SHOOTING CRAPS IN NOHO.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Writer

It's daytime on a Friday afternoon in NoHo and the El Portal Center for the Arts is as warm with activity.

Irene Chapman and Barb Haber, the duo performing the musical revue ``Two Grandmas From Brooklyn'' are rehearsing on the 99-seat Circle Stage - the same venue where Barbara Lindsay's comedy ``Snapshots'' will open a week later to start the 29th Actors Alley season.

Next door on the El Portal's main stage, New York playwright Tom Dulack and Harold Gould are rehearsing Dulack's new play ``Shooting Craps.''

Welcome to year 2 at the facility once referred to as the ``Miracle on Lankershim.''

``If you were to come to the staff meeting tomorrow, you'd see the spirit. There really is a new energy here,'' says Brochu. ``I don't have any of it, but there's a new energy.''

It's a ``just kidding'' remark, and Brochu lets a beat go by before letting out a long, deep laugh.

``I'm exhausted!'' he adds.

He has reason to be. Brochu is directing ``Grandmas,'' a bonus show that will play Mondays through Wednesdays. He's also directing two of the vignettes from ``Snapshots'' and is helping Dulack by serving as the unofficial second set of eyes on ``Shooting Craps.''

Then there are subscribers to attract, future seasons to plan for, stars to cajole into accepting the less than $500 per week they'll receive to perform on the El Portal stage. Brochu is doing it all, and passing out season fliers and brochures at yogurt stores to boot.

``To get another body in here, I'd shake hands with Saddam Hussein and get in bed with the devil,'' says Brochu, adding by way of explanation, ``I just saw (the movie) 'South Park.' ''

Skeptics will say that, given its history, the El Portal's success may indeed depend on a Faustian pact. More positive thinkers contend an enthusiastic new artistic director with a ton of energy and a sense of humor to match will carry the beleaguered company through.

Sound problems, cost overruns, extensive debt and lackluster audiences dogged the company during 2000, its inaugural year of performances at this 74-year-old NoHo landmark that had suffered an estimated $1.5 million damage during the Northridge Earthquake.

Actors Alley Artistic Director Jeremiah Morris resigned in October over a bitter contract dispute with the board of directors, leaving Brochu - the first season's producing director - at the creative helm.

Brochu immediately found himself with two seasons to adjust, talent to woo and fences to mend both among the Actors Alley company and within the NoHo arts district. A longtime friendship between Brochu and Valley Theatre League President Edmund Gaynes has healed the rift between the League and the El Portal's previous administration. The El Portal has rejoined the League, making productions eligible for Valley Theatre League's Artistic Director Achievement Awards.

``Everybody's friends again,'' says Gaynes who did not attend a single performance at the El Portal last season. ``My optimism for the company is based on Jim Brochu. If there's anyone who can make this work, he can.''

It's not like Brochu is a stranger around Lankershim and Magnolia boulevards. The Brooklyn native, 54, who now lives in Valley Village, is a playwright-director who has also written a biography of Lucille Ball. Last year, he came to the El Portal to produce the theater's re-opening gala. The event was a hit, and Brochu was asked back to produce the first production, Joe DiPietro's ``Over the River and Through the Woods.''

``I said 'geez, no!' '' said Brochu. ``I know what a producer's job is. It's numbers, and it's not a lot of fun. I'm a big kid and I want to have fun.''

But he agreed anyway. One show led to a second show. Then a third. Brochu not only crunched numbers, but he was one of the theater's most visible faces, often meeting with audience members at intermission.

That duty turned out to be a mixed blessing during El Portal's artistically eclectic opening season. Brochu found himself popular among audiences who took to the warm fuzziness of ``Over the River ...'' and found himself practically wearing a bull's-eye for the folks who balked at the harsh language of ``Popcorn,'' the mainstage season finale about a serial killer.

``I thought they were going to crucify me,'' he said. ``Every show, we learn a lesson and try to correct it. I think 'Popcorn' was a show that might have been better served in our second season.''

Season two was already in place when the artistic shakeup took place, but Brochu did some shifting and shuffling. On the mainstage, ``Shooting Craps'' was moved to the season opening position with Dulack instead of Morris directing. It's a comedy about a mayor's attempt to keep a reelection promise to bring an Indian gambling casino to town.

Ray Cooney's farce ``Out of Order,'' starring Cooney, Paxton Whitehead and Robert Mandan arrives in April, followed by ``We Are Family,'' a Murray Schisgal comedy and a co-production with the Sacramento Theatre Company that will allow the El Portal to save some money by dividing the cost with another company.

Originally scheduled as the season opener, a revival of ``The Last of Mrs. Lincoln,'' will now close the season with three-time Oscar nominee Piper Laurie playing Mary Todd Lincoln.

The previously announced Circle Theatre season has undergone a complete facelift. Gone are works by Clifford Odets, Richard Levine and Dario Fo. Their replacements are ``Snapshots,'' the new musical ``Musical Chairs'' and ``The Thurber Carnival.'' Brochu will also direct his own play, ``The Lucky O'Learys.''

Rest assured, Brochu says, the El Portal will pay its bills. Continuing the aggressiveness with which they acquired rebuilding money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, theater administrators have applied for grant money. Between donations, subscriptions, Brochu says ``we put our feet into thin air and something always comes up to meet us.''

Meanwhile, the shows will go on. If the first year follies left a mark, they didn't scare away artists like Dulack, Cooney and Charles Nelson Reilly who will direct ``The Last of Mrs. Lincoln.''

Dulack, who has seen his plays debut at much larger and more stable regional theaters, says his NoHo experience has been wonderful.

``What I wanted and what I got offered was a really nice facility to do the first production,'' says Dulack. ``There are other theaters, nice theaters where the financial rewards might be instantly better, but they're run by idiots or by people I can't stand. Life is too short.''

``SHOOTING CRAPS''

Where: El Portal Center for the Arts, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., NoHo.

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday; through Feb. 25.

Tickets: $25 to $42. Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Harold Gould, Sonja Alarr and Laura James perform a scene from ``Shooitng Craps.''

(2) Jim Brochu was named artistic director of Actors Alley last year.