‘Ice Cream’ Gets Score With New Flavor

Sci-fi master Ray Bradbury ventures into the other-worldly regions of musical theater in his 16-character romantic comedy, “The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit” (with book by Bradbury, music by Jose Feliciano, lyrics by Feliciano and his wife, Susan), opening today at the Pasadena Playhouse.

The play itself is not new goods. Bradbury adapted his story for the stage over two decades ago--with musical accompaniment that included such popular fare as “La Cucaracha” and the habanera. Then a year ago, original cast member Henry Darrow suggested that Bradbury enlist Feliciano to write some original tunes. The result is a 12-song score, what Bradbury describes as “every kind of Hispanic style--all the Mexican music you can think of in the last 40 years.”

The author sees the music as an organic addition. “I learned my lessons from Emily Dickinson and William Shakespeare: When you write (in) metaphor, you’re writing poetry; you’re writing music. I write for the musical stage without knowing I’m doing it.” Two other Bradbury works have already made the transition to musicals: “Dandelion Wine” and “Fahrenheit 451,” an “aria about book-burning” which made its bow last year in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The story of “Ice Cream Suit” was born during Bradbury’s leaner days, when, from 1941-45, he lived downtown in a one-bedroom apartment on the corner of Temple and Figueroa. Such is the dwelling for the play’s suit-owners, a quintet of Latino men who take turns donning the magical garment--and the good vibes it engenders. “Wearing it changes their lives,” Bradbury explained. “As they share it, their friendship grows . . . till the suit owns them and they become one.”

The author himself claims to enjoy such creative partnering. “I’m a good collaborator,” he said unequivocally. “I enjoy that process.” Nor does he resist editing--even at this late date. “We had a preview last night, and at the end of it, I said to the director (Charles Rome Smith), ‘There are six lines in Act 1, Scene 1, I think we can cut.’ You must be able to do that, or you’re no good. It comes down to two things: You have to know how to write, and you have to know how to cut without hurting it.”

JEROME ROBBINS’ ALUMNI: The producers of “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway,” opening Oct. 10 at the Shubert, are looking for anyone who has appeared in the original run of any of the shows featured in the dance musical or other Broadway shows that Robbins directed or choreographed. If you qualify, call (213) 655-0103 to reserve a free pair of tickets to opening night and the subsequent reception.

THEATER BITS: It’s an eclectic bit of goods upcoming this month at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica. Following this week’s multimedia program, “Incest: A Celebration of Recovery,” comes Susan Franklin Tanner’s autobiographically-inspired “Journey to Singapore: The Infertility Play” (Sept. 27-29) and the Emma Goldman Gypsy Players’ take on modern gay life in “Radical Faeries” (Sept. 30).

Michael Kearns, who recently wrapped his staging of “AIDS/US II,” gets even busier than usual next month with the Oct. 6 opening of his and Darien Martus’ “Homeless” (billed as a “street opera”) at Theatre/Theater, followed closely by “more intimacies” at LATC’s Theatre 4 on Oct. 9. Kearns will alternate performances of the original “intimacies” (a gallery of AIDS characters) with the follow-up show and six new characters.