TOM TITUS:Surf’s up at the playhouse

We are now approaching what seems to have become the “local slot” in the schedule of the Huntington Beach Playhouse.

Last summer, you may recall, the theater staged an original musical, “The Golden Dream,” by Huntington Beach resident Joe Syiek. Fast forward to summer 2006 and another Huntington Beach playwright is about to see her creation take wing at the playhouse.

That would be Shirley Orlando, who’s penned the book, music and lyrics for her original musical, “Surf City, USA,” opening next weekend. For Orlando, a 40-year resident of Huntington Beach and the owner-operator of Huntington Music for 25 years, it’s a classic case of making lemonade out of life’s lemons.

“The show would never have been written except for a very sad time in my life,” Orlando says. “I closed my wonderful Huntington Music in January 2001, and my long marriage was coming to a close as well.

“Being home for a year was a luxury that I hadn’t experienced since being at home as a young girl,” she notes. “Although I had written many songs through the years, I now had the time to have the clarity of mind and heart to compose.”

“Surf City, USA” is loosely based on Orlando’s teenage years in Huntington Beach. Having moved west from Kansas at the age of 9, she discovered an oceanfront paradise in a town that numbered fewer than 18,000 souls. That would change after George Maharis surfed the pier on an episode of TV’s “Route 66.”

“The times were much slower than now, and we thrived in the salt air,” Orlando recalls. “When Dick Dale, the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean hit the airwaves, Huntington Beach already was a favorite with surfers and those who watch them. The miles of pristine beach was the perfect setting for the “surf culture.”

Orlando has borrowed her story line from actual experiences, “peppered, of course, with a pack of lies.

“The role of Tex actually is based on a character who visited our home for several weeks before we kids nearly poisoned him by dumping everything but the kitchen sink in his drinks. I’ll save that episode for another musical, however.”

The playwright is quick to acknowledge the support she’s received from producer Bettie Muellenberg, director Roberta Kay and “the ability of musical director Erik Przytulski to immerse himself in the 1960s musical form.”

“Overall,” she says, “the musical is a brief romp through a time that always will recount poignant, romantic and at times bittersweet memories for myself at least, and I’m sure for thousands of others who have shared the experience of “Surf City, USA.”

The surf will be up next weekend, with performances scheduled Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 8, and Sundays at 2 and 7 through Aug. 20. Ticket orders are being taken at the box office, (714) 375-0696.