THEATER REVIEW : ‘H.M.S. PINAFORE’ : An Airport Voyage : The sailors and female ensemble look fine and sing gloriously, but perhaps the show’s strongest voice is Buttercup’s.

The current Camarillo Community Theatre production of “H.M.S. Pinafore” may not exactly be the very model of a Gilbert and Sullivan show, but the sparkling, enthusiastic cast comes close enough.

Anyone who remembers the group’s production of “The Pirates of Penzance” last year, also directed by Michael Voll, need read no further, and may just skip to the ticket information box.

The British class system and the British Navy are among the targets of “Pinafore.” It remains one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular shows, and understandably so.

Neither the pronounced class system nor the Navy has changed all that much in the century or so since the musical’s debut. And the fact that one of the show’s leading characters, Sir Joseph Porter, was given charge of the Navy without any experience in the field--or even the water--strikes noticeably close to contemporary U. S. politics.

Jeff Wallach stars as sailor Ralph Rackstraw, in love with Josephine, daughter of the Pinafore’s Capt. Corcoran. The match is clearly above Rackstraw’s social station, with the addled Sir Joseph a far more appropriate match--except, of course, that Josephine doesn’t love Porter.

In the meantime, a dockside peddler, Little Buttercup, has her own dewy eyes set on the Captain.

The cast also includes several sailors, and Porter’s retinue of sisters, cousins and aunts. An alumnus of the Moorpark Melodrama, Wallach is a strong Rackstraw, though the beard makes him look a bit sinister. Ronda Borgwalt plays Josephine like “Dudley Do-right” heroine Nell Fenwick, who was, of course, a parody of operetta heroines like Josephine. Younger by a few decades than her character, Leah Florence brings appealing personality and perhaps the show’s strongest voice to the role of Buttercup.

In the comic leads, Rex Waggoner plays a somewhat effete Sir Joseph Porter, perhaps to distinguish his standing in the upper class; James Wortman is a strong Capt. Corcoran; and Jim Barker steals several scenes as seaman Dick Deadeye, popping up from a hatch while leering and growling like Caliban in “The Tempest.”

The sailors and female ensemble look fine and sing gloriously as an ensemble under musical director Penny Puente, though Voll’s somewhat static direction and the choreography of Madame Likova have them simply standing around much of the time.

Sullivan’s musical score was transcribed to synthesizer by Adriano DeFrietas. The taped accompaniment works well enough, though it occasionally may be a bit too synthetic-sounding.

Minor quibbles, these, to a fine-sounding show that packs considerable fun into less than two hours’ time.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“H.M.S. Pinafore” continues Friday through Sunday nights through Oct. 3 at the Camarillo Airport Theater, 330 Skyway Drive on the Camarillo Airport grounds. Curtain time is 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights, 7 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $10 general admission and $8 for seniors and active military. Group discounts and house buyouts are available. For reservations or further information, call 388-5716.