LOS ANGELES -- Bruce Graham's Belmont Avenue Social Club, a wiseguy comedy about back-room, big-city politics, will have its West Coast premiere May 29 at the Two Roads Theatre in Studio City.

Heading the cast are three veteran Broadway actors: J.J. Johnston, Ted Schwartz and Edmund Gaynes. Michael Brooks is the fourth cast member.

Belmont Avenue Social Club is set in a mid-sized northeastern city in the mid-1980s and focuses on Fran (Johnston), the boss of a minor league Tammany Hall. Johnston appeared on Broadway opposite Al Pacino in American Buffalo.

Schwartz, who played the title role of Lenny Bruce on Broadway and on tour in Lenny, also serves as director of Belmont Avenue Social Club.

Gaynes, a well-known local theatre producer and theatre owner, is best remembered for his role opposite Liza Minnelli in Best Foot Forward. Belmont Avenue Social Club plays at the Two Roads Theatre, 4348 Tujunga Ave. in Studio City. Call (818) 597-0960. The staging is not connected to a recent mounting of the show by Off-Off-Broadway's Working Theatre.

-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent