Performers ‘were new to each other when we started, but now we’ve become a family.’

They helped each other with quick costume changes while standing in the wings or frantically fastened rhinestone bracelets with only seconds to spare before dashing back on stage.

Others practiced dance turns off stage or paced quietly--lips silently mouthing lines.

Others laughed and chatted and talked about how much fun it is to intently rehearse a complicated show until 11 at night after working all day.

It is, if you’re as devoted to community theater as the cast of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

“It’s an immense amount of work, but I love it,” said Nancy Goldman of Manhattan Beach, a music teacher in Los Angeles Unified School District elementary schools, who says enthusiasm and adrenaline turn tired workers into energetic singers and dancers. “We were new to each other when we started, but we’ve become a family.”

Goldman plays Miss Jones--the secretary who goes from sourpuss to siren--in the Redondo Beach Recreation Department production, which opens tonight at 8 p.m. at Aviation Auditorium as the first of four plays in the 1988 STAR (Support the Arts in Redondo Beach) season.

The leading role of J. Pierpont Finch--a young man trying to avoid pitfalls as he climbs the corporate ladder--is played by blond and boyish Mike Thompson, who sells trucks at Don Kott Ford in Carson. He said he hadn’t acted since high school six years ago and probably was cast because he looks the part.

“This is an exciting experience for me, a thrill a minute,” said Thompson.

Mary S. Flynn, city performing arts coordinator, said having fun--and giving the community good theater--is what the theater program is all about.

While a few have some professional acting experience, most performers are amateurs, Flynn said. Then she proved it by reviewing the cast list: “Here’s a housewife, airlines reservation agent, student, manufacturing company manager and aerospace engineer.”

One who is debuting in show biz with “How to Succeed” is Georgia Prooks of Redondo Beach, an elementary school teacher. She is in the chorus of business executives that, as she says, “lends authenticity” to the goings-on at the World Wide Wicket Co.

“I wish I’d done this as a kid,” she said, “but now that I’m old, I thought before I die I’ll try this. Here I am.”

Several cast members--some with only a show or two under their belts--credited director Paul Collette, choreographer Terry Barto and vocal director Gary Fritzen for putting the polish on a troupe that must execute some intricate ensemble numbers.

“They are very giving to all of us,” Thompson said.

The play series--which also will present “The Music Man,” “The Ransom of Red Chief” for children and “I Remember Mama” between now and June--was launched last year, bringing city-sponsored theater back to Redondo Beach. A previous theater program was canceled during post-Proposition 13 budget cuts.

The city has a $35,000 budget for the season, covering such things as salaries for directors and orchestra members, sets and costumes. The actors are not paid.

In fact, said Prooks, “we pay to do this,” referring

to the $35 participation fee a performer pays to be in each show.

Flynn is trying to put together a support group to generate money and volunteer help for the city’s performing arts activities.