Suitcase Tales, the umbrella title for a "musical psycho-cabaret" about the seedy side of the entertainment world, was to open Mar. 6 at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble for a six-week run. However, director Richard Hochberg was bedridden with an illness for six days, forcing postponement of the official opening to Mar. 13. Two previews were given Mar. 11 & 12.

The two plays on the bill are Murray Schisgal's The Flatulist and Charles Ludlam's The Ventriloquist's Wife. Suitcase Tales is scheduled to run through Apr. 25, though an extension is anticipated.

Hochberg directs an ensemble comprised of Walter Ego, Chuck Lafont, Sandy Mulvihill, Donna Pieroni, Eric Poppick, Steve Rosenbaum and Sheila Travis.

In Schisgal's play, the son of an oldtime comedian confronts his father's longtime agent and pleads for a chance to demonstrate the gross-out "act" which he has perfected. In The Ventriloquist's Wife, a stand-up comic buys a dummy which develops a bizarre life of its own.

Hochberg recently directed Catch a Falling Star at International City Theatre in Long Beach. The Odyssey is at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. Call (310) 477-2055.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent
and David Lefkowitz