Carol Lawrence, Joseph Campanella, Erika Yohn, Joseph Cardinale, Stuart Franklin and Shannon O'Hurley head the cast of Joe DiPietro's Over the River and Through the Woods, which will be the first mainstage play presented by El Portal Center for the Arts in its new home in the renovated historic movie palace. The mainstage theatre will be operating under a LORT D contract in cooperation with Actors Equity Association.The West Coast premiere of Over the River will continue through Feb. 6, 2000. The comedy opened Off Broadway at the John Houseman Theatre on Oct. 5, 1998 and is still running. It deals with some doting grandparents who do their loving best to persuade their grandson not to accept an out-of-state promotion--even to the point of setting him up with a sexy blind date.

El Portal Center is located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd in NoHo. For tickets and information call (818) 508-4200 or Telecharge (800) 233-3123.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent