PEAK EXPERIENCE `PYRENEES' TAKES FRANCES CONROY FROM TV TO LIVE THEATER.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Writer

Mention the name Frances Conroy to director Neel Keller, and the Center Theatre Group associate producer gushes so effusively that he threatens to spring a leak.

Keller, by the way, is a man who claims never to have watched a single episode of ``Six Feet Under,'' the HBO series that took the stage-seasoned Conroy off the boards for six years.

``When I moved to New York in the mid-1980s, I saw Frances give about a half-dozen performances that I will never forget,'' says Keller, who, true to his word, proceeds to rattle them off: ``In the Summer House,'' ``Some Americans Abroad,'' ``Two Shakespearean Actors,'' ``Our Town,'' ``The Secret Rapture.''

East Coast award bestowers were equally appreciative, giving Conroy assorted Drama Desk nominations and an Obie award.

``In every show, I saw her give a staggeringly beautiful and moving performance,'' Keller continues. ``I've been wanting to work with her for years.''

Wish granted. Twice. Conroy is currently appearing in Keller's production of David Greig's play ``Pyrenees,'' on stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre through July 30. Just before ``Pyrenees'' went into rehearsal -- and by the sheerest of coincidences -- Keller was enlisted by mutual friend Eric Stoltz to co-direct Stoltz's short film ``The Grand Design,'' in which Conroy and Stoltz are co-stars.

The short run in Culver City represents a return to familiar terrain for Conroy after a nearly six-year absence. In 1999, the Georgia-born actress appeared in the world premiere of Neil Simon's ``The Dinner Party'' at the Mark Taper Forum, followed by a Tony award-nominated turn in Arthur Miller's ``The Ride Down Mt. Morgan'' opposite Patrick Stewart.

The day after ``Mt. Morgan'' ended, Conroy returned to L.A. to shoot the pilot for ``Six Feet Under.'' The rest, as they say, is cable history -- as Alan Ball's award-winning series about a family of undertakers took Conroy and the majority of the Fisher clan out of circulation.

``When the seven months of shooting would be over, the last thing I wanted to do was a play,'' says Conroy. ``I was tired, and I just wanted to be mindless. I had a few films I did during that time. That was nice, and none was that long a commitment. I just wondered when I would do a play again. It was interesting to think about that.''

The return came at the behest of Center Theatre Group artistic director Michael Ritchie, who had stage-managed ``Our Town'' and ``Some Americans Abroad.'' Conroy read Greig's play and found herself hooked.

``It's a beautiful play, very spiritual, but also very grounded in humans interacting with each other,'' says Conroy, 52. ``There's a lot of mystery to it, but it is very much about people dealing with each other and identity.''

``Pyrenees'' centers on a man with amnesia who has been found in the snow high in the French mountain range. Conroy's character, a traveler named Vivienne, holds the key to the stranger's identity. She arrives at the end of the first act -- bearing photographs -- and drops just enough information to close the act on a cliffhanging note. In the second act, we learn about the stranger and about Vivienne.

``She always seems to be emotionally available,'' the director says of Conroy, ``and therefore I think her performances have translucence to them. We're just drawn to her characters.''

During an interview at the Douglas, a contented Conroy notes that the difference between working on stage and in front of a camera includes the luxury of rehearsal time. When you do your work on stage, there's no stopping and restarting to get what you've just done from another angle, and the people experiencing your performance are sitting in the room with you instead of catching it on the tube months after you've filmed it.

``To set the whole thing in motion, you need to trust that everything that everybody has been working on for a month is going to come together,'' she says. ``Because once it starts, it's not going to stop until it's over.''

``Six Feet Under'' concluded its five-season run last August. In September, Conroy will be up for an Emmy -- her third nomination -- for her turn as Ruth, the emotionally fragile matriarch of the Fisher family.

Fans of the show may recall that Ruth and the entire Fisher clan went through some rather heavy times as the show was winding down. Conroy, who experienced the loss of several friends and colleagues over the course of ``Six Feet Under's'' run, could relate.

``I had a friend die right around the time when Nate (actor Peter Krause's character) died. Talk about echoes in the work or doing your homework,'' says Conroy. ``It was a lot doing that last season. I was totally wiped out when it was over.''

Another tricky aspect of working on a successful TV series: Secrecy rules prevent actors from talking about what their character is experiencing until months later, once the episode has aired.

``I felt like I was having a nervous breakdown at times, and I couldn't talk about it with anyone,'' says Conroy. ``And I didn't want to talk about it with my husband because I didn't want to spoil the surprise for him. But it was weird to be going through everything that Ruth was going through and keep it to myself, and then when people were watching it, have their response to it.''

Conroy, who trained at Juilliard and performed with John Houseman's Acting Company, relocated to L.A. with her husband, actor Jan Munroe. The West Coast is now their home, even though acting opportunities threaten to take her to New York again.

``Actors bounce from one thing to another,'' says Conroy, whose upcoming films include ``The Wicker Man'' and ``Ira and Abby.'' ``There's something I could do after (`Pyrenees'). It's a wonderful, wonderful play, but I have to see if it makes sense or not.

``It would be in New York,'' she adds. ``That's a large complication right there. With my life, it's not so easy to just go.''

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

PYRENEES

Where: Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through July 30.

Tickets: $20 to $40. [phone] or www.centertheatregroup.org.

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Photo:

(color) ``It's a beautiful play, very spiritual, but also very grounded in humans interacting with each other. There's a lot of mystery to it, but it is very much about people dealing with each other ...'' says Frances Conroy of ``Pyrenees.''

David Sprague/Staff Photographer