Highways Performing Space, one of Los Angeles' cutting edge theatre centers, has announced its early 1998 schedule. Kicking off the new year Jan 2-4 will be The Ballad of Little Mikey, music, lyrics and direction by Mark Savage. A hit when it was first performed at Highways in 1994, the show is a coming of age and a coming out musical about a good little boy who wants to learn how to be a gay man. The Nellie Olesons, an in-your-face comedy show featuring Nora Burns, John Cantwell, Marissa Copeland and Terrence Michael will play Jan. 30-Feb. 1 and Feb. 6-8. Leo Garcia will star in his latest performance piece, My Alien Abduction Feb. 13-14 and 20-21. A production spokesperson described the show as "a childhood memoir of sorts...informed by both carny trickery and cosmic symbology."

For a full schedule and ticket prices, call (213) 660-8587.

--By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent