THEATER REVIEWS : Survival of the Wittiest in Comedy of Murders : Laughs are well earned in the skillfully organized Brea Theatre League production, despite some problems with performances.

Playwright John Bishop, who usually concerns himself with more serious matters, took some time out from untying the dramatic knots of modern society, and decided to play a little joke. He called it “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940,” and a dandy little joke it is, sending up those movie mysteries that delighted audiences just before World War II.

Three chorines were murdered backstage by a mysterious slasher during the run of a Broadway musical. The backer of that show, wealthy Elsa Von Grossenknuten, is now gathering the same creative team for a backer’s audition of a new show at her home in Chappaqua, just north of Manhattan (an inside joke; the playwright lives there--but the name is mispronounced by these actors).

We’ve seen all of these characters before, in countless B-movies. We’ve also watched the bungling detectives, the crazed German spies, and sat on the edge of our seats when power outages were followed by screams, when secret passages appeared every six feet and the many characters shot in and out of them like pinball balls.

What makes this travesty work, and gets its deserved laughs, is Bishop’s skill at putting it all together in a deceptively organized manner, and piling up the comic surprises with such skill.

Brea Theater League director Nikki Hevesy knows what Bishop is doing every moment and takes advantage of an excellent, involved set by Robert Wyatt to keep the action moving swiftly, without too many pauses for the audience to catch its breath.

This sort of foolishness needs a traffic cop--Hevesy handles that aspect well--but it also requires a sense of timing, which the director certainly has.

Along with the charming set and the good period costumes by James Roy, most of the performances take themselves seriously and help to re-create the era. It’s the performances that don’t take themselves seriously that cause a problem.

Jan Cranston, as producer Marjorie Baverstock, goes way overboard in style and action, totally unbelievable and distracting, particularly when Cranston insists on “acting” when she doesn’t have lines. Betsy C. Spear as Helsa Wenzel, the German refugee maid (we won’t give that gag away) is for the most part very funny, but overdoes a firmly frowning mouth trying to be German.

The style the genre needs is exemplified by Ron Graham as Patrick O’Reilly, an Irish actor whose outlandish accent switches nationality twice during the evening (we won’t give that gag away, either). The fact that he’s honest about the whole thing, and plays for realism, makes it all come together beautifully.

The same goes for John Shouse’s flamboyant director, Ted Escobar’s sophisticated gay writer, Norma McNutt’s misleadingly dingy hostess, Shana Frank’s bubbling chorine (another gag), David Rousseve’s corny comic, Jan Tiehen’s drunken lyricist and Geoffrey Draper’s New York detective. They believe what they’re doing, without adding funny bits, and it makes the parody work.

‘The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940’

A Brea Theatre League production of the John Bishop play. Directed by Nikki Hevesy. With Betsy C. Spear, Norma McNutt, Geoffrey Draper, Ron Graham, John Shouse, Shana Frank, David Rousseve, Jan Cranston, Ted Escobar, Jan Tiehen. Set: Robert Wyatt. Lighting: Kevin Smith. Sound: Jared B. Spears. Costumes: James Roy. Original music: Shawn Lopez. At the Curtis Theatre, Brea Civic Cultural Center, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea. Performances Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sunday & March 13, 2 p.m. Ends March 20. $7.50 to $12.50. (714) 990-7722. Running time: 2 hours.