Everybody Say “Cheese!” is playing at the Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Dr., Burbank, through April 11. Performances: Wed.-Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 4 pm. Tickets: $32.50-$40. Call 818.955.8101 or visit www.falcontheatre.com

Audience Talk-Backs with Playwright Garry Marshall following the performances on March 26, 29 and April 3 and 4.

Falcon Theatre founder Garry Marshall winds up his theatre’s 2008-2009 season with the west coast premiere of this comedy, actually first written over 30 years ago. Directed by Steve Zuckerman, it features Joe Regalbuto, DeeDee Rescher, Cyrus Alexander, John Capodice, Heather Corwin, Joel Johnstone and Roberta Valderrama. We spoke with Garry just before opening night.

LA Stage: How many plays have you written so far that have been produced?

Garry Marshall: Well, let’s see…the first version of Everybody Say “Cheese!” was produced at the Pheasant Run Playhouse in Chicago in 1978. Of course it was called Shelves then. And it was dinner theatre so there was a lot of clinking and clanking and loud chewing through the whole thing. Then I wrote this play called The Roast with Jerry Belson. Here’s some trivia: what play ran at the Winter Garden Theatre before Cats? You got it – The Roast! It ran for three performances and shut down. Then Cats moves in and runs for 18 years. Who’d have thought?

After that, I wrote Wrong Turn at Lungfish with Lowell Ganz. We played at Steppenwolf in Chicago and 12 weeks at The Coronet in LA. Finally, it opened Off-Broadway at the Promenade Theatre in ’93 and ran six months. Even my daughter Kathleen was in it for awhile, and at various times George C. Scott, Laurie Metcalf, Calista Flockhart, Tony Danza, Jami Gertz, Fritz Weaver and Michael E. Knight appeared in it. Which is probably why it was so successful, whether it was in Chicago, LA or New York. And of course we produced it here at the Falcon again only two years ago with Hector Elizondo.  He’s a Falcon subscriber too – now that’s friendship!

Before all that, I helped adapt a play called Good News that ran at the St. James Theatre in New York in 1974. But, you know…The Roast is a better flop story.

LAS: You always come up with clever titles. How did Everybody Say “Cheese!” come about? And tell our readers a little about the plot.

GM: Like I said, the play was originally called Shelves but that’s just not a good word for a title. Nobody can understand you when you say it. What’s the name? Shelves. What? Shelves! Sheves, shavansa, what? Shelves!! Shelves!! But Everybody Say “Cheese!” is funny, you have to smile when you say it. When you say “Cheese!” your lips curl up so you’re already smiling when you haven’t even heard the jokes yet! And it’s tied in with some things that happen in the play. I’d say I have a knack for fixing bad titles – before I came along, Pretty Woman was called 3000. Even Shelves is better than that.

Everybody Say “Cheese!” is about my parents…loosely based, of course. Leo and Harriet, this married couple in the play, are a nicer version of my mother and father. It takes place in 1965 in the Bronx, which is my home turf. Harriet’s kids are grown up and she’s becoming her own person-becoming aware of the women’s movement before it stops moving! But in 1965 there was only one legal way to get a divorce and that was adultery-not necessarily committing it but getting a photo with a sexy girl that will hold up in court. Leo isn’t so happy about the idea, of course. The play is totally PG but is about two simple people trying to hire a Bronx hooker to take a picture. Comedy ensues.

LAS: Do you have plans for this play to tour, similar to Happy Days?

GM: You never know! I’ll bring those people on board later, the ones who help me with that kind of stuff. Right now we’re still developing it, you see. What with everything going on, I can barely think to the next show, let alone a national tour! But I got a talented cast, with Joe Regalbuto and DeeDee Rescher, and director Steve Zuckerman and they’re working hard on this. And I’m proud of what they’ve done.

LAS: Speaking of Happy Days the Musical, which had a successful run at La Mirada, where is it playing now and how long do you expect it to tour?

GM: Let’s see, they’re going all over the place! Their next stop is Philadelphia at the Academy of Music, just March 24-29. Then they’re off to Atlanta, Georgia, at the Fox Theatre. They have bookings through early June. So far, their last stop is Dallas but we’ll see if it gets picked up anywhere else. Our motto is: Forget about Ponzi, come see Fonzie!

LAS: With the present economic situation affecting the arts so greatly, have you changed any procedures at the Falcon? Have you noticed a decrease in attendance?

GM: We’re very fortunate at the Falcon Theatre. We have a lot of wonderful subscribers and they’re quite loyal. They know what they like and they love to laugh. We haven’t had to change any procedures just yet, though with the next year we’ll be keeping our plays small.  I have seven characters in Everybody Say “Cheese!” which is usually too many for the Falcon. It gets expensive with all those actors running around. But my daughter Kathleen and my sister Ronny are the producers so they said okay…this time. We haven’t seen a decrease in our sales yet, which is quite lucky. We’re also the home for the Troubadour Theater Company and their shows sell out in hours, no kidding. So we’re very lucky to have friends like the Troubies.

LAS: What suggestions do you have to the local theatre community for survival in these difficult times?

GM: I say, you just have to keep doing what you do best. Don’t let a little bump in the road fool you into giving up on it all-I mean, look at me! I had a Broadway show close after three days! You need to have a sense of humor about it. Life is funny! Don’t let the drama of it all get you down, and life is more important than show business. But theatre especially is very important. It’s a community art. And what with the Facebook and Twitter and emails and what have you, you can forget what it’s like to talk to a real person. They’re not so bad if you give them a chance. We’ll all get through it together but you can’t stop making theatre. Listen to your audience. And if you can get your hands on some free parking like we do, that’ll help!

LAS: You have a pivotal role in Race to Witch Mountain so, in addition to all your other titles, you continue to act. By doing so many creative things, does that keep you young? What are your next projects?

GM: It’s true! I do think having all these creative outlets keeps me feeling young. I’m always looking for the next project. I like keeping my plate full, and hanging around young people certainly helps. I have to keep up with them, match their energy. I got Happy Days the Musical on tour and Everybody Say “Cheese!” at the Falcon. And pretty soon we have to nail down what we’re doing for our 2009-2010 season, so there’s plenty to do. Always something that gets those creative juices flowing.

Besides that, I still play softball at least twice a week. The Falcon Theatre even has its own softball team – our trophies are displayed in the lobby, if you don’t believe me! If you don’t stop moving, you won’t have any time to get old! I certainly don’t have any time for that sort of thing. I have homeruns to hit and plays to produce. There’s nothing better!

LAS: Anything else you would like to say?

GM: Come see Everybody Say “Cheese!” It’s a comedy with heart and PG rated! And the cast is just terrific. I’ll guarantee you’ll laugh, and maybe cry a little while you’re at it. It’s a tribute to my mother Marjorie, who knew there had to be more in this world to being a woman than wearing an apron and peeling potatoes.

Feature Image of Cast members Joe Regalbuto and DeeDee Rescher with playwright/producer Garry Marshall Everybody say Cheese! at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank; Opening Friday, March 20!