O.C. THEATER : ‘Foolery’ Without Tom : Lehrer Revue--and the Grove--Must Go On Without Bradac

The last time the Grove Shakespeare Festival staged “Tomfoolery,” a revue of songs by satirist Tom Lehrer, company founder Thomas F. Bradac directed and Cyrus Parker-Jeannettewas his assistant.

That was in May of 1989. Now, as the Grove’s latest version of the show approaches, Parker-Jeannette is in charge of it. But Bradac’s presence is being felt as much as ever.

Bradac, 43, resigned unexpectedly last week after 12 years as the festival’s artistic director. He hadn’t had much specifically to do with this “Tomfoolery”; Parker-Jeannette had been slated to direct it anyway, and she says that while he had offered suggestions, he had basically given her a free hand. Still, his decision to leave the troupe jarred Parker-Jeannette and her cast.

“There was anger and there was sadness out there, simply because Tom has been so important to the festival,” Parker-Jeannette said Thursday, two days after Bradac’s resignation was announced. “I have to admit that I was quite concerned, so we decided to have an air-clearing meeting to ease the tension.”

Actually, she said, those at the meeting expressed more sorrow than bitterness over the squabbles with the Grove’s board of directors that led to Bradac’s departure. Several of the cast members, who had worked with Bradac on other productions, kept talking about the void his absence would create. But “everybody got his or her feelings out, and it helped,” Parker-Jeannette said. “Now I’m confident about the show. Everyone is so dedicated. I think it will be a very professional effort.”

Parker-Jeannette said that her version of “Tomfoolery” doesn’t necessarily try to improve on Bradac’s but simply presents a different take, as she feels that Grove patrons, especially regular subscribers who may have seen the 1989 staging, deserve a fresh approach.

In any case, the Grove, struggling financially as always, is hoping that sales for the show will be as brisk as they were for the 1989 production. Asked if the box office was an incentive to stage the show again so soon, she replied: “I bet you’re right!”

When most theater companies are considering revues to produce, the Cameron Makintosh/Robin Ray adaptation of Lehrer’s songs seems to be high on their lists, almost up there with the Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim collections.

Lehrer’s popularity goes back to the 1950s and ‘60s, when he wrote such songs as the silly, spirited “Vatican Rag,” “The Masochism Tango,” “Pollution,” “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” and “I Got It From Agnes.” More than 25 of these numbers make up “Tomfoolery,” which originated in London in 1980. It has played in Los Angeles and, in 1986, at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa.

Lehrer began goosing the establishment while studying math at Harvard, where he later became part of the faculty. In 1965, he appeared regularly on the “That Was the Week That Was” television program. For a short time in 1971, he wrote bouncy, education-oriented tunes for the PBS children’s show “The Electric Company.” He now teaches mathematics and the history of the American musical at UC Santa Cruz, where he’s been since the early ‘70s.

Parker-Jeannette attributes “Tomfoolery’s” popularity to Lehrer’s “outrageousness and rebelliousness and the sheer brilliance of his satire.” Most important, she said, his songs are as relevant today as when they first came out.

“In many ways,” she said, “he was a soothsayer, a prophet. Just look at ‘I Got It From Agnes.’ I know the song is fairly non-specific, but (it doesn’t take much reflection) to get you thinking about the plague of AIDS.”

I got it from Agnes, she got it from Jim.

We all agree it must have been Louise who gave it to him.

Now she got it from Harry, who got it from Marie.

And everybody knows that Marie . . . got it from me.

“Then there’s ‘Send the Marines.’ That reminds me of the (Persian Gulf) war,” Parker-Jeannette continued. “I hope that doesn’t offend anybody, I hope people laugh along with it, but at the risk of sounding unpatriotic, I think (our role in the war) could stand some evaluation.”

When someone makes a move of which we don’t approve

Who is it that always intervenes?

U.N. and OAS, they have their place, I guess.

But first, send the Marines!

To underscore each number, the four-person cast will be asked to do a little dancing as well as the requisite singing. The director has done choreography for various local theater groups and founded Cylinder and the Techno-Rebels, a punk dance troupe that was based in Orange County in the early ‘80s.

There also “may be more acting here than usual, more visual aids,” she said. “But I’ve been careful. I didn’t want to minimize the power of Lehrer’s words, which is really what ‘Tomfoolery’ is all about.”

* The Grove Shakespeare Festival’s production of “Tomfoolery” opens Friday at 8 p.m. at the Gem Theatre, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove. Continues Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 and 7:30 p.m., through Aug. 10. Tickets: $16 to $20. A preview will be given at the theater Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets: $10. Information: (714) 636-7213.