THEATER:3 ambitious Ss at Vanguard

If Beethoven, Brahms and Bach are the “three Bs” of classical music, then the “three Ss” of the theater must be Shakespeare, Shaw and Sondheim (with an argument to be made for Neil Simon).

All three of these S fellows will be represented during the 2006-07 season at Costa Mesa’s Vanguard University, beginning tonight when the musical revue “Side by Side by Sondheim” takes the stage of the college’s Lyceum Theater.

Directed by Myrona DeLaney, the showcase to Broadway’s king of musical theater over the last half century features renditions of Stephen Sondheim’s best-known show tunes — although to actually accomplish this task would take days, not hours. “Side by Side” plays weekends through Oct. 7.

Second in the batting order for the S team is George Bernard Shaw, whose “Saint Joan” will hold forth from Oct. 27 through Nov. 5. This 1925 Nobel Prize winner will be reenacted with an all-female cast under the direction of Marianne Savell.

That show doesn’t really have a happy ending and neither does “Othello,” the third offering of Vanguard’s ambitious season. Artistic director Susan K. Berkompas will stage Shakespeare’s tragedy of the Moor of Venice — featuring guest actors Baron Kelly in the title role and Paul Eggington as Iago — from Dec. 1 to 10.

Something new will be added in January when “Cleopatra’s Wake,” billed by the university as a “family mystery,” hits the stage. David McFadzean’s comedic whodunit will occupy the Vanguard stage from Jan. 26 through Feb. 4.

The unlikely collaboration of Tennessee Williams and Christopher Durang arrives in February as director Berkompas presents a pared-down version of Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” and combines it with Durang’s satirical “For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls.” The battle between drama and comedy will rage from Feb. 23 to March 4.

Finally, Vanguard’s annual big musical unfolds, again under the direction of Amick Byram. This season it’s Frank Loesser’s “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” a show that was long absent from local stages prior to Golden West College’s staging of it last season. The 1962 Pulitzer Prize winner will needle big business from March 30 to April 15.

This may be the most ambitious season yet for Vanguard, which has begun its renovation of the Lyceum Theater. The old loose chairs have been replaced by padded permanent stadium seating and tickets will be sold on a reserved-seat basis.

Performance times are 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, with weekend matinees at 2 p.m. Ticket prices are $15 and $10 for the two musicals and $10 and $8 for the other shows. Reservations and additional information are available at the box office, (714) 668-6145.