WRIGHT GIVES ‘SUPERMAN’ A BIG LIFT

A young actor named Michael Wright is bringing a mercurial edge to George Bernard Shaw’s “Man and Superman” at the outdoor Occidental College Summer Drama Festival.

Mercurial is not a term you associate with Shaw, so Wright’s performance is particularly welcome in this otherwise solid Shavian exercise at the Remsen Bird Hillside Theater. Shaw (along with Gilbert & Sullivan and Shakespeare) has been a staple of this festival over its 27-year history; and director Sally Norton, who co-founded the festival, has followed the wise path of many other “Superman” revivals and cut the third of four acts, the “Don Juan in Hell” dream sequence.

The act is expendable, and this production, which, in fact, is staged with nominal speed, still talks on till 11 p.m. (It gets chilly and warm clothing is urged.) But in the hands of Wright, whose physical technique propels events and fills Shaw’s “Life Force” with a surprising vitality, all the talk is comparatively witty and entertaining.

Production values are smooth, enhanced by a terrific model of a touring car from set designer Vickie Scott. Lucia Friedericy has credibly captured turn-of-the-century dress (the play premiered in 1903).

Acting support is etched with color. And good diction prevails.

Carolyn Hause brings strong, cunning self-determination and machination to the woman in the protagonist’s life. And Shaw’s so-called New Man theory (tied to trade school types) is sharply conveyed by Dan Scott, who in another life must have been Danny DeVito. Brad Wise is winningly poetic and lovesick. The sugarcoating, as Shaw intended, is diverting.

Performances at the Occidental campus, at Coons and Campus roads, in Eagle Rock, after twilight (about 8:30), Tuesday and Aug. 20. (213) 259-2772.

‘MICROTHEATER’

The full title is “Microtheater for The Digital Age,” which is strangely descriptive of the show . . . well, sort of. This is performance art combing dance, comedy, drama, unspooled by five performers dressed in black, who deliver a menu of about 12 pieces, each running 3 to 5 minutes long.

The essential thrust, however, is improvisational dance.

The artists are first of all very skilled physically. They involve the audience by letting patrons select performance numbers from large placards, and since there’s no lights as such the audience is simply asked to create its own lighting scheme by closing and opening its eyes during scenic breaks. The production is marked by this tone of ingenuousness.

The group, known as Mobius Stageworks, has been performing in Northern California and is digging in to make a home at the Galaxy Stage, an off-the-wall back-room space that is perfect for the company. A primary point is the works’ relevance to video media, both in compression and style.

Although an ensemble, the troupe’s prominent talent is short, dark Jeff Grimaldo (although his very first number, “The Walking Dude,” was full of pretension and got the show off to a deceptively bad start). Artistic directors are Nancy Rae Fenster (a strong dancer) and Lyndon Gilbert (built like Tommy Tune). They are complemented on stage by Matt Carlin, newcomer Nendee Lee and the athletic and springy Grimaldo.

Performances at 5421 Santa Monica Blvd., Saturday, 10:30 p.m., through Aug. 23. (213) 624-6510.

‘GIRLS IN WARM SNOW’

Plays about young women rooming and struggling together in romantic Gotham--the New York of “My Sister Eileen” and “Wonderful Town”--still have an incipient charm if they’re not too talky or shot down by a sappy lead of a character.

Unfortunately, that’s what happens to “Girls in Warm Snow,” a new play which producer-playwright Michael Lewis and director Fredric Cook are staging at the Celebrity Center Theater.

The characters are alternately horny (Kristina Sanborn), brain-damaged (Gloria Leonard), a dream friend (Elaine Porter) or incredibly obtuse (Kimberly Jensen, whose impossibly goody twoshoes’ character kills the play).

The standout performer is Leonard, whose derangement manages an undercurrent of danger, which in this play is refreshing--the only non-cliche around. Loony Robert Axelrod is also fetching.

Performances at 5930 Franklin Ave., Hollywood, Friday through Sunday, 8 p.m., through Aug. 31. (213) 851-8705).

‘MARY HAS A LITTLE LAMB’

Playwright-director Tom Price has invented a sister act here, the Shaken Sisters, a decade-old, once-hot L.A. singing group now trying to cope with one another as adults in assorted emotional peril.

Coping includes a mysterious dead mom and the arrival of a cloistered sister, a failed Catholic nun, who is pregnant. She’s the sweetest of the group. The others have problems at least equal to unwed pregnancy (cocaine, tiresome domesticity, a virginal lesbian looking for a girlfriend).

In a detailed living room set (by Branch Marie Brunson) at the Fifth Estate Theater, the sibling battleground is notable for generally sharp dialogue and two good performances (Lee Garlington’s weary toughie and Wendy Robbins’ wiry toughie) and a pair of dimly realized roles (from Jennifer Joan Taylor, albeit a stand-in, and Elizabeth Molo). But the play is marred by murky motivation.

Performances at 1707 Kenmore Ave., Hollywood, Friday through Sunday, 8 p.m., through Aug. 31. (213) 666-0434.