South Coast Repertory Theatre is Entertaining Mr. Sloane, as the early Orton comedy opens Sept. 22 on the company's Second Stage. Performances began Sept. 19 for a run through Oct. 22. South Coast Rep artistic director Martin Benson directs.

In Mr. Sloane, the title character finds a place to live with Kath, an anxious landlady who promises to extend more than common courtesies to her new boarder. Her father, however, thinks the handsome lad recently murdered a neighbor, and her wealthy brother wants the good-looking boy for himself. Entertaining Mr. Sloane last made a hit for SCR in the 1967-68 season.

J. Todd Adams (Garland winner for Gross Indecency) stars as Sloane with Jane Carr (She Stoops to Folly, The Cider House Rules) as Kath, Hal Landon, Jr. (True West, The Hollow Lands) as her father and Mark Ryan (West End's Dean, Evita) as her brother. Landon, Jr. is a SCR founding artist, where he has appeared for 20 seasons as Ebenezer Scrooge in the theatre's A Christmas Carol.

Designing Mr. Sloane are Myung Hee Cho (sets), Joyce Kim Lee (costumes) and Geoff Korf (lighting). Andy Tighe is the production stage manager.

Tickets are $47-$18. South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. For reservations, call (714) 708-5555. South Coast Repertory is on the web at http://www.scr.org. -- By Christine Ehren