DANNY SCHEIE

A COMIC FORUM FOR HIM

Amy Freed's "You, Nero" was the hit of last spring's Pacific Playwrights Festival, and Danny Scheie, the play's star, apparently gave a performance of Nathan Lane-scale hilarity. And this was just for the staged reading. Imagine what this actor, better known to Bay Area audiences, will do when the work has its world premiere Jan. 9 at South Coast Repertory.

Revolving around the spectacle-addicted Roman ruler who demands over-the-top pageantry even as his empire burns, the comedy conjures the depravity that ensues when public taste for escapism runs amok. Does anyone smell American satire? If the campy photos are any way to judge, Scheie will wash it all down with uproarious laughter.