On Theater: Golden West unveils next season

Comedy, tragedy, drama and music — these four basic elements of the theater all will be explored, in that order, by Golden West College during its 2010-11 season.

The Huntington Beach college will be leading off with “Don’t Dress for Dinner,” written in the 1960s by French playwright Marc Camoletti, even though it plays like a typical English farce.

The cast of characters includes a husband, his wife, her lover and his mistress and a gourmet chef preparing epicurean delights for the troupe. Martie Ramm is directing, and the show will run from Oct. 15 to 24.

Tom Amen, who’s planning to retrace Herman Melville’s journey on the trail of “Moby-Dick” early next year, will direct the next two shows before he sets sail.

First up is Shakespeare’s “Othello,” the classic tragedy of love, jealousy, betrayal and revenge.

The Moor of Venice and the fabled “green-eyed monster” of fatal envy will hold forth from Nov. 12 to 21.

Another serious examination of a more contemporary subject arrives Feb. 25 when Golden West mounts the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Doubt.” John Patrick Shanley’s tale involves a rigid nun who suspects a popular parish priest of improper behavior with one of her young students.

“Dynamic yet subtle, manipulative yet full of empathy” is how director Amen describes the drama. The play will run through March 6.

The closing production of the upcoming season is a musical, the title of which can’t be revealed due to contract restrictions similar to those that prevented the Huntington Beach Playhouse from announcing it would stage “Annie” — though enough hints were dropped before the veil was lifted.

The Golden West musical is one of many scored by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice, and it can truly be described as “colorful.” The creators used the Bible as their source material and employed a potpourri of musical styles in their depiction of the ultimate in sibling rivalry.

This show will run from May 6 to 15 and, like the others, may be reserved by contacting the college’s box office at (714) 895-8150 or www.gwctheater.com.