STAGE REVIEW : There’s Good Times Aplenty in This Rendition of ‘Eubie!’

Eubie Blake, who lived to 100 and, by his own count, wrote about 3,000 songs, obviously was a man with plenty of jump. The Orange County Black Actors Theatre’s “Eubie!,” a boogie chant to the “king of ragtime” on South Coast Repertory’s Second Stage, has jump, too. Some moments reach higher than others. But the spirit is always willing, even when the flesh isn’t.

Director Adleane Hunter’s ensemble, a mix of pros and amateurs, goes at Blake’s tunes with fitting vigor, especially in the juicier second act. The approach generally makes for good times with numbers ranging from the effervescent “I’m Just Wild About Harry” to the soulful “Weary,” all the way to the just plain goofball “If You’ve Never Been Vamped by a Brownskin, Then You’ve Never Been Vamped at All.”

Standouts such as the brassy-is-beautiful Rose Mallett, jiving Regina Levert and too cool Michael K. Larche often raise the tempo--and this “Eubie!’s” expertise. And everyone is dressed like he or she has got somewhere to go, thanks to Wendell Carmichael and his sassy costumes.

The dancing is the most obvious glitch: most of the cast just doesn’t seem comfortable with all that saucy stepping. Maybe Second Stage’s restrictive space conspires to give the ensemble bits a leaden, even haphazard quality. But there is adequate room for the tap numbers--and they too lack the confidence needed to heighten the zest.

The 161-seat theater’s intimacy helps create a cabaret ambiance, which is in the show’s favor. The immediacy of performers who sincerely seem to love the music and to enjoy playing with the lyrics can be charming. There’s some fun to be had here.

Mallett’s and Larche’s duet on “Gee, I Wish I Had Someone to Rock Me in the Cradle of Love” is a saucy romantic plea that brings out the best in both performers, especially Mallett. She starts off with some pouty-plaintive, baby doll business--and pretty soon is bumping and grinding with the fervor of a true Jimmy Swaggert disciple. Larche holds his end up, making reciprocal moony eyes and love sounds.

The production’s antic, vaudevillian streak gets full expression in the “Vamped by a Brownskin . . . “ skit, a broad-gestured but very funny routine in which everybody sings and struts. The mobile-faced Levert gets into some first-order mugging in this one. Debbi Ebert, a full-bodied woman, puts lots of starch into the sexy comedy of “My Handy Man Ain’t Handy Anymore.”

On the downside, Carver Cossey is off-balance in “In Honeysuckle Time” (he redeems himself in the spiritual-flavored “Dixie Moon”), and Henry Weaver, despite his Fancy Dan looks and style, seems unsure in the vanity-rich “You Got to Git the Gittin While the Gittin’s Good.”

One of “Eubie!’s” gentler, more expressive numbers is Tina Jackson’s heartfelt rendition of “Weary,” a song that clearly shows Blake as more than just a piano-thumpin’, finger-poppin’ ragtimer. The Black Actors Theatre is shrewd enough to spotlight the tenderness and that, in turn, spotlights the reach of the man.

‘EUBIE!’

An Orange County Black Actors Theatre production of the musical tribute conceived by Julianne Boyd. Directed by Adleane Hunter. With Carver Cossey, Debbi Ebert, Donzelle Y. Harris, Tina Jackson, Michael K. Larche, Regina Levert, Rose Mallett, Sharon Marks, Charles E. Moore, Renda Pettis, Henry Weaver, Debra Crosby Williams and Kenneth Yates. Musical conductor and pianist Richard Abraham. Choreography by Daryl Copeland. Costumes by Wendell Carmichael. Lighting by Michael Martin. Set by Prentis Bonds Jr. Plays Thursday through Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. through July 24 at South Coast Repertory’s Second Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Tickets: $15-$18. (714) 957-4033.