Novelist, playwright and rabbi Chaim Potok passed away July 23, but Los Angeles Repertory Company and West Coast Jewish Theatre had already planned to bring the stage version of The Chosen to the West Coast for the first time. The theatrical adaptation, written by Potok and Arden Theatre founder Aaron Posner, plays the Miles Memorial Playhouse Sept. 8-Oct. 13. David Ellenstein directs The Chosen, a classic coming-of-age story set in the 1940's in the Jewish community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. One boy has been raised strictly Hasidic, while the other is a conservative Zionist. Through the course of the play, both learn about friendship, family and understanding. The Chosen was also made into a musical, which played Broadway in 1988. Potok's other plays include Out of the Depths and Sins of the Father, both of which had their premieres in Philadelphia.

Tickets to The Chosen are $25. The MIles Memorial Playhouse is located at 1130 Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica. For reservations, call (800) 595-4849. Los Angeles Repertory Company is on the web at http://www.larep.org; West Coast Jewish Theatre is on the web at http://www.westcoastjewishtheatre.org.

– By Christine Ehren