THEATER REVIEWS : Camp Is What Becomes ‘Legends’ Most : Long Beach Playhouse Makes a Valiant Effort to Find Some Kind of Reality Behind the Comedy

James Kirkwood’s comedy “Legends” is, at its very least, high camp. As a matter of fact, it’s high camp at its very most.

The fact that it was written for Carol Channing and Mary Martin--you can still hear their voices in the words--puts a burden on any production. There is little for actors to work with except the camp in which Kirkwood enshrined the cast.

The production at Long Beach Playhouse makes a valiant effort under Darlene Hunter-Chaffee’s direction to find some kind of reality behind Kirkwood’s glitzy guffaws.

The plot is practically nonexistent. Two legendary screen stars are way down on their luck and in their bank accounts. Known for their decades-long feud, they are approached to star in a new off-Broadway play. It’s only an excuse for sparring partners Sylvia and Leatrice’s two-hour exercise in stereotypical show-biz bitchiness.

“The Wizard of Oz” is the source for some gags, along with black maid Aretha’s impression of Butterfly McQueen in “Gone With the Wind” and all the other cliched icons.

But it’s the rapid-fire zingers between the two faded idols that are the basis of the humor. Fortunately, Betty Motsinger (Sylvia) and Kathy Davis (Leatrice) don’t fall into the easy trap of letting the camp control them.

They create characters rooted in honesty and, if their slow delivery in Act I misses some of the yuks, by Act II they’re up to speed to good effect.

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Davis in particular knows where some of the camp potholes are and steps lightly over them. So does Cheryl Bradley as Aretha in a display of restraint that is admirable in the circumstances and gets her deserved laughs. Richard Meese only slightly overdoes the smarminess of sleazy producer Martin Klemmer, but not enough to bollix his monologues.

Alan Harvey is curiously shy as a male stripper who shows up only for further camp, and Michael-Shawn O’Leary manages to out-camp even Kirkwood by playing a policeman as a cross between a Keystone Kop and something the young Bert Lahr would have considered too outrageous.

Why Hunter-Chaffee allowed O’Leary to go as far as he does and kept everyone else within reasonable bounds boggles the imagination as much as it does the production. Maybe the camp got to her just as he made his entrance.

Dave Carleen’s luxurious Manhattan apartment sitting room, which Sylvia has borrowed for an all-important meeting about the new show, looks like the real thing and is elegantly lighted in Buddy Tobie’s design.

* “Legends,” Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Matinee Dec. 12, 2 p.m. Ends Dec. 18. $10. (310) 494-1616. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Betty Motsinger: Sylvia Glenn

Kathy Davis: Leatrice Monsee

Cheryl Bradley: Aretha Thomas

Richard Meese: Martin Klemmer

A Long Beach Playhouse production of James Kirkwood’s comedy. Directed by Darlene Hunter-Chaffee. Scenic design: Dave Carleen. Light design: Buddy Tobie. Stage manager: Maria Bercovitz.