The Babysitter, adapted from a short story by Robert Coover, will have its West Coast premiere at the McCadden Theatre Jan. 14, 2000. The run is through Feb. 12. The play is co-adapted for the stage by Victor D'Altorio and Henrietta Pearsall and is directed by D'Altorio, whose Parallax Theatre Company premiered the dark comedy in Chicago seven years ago. The play deals with Harry and Dolly Tucker, who hire a teenager to babysit their two children so that they can take off for an alcohol-soaked evening at the home of another suburban couple. Meanwhile the sitter's boyfriend and his buddy are wandering around town playing pinball and fantasizing about what it would be like to engage in three-way sex with the girl. The comic spell of desire gradually gives way to murder and mayhem--or does it? Reality and fantasy suddenly begin to fight a see-saw battle.

McCadden Theatre is located at 1157 McCadden Place in Hollywood. For tickets and information call (323) 960 7896.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent