THE STATE IS SET: PLAY GOES BACKSTAGE AT ELECTION; `STATE OF THE UNION' DEBUTS HERE FRIDAY

He's a wealthy industrialist, a non-political reformer who has been drafted to run for president. A practical idealist, he's giving it a go because he wants what's best for the American people.

If that scenario sounds suspiciously familiar this year, be assured that Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse wrote the play "State of the Union" in 1945.

That doesn't mean it isn't relevant.

"Basically, it's the Ross Perot story," said Bruce Welker, who is directing his first play for the Broadway Community Theatre. It opens this weekend at the Concord Theatre.

The rise of Perot and the scheduling of "State of the Union" were sweet serendipity, but some of candidate Grant Matthews' lines might as well have a Texas drawl.

In 1948, director Frank Capra turned "State of the Union," a Broadway comedy, into a didactic and cynical movie starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The community theater production "is more comedy than cynical," Welker says.

Matthews, whose business is making airplanes, is the champion the Republican National Committee hopes to use to snatch the 1948 election from the Democratic incumbent.

To do so, they try to turn Matthews into a venal politician, the very animal he opposes.

Joe Domian, a Cape Girardeau stockbroker, plays Matthews for the second time in his theater career. Marta Green, a real estate broker, has Hepburn's role as the wife who keeps reminding Matthews of his principles.

Also in the cast are Joe Sherinski, Anna Ruggiero, Ronnie Phillips, George Boettcher, Rich Behring, Ann Swanson, Cherie Worth, Ruth Dockins, Amanda Webb and Jennifer Adams.

Welker, a former KZIM talk-show host who is the group operations manager for Zimmer Broadcasting, is being assisted by Vivian Overholser.

A veteran of 35 productions that include equity work in Florida and both community and collegiate theater in Carbondale, Ill., he calls the play "a backstage look at an election" that should appeal to school children as well as adults.

"I think school-age kids are really into this election," Welker said.

The play is being produced by Suzie Felker. The troupe is sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts, and is producing the play with a grant from the Missouri Council on the Arts.

The River Heritage Museum donated many of the period costumes.

"State of the Union" will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at Concord Theatre, 430 Broadway. Tickets are $4 for adults, $3 for children under 12.