in the arena theater, will be two one-act plays: "Chitra" by Rabindranath Tagore and "Arabian Night" by Roland Schimmelpfennig. They open Oct. 25.

The highlight of the UT fall season is the Stephen Sondheim musical "Company," which opens Nov. 3.

Tickets for university events are at 346-4363.

At Lane Community College, "The Cherry Orchard" opens on Sept. 29 in the main Performance Hall.

Down Interstate 5, the Cottage Theatre in Cottage Grove kicks off with "The Odd Couple" - the female version with mismatched roommates Florence and Olive adapted by Neil Simon in 1985. The show opens Oct. 6 and runs through Oct. 21.

The community theater comes back Dec. 1-23 with "The Sound of Music," and will stage its own "Nutcracker" on Dec. 30.

Tickets for Cottage Theatre performances are available by calling 942-8001 or on the Web at www.cottagetheatre.org.