Garry Marshall, director of "Pretty Woman" and "Runaway Bride," and creator of "Happy Days" and "Mork and Mindy," may be best known for his film and television work, but he still keeps his hand in live theatre. A few years ago, he penned and directed the Off-Broadway comedy Wrong Turn at Lungfish. In 1997 he built the 99-seat Falcon Theatre in Burbank, CA. Now he'll be directing Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning Crimes of the Heart at the Falcon, opening the theatre's first full mainstage season, Oct. 20.

Running Oct. 15-Nov. 28 (officially opening Oct. 20), Crimes of the Heart tells of three strong but beleaguered Southern sisters. One faces life as a spinster, another copes with a failing singing career, a third has shot her husband in the stomach.

Crimes of the Heart was originally produced at the Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival and then went on to a successful run Off Broadway and then on Broadway, where it opened Nov. 4, 1981, and closed Feb. 18, 1983. The Broadway cast included Mary Beth Hurt (who was replaced later in the run by Holly Hunter), Mia Dillon (replaced by J. Smith Cameron), Lizbeth Mackay and Peter MacNicol. Pulitzer and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards followed. Bruce Beresford directed a film version of the piece, with Henley scripting.

Other Henley works include The Lucky Spot, Abundance and the recent Impossible Marriage.

The Falcon has also announced a series of plays for young audiences, including Anastasia Krupnik, adapted and directed by Meryl Freedman from Louis Lowry's story about a precocious ten-year-old girl (Oct. 2-Nov. 28); Friedman's adaptation of Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson (Feb. 11-March 26, 2000); and Lori Marshall's adaptation of Hansel and Gretl, staged by Kevin Larkin (March 4-April 3, 2000). Schoolhouse Rock Live! is also under consideration. The Falcon Theatre is located at 4252 Riverside Drive; for tickets call (818) 955- 8101. -- By David Lefkowitz