THERE WAS LOTS OF ‘SPACE’ IN SAN DIEGO

SAN DIEGO —  One of the most entertaining things about CBS-TV’s 13-hour adaptation of James Michener’s novel, “Space,” is its plethora of San Diego locales and actors. The sprawling mini-series, which chronicles the birth and progress of the U.S. space program, shot a total of nine weeks here. It concludes Thursday night, and by then we won’t be too surprised if Mt. Palomar looms up in the background of a moonwalking scene.

Sunday night’s three-hour opening segment was certainly long on San Diego and its talent. An early scene in which the character played by Bruce Dern is summoned to the White House was actually shot in the Westgate hotel downtown. Opposite Dern in the scene were Old Globe Theatre regulars Jonathan McMurtry and Larry Drake.

And one of the scenic set-pieces of the segment was a long car drive along the Prado in Balboa Park, which was intended to be the campus of a major university. But the World War II-era time frame of the scene doesn’t quite jibe with what one viewer swears was the sight of a Renault Le Car parked near the House of Hospitality.

On Monday night’s segment, San Diegan Gary Wright--a former Navy lieutenant commander and now a UC San Diego undergraduate acting student--played an Army sergeant in a locally shot scene. Other scenes are recognizably staged in the Navy Hospital here, the Gaslamp Quarter and Balboa Park’s Cafe del Rey Moro, which “plays” a Mexican restaurant in Texas. And it shouldn’t be forgotten that some of the series’ legitimate stars have strong San Diego connections: Blair Brown played Sabina in the Old Globe’s nationally televised 1983 production of “The Skin of Our Teeth,” and David Dukes played in the 1970 Old Globe production of “Charley’s Aunt” and in “The Country Wife” in 1981.

SUPERSTAR SUMMER: Whether the likes of Prince, Michael Jackson or Bruce Springsteen shows up, there will be no shortage of mega-talent in San Diego this summer. As you may know, Stephen Sondheim will be in residence with the La Jolla Playhouse, working up a revival of his musical “Merrily We Roll Along,” and star tenor Luciano Pavarotti is still scheduled to perform June 27 at the San Diego Sports Arena (although he has been canceling shows of late due to the illness of his daughter).

Now, two more big names have been added to the summer roster: Director/actor John Houseman will stage Shakespeare’s “Richard III” at the Old Globe Theatre during its June through September Jubilee Festival ’85. This will be Houseman’s first Old Globe directorial stint. Fittingly, it will mark the Old Globe’s 500th production in its 50-year history. And July 4 will sparkle with balletic fireworks when danseur extraordinaire Mikhail Baryshnikov performs at the San Diego State University Open Air Theatre.

According to a spokesman for local promotion firm Fahn and Silva Presents, there is no program information available other than that Baryshnikov will perform with other dancers. Ticket prices printed elsewhere on Monday are incorrect, according to the spokesman. An official announcement of the Baryshnikov performance is expected within two weeks.

THE SHOW WON’T GO ON: San Diego Public Theatre’s often-postponed production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is one dream that will definitely not see reality, at least not this season. Robin Hunt, the troupe’s artistic director, noted the Public’s continuing financial problems, but more especially the physical limitations of the Sushi Gallery’s performing space (where “Dream” was to have been produced two weeks ago), in announcing the cancellation. Rather than go forward with a project the members felt could not be pulled off properly, Hunt said, they decided to punt. After a summer studying with Japanese theatrician Tadashi Suzuki, Hunt and Steve Pearson, the Public’s leading man, will return to continue the Public’s work “wherever we can find a space.”

ARTBEATS: Three prominent San Diegans have joined the board of directors of the San Diego Arts Center proposed for the historic Balboa Theater. They are Horton Plaza developer Ernest W. Hahn, lawyer Josiah L. Neeper (of Gray, Cary, Ames and Frye) and L.J. Cella, head of public relations and advertising firm Cella and Company . . . San Diego Opera associate conductor Karen Keltner is off to prepare and conduct operatic programs at the Hollybush Festival in Glassboro, N.J., Saturday through May 25 . . . David Peck, currently the associate principal clarinet of the Houston Symphony Orchestra, will join the San Diego Symphony as principal clarinet in the fall . . . In keeping with the spirit of its Tchaikovsky Festival, which begins Thursday night at the Civic Theatre, the symphony will offer Russian snacks in the lobby during intermissions.