THEATER REVIEW : Sondheim Gets Little Respect : In going for laughs, this ‘Side by Side’ misses the subtlety. But the antics are beautifully illuminated.

At the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, “Side by Side by Sondheim” ends on a rough note. The audience hears 28 of Stephen Sondheim’s songs performed earnestly (if unevenly) but then is subjected to a hasty run-through pastiche of his other greatest hits.

Worse, the show’s three singers--Jeff Weeks, Lisa Gary and Brooke Wilkes--play these songs for laughs. The few strains we get of such memorable tunes as “Maria” and “Tonight” (both from “West Side Story”) are accompanied by vaudeville theatrics. We don’t want to giggle at these tender melodies; we want to relish them.

Even up to that point, the survey of Sondheim’s music offered by the singers and director Keith Wolfe is overdone as often as it is effective. When Weeks, Gary and Wilkes are good, they capture the subtlety of Sondheim’s work, but when they miss--as they especially seem to with material from “Follies,” “Gypsy” and “Company”--it usually is because they seem to have forgotten how ironic and delicate these songs can be.

One doesn’t need big gestures to drive home these appreciations of life and love’s foibles, set to the most complementary of melodies. But during “Broadway Baby,” “I Never Do Anything Twice” and “Beautiful Girls,” among others, the singers are so eager as to be distracting.

They do have decent voices, though, and find the right path on such numbers as “Barcelona,” “Send in the Clowns” and “Could I Leave You?” And it’s nice that, because the theater is so small, they don’t require amplification.

As narrator Gordon Marhoefer points out, “Side by Side” is not your typical musical; it’s both a revue and a primer on the composer’s career, from his collaborations with Leonard Bernstein and Richard Rodgers to his own projects. Set designers Steve Jacobs and Sandi Sullivan have framed the show with a couple of pianos, smartly played by Rose Faquhar and Bill Wolfe. The show has another ally in lighting designer Mark Andrew, who has come up with some exceptional effects, especially by community theater standards.

During “Getting Married Today,” an overhead light streams down in a triangle through a thin veil of smoke to create a wryly spiritual ambience. And for “Pretty Lady,” Andrew drapes the singers in a golden hue, a sensitive warmth that reflects the song’s longing.

* “Side by Side by Sondheim,” Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, 661 Hamilton St., Costa Mesa. Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Nov. 7 and 14 at 2 p.m.; Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. Ends Nov. 21. $8.50-$15. (714) 650-5269. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes. A Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse production of a revue of music by Stephen Sondheim, sung by Jeff Weeks, Lisa Gary and Brooke Wilkes, narrated by Gordon Marhoefer, directed by Keith Wolfe. Musical direction: Rob Blaney. Piano accompaniment: Rose Farquhar and Bill Wolfe. Choreography: Monique Naffaa. Set: Steve Jacobs and Sandi Sullivan. Lighting: Mark Andrew.