SWITCHING GEERS STAGE PRODUCTION OF `HAROLD AND MAUDE' BECOMES A FAMILY AFFAIR.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

Talk about an offbeat family legacy!

In 1971, actress Ellen Geer made her film debut in an oddball little number called ``Harold and Maude.'' You might remember it: Suicide-obsessed kid falls for an 80-year-old free spirit?

Geer had a single scene in the film, but it was a scene-stealer. She played Sunshine Dore, the would-be actress who ends up being young Harold Chasen's ``last date'' arranged by his mother through a computer matchmaking service.

``I thought it was the best thing I read in quite a while,'' recalled Geer, of the now-famous script written by the late Colin Higgins. ``You know, it's very rare to have a good experience in film and to work with (director) Hal Ashby was extraordinary.''

Fast forward nearly 30 years to the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, where Geer serves as artistic director. In Higgins' stage adaptation of ``Harold and Maude,'' which runs weekends through Sept. 30, Geer will now get to tackle the role of Maude (played in the film by Ruth Gordon). But director Heidi Helen Davis has kept Sunshine in the family, so to speak. Ellen Geer's daughter, Willow Geer-Alsop, will share the role with Abby Craden (OK, Craden's not a Geer, but she's still practically family since since she's engaged to marry Ellen's son, Ian Flanders.)

A quirk of casting, perhaps, but for Davis, rebuilding ``Harold and Maude'' wasn't just a matter of switching Geers.

``I would adamantly say that I cast the people who I thought were the best,'' said Davis, who has worked with both Craden and Geer-Alsop in past productions. ``Every time we left the auditions, Ellen would say, `You have to pick the right ones. Don't let family be the deciding factor. You don't have to please me.' ''

``They both gave wonderful readings,'' says the ever-diplomatic Geer. `I'm glad I wasn't the director. I wouldn't have been able to choose.''

Once it was established the role would be double cast, neither Sunshine said she planned to copy her predecessor. Both had seen the film; both elected not to study it again or ask Geer for tips.

``I think we all rented `Harold and Maude' at Halloween or something,'' says Craden. ``When I watched it, I didn't know I was going to be playing the role, so it wasn't from an acting point of view. I just watched it to look at Ellen and see how beautiful she was when she was young. It was amazing to see her do her work.''

Geer-Alsop, who, even in junior high school was aware that her mom was part of a cult film, didn't feel extra pressure in taking on her mother's role. ``When I saw the movie, I'm thinking, 'OK, how am I going to do this? How am I going to make it my own?' '' she said.

``Then, of course, at the audition, all these old actors and friends kept walking in right before I'm about to start, so I have, like, this huge audience.''

Two actresses mean two interpretations. Theatricum audiences aren't likely to confuse red-haired Geer-Alsop, a sophomore at UCLA, and brunet Craden, an award-winning actress with professional credits at theaters from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara.

``We're so different. It's marvelous,'' says Craden. ``We watch each other, and we're completely different.''

Indeed, if anybody in this production is drawing inspiration from a family member, it's Ellen Geer herself. Geer acquired the rights to ``Harold and Maude'' in the hopes that her 83-year-old mother, Herta Ware, would play Maude. The timing didn't work out, so Geer inherited the Maude mantle.

``I put a lot of her into it, because she is Maude,'' says Geer. ``She's the most Maude Maude I've ever met.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1) Ellen Geer, front, who played the character of Sunshine Dore in the 1971 movie ``Harold and Maude,'' is Maude in the new stage version of the movie that opens Saturday at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. Geer's daughter, Willow Geer-Alsop, left rear, and future daughter-in-law, Abby Craden, will share the role of Sunshine Dore.

(2) Geer, right, as Sunshine Dore, meets Harold (Bud Cort) for the first time, introduced by Harold's manipulative mother (Vivian Pickles) in the original 1971 film.

Lexey Swall/Special to the Daily News