Suitcase Tales, the umbrella title for a "musical psycho cabaret" about the seedy side of the entertainment world, ends its extended run May 9 at L.A.'s Odyssey Theater. The show, which began previews March 11 and opened March 13, was extended from April 25 and then again from May 2.
(Initially, Suitcase Tales was to begin March 6, but director Richard Hochberg was bedridden with an illness for six days, causing the delay.)

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