For Score and ‘Gettysburg’ : Theater: A Costa Mesa composer weaves his fascination with history into a musical-in-progress at Fullerton College.

The battle of Gettysburg, considered the turning point of the Civil War, has been analyzed, discussed, written about in countless books and even turned into a movie.

But it’s unlikely this famous conflict ever inspired a musical. Until now, right here in Orange County.

Michael Coleman, a Costa Mesa composer and long-time Disney employee, has nearly completed “GETTYSBURG, the Musical.” His 21-song show, which weaves real and fictional characters into historical accounts of the war’s bloodiest fight, will be presented in a concert version (minus sets and costumes) at Fullerton College tonight and Thursday.

Coleman said the musical is a work-in-progress, and he hopes the performances will give him a clearer idea of how to finish it. He also is using them to gauge whether his dream of taking the project to Broadway by late 1996 is realistic.

“I’m optimistic; I mean I believe this will go to Broadway eventually,” Coleman said by phone from his Walt Disney Theatrical Productions office in Anaheim, where he’s helping arrange a tour of the staged version of “Beauty and the Beast” in Europe and other countries.

“I think it will work because it takes risks and tells a fascinating, dramatic and moving story,” he said, adding that several New York producers have expressed interest. He said he didn’t approach Disney with the project, preferring to see whether he can mount it independently. Coleman also said financing might come from overseas, where he said he has contacts.

All well and good, but why a musical in the first place? Why not a drama or even another screenplay, both of which would seem to handle the event’s scope more readily than two or three hours of tunes?

Coleman laughed. “I knew that question was coming . . . . Sure, this would make a good play, but what turned me on was seeing shows like ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘Miss Saigon,’ shows that aren’t what we think of as typical musicals.”

“They (take important events and) make them entertaining while not losing the profound stories. I’ve never been fascinated by the usual American musical, where boy meets girl, boy gets girl and boy loses girl, with all this singing and dancing for no apparent reason.”

Many of those recent, historically based musicals, Coleman said, “are more believable. They suspend disbelief, something I hope to do with ‘Gettysburg.’ ”

Currently, the musical features seven main characters and close to 30 supporting roles. Pivotal are Confederate leaders Gen. Robert E. Lee and Lt. Gen. James Longstreet and Union hero Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who turned back rebel forces at Little Round Top, thereby protecting the North’s left flank and helping to ensure a Union victory.

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From the engagement on the battlefield, Coleman moves to the story of Turner Shaw, an educated black slave, and his best friend, Proctor Porter, the white son of a sharecropper. They end up on opposing sides of the struggle. Another subplot brings in Henry Strong, a white teacher from Maine, who becomes a federal soldier despite his wife’s objections.

While he would like “GETTYSBURG, the Musical” to be more than a history lesson, Coleman said he’s tried to be true to the facts, most of which are still stunning. Gettysburg resulted in at least 51,000 casualties, more than one-third of all the Confederate and Union soldiers who fought during those three days in early July, 1863. Lee’s army never recovered.

“This battle has fascinated me for years because it was so important to our destiny in saving the Union,” Coleman said. “I’ve researched it for years, reading two dozen history books on the Civil War. I wracked my brain over how to do it justice, and I finally came up with this.”

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So far, “GETTYSBURG, the Musical” runs nearly three hours. Coleman has written it without dialogue or narrative; the songs alone tell the tale. Some compositions have been omitted from the Fullerton College performances, which should last about 1 hour and 45 minutes, he said.

The cast is made up of students, all from the college’s performing arts departments. Coleman, who co-directed the touring show of “The King and I” with Yul Brynner and co-wrote the theme song, “Rock the Pond,” for the Mighty Ducks hockey team, chose Fullerton to introduce his project because he is friends with Brent Pierce, a music department instructor at the college. Pierce is the producer and vocal arranger for the two performances.

“Both Brent and I thought it would be great to have an opportunity to hear my music and have his students work on a show in the making,” he explained. Coleman conceded that the campus presentation is also practical--he’ll see an audience’s reaction without the cost of renting a hall and paying singers’ salaries.

“Sure, this is helping me, but I think it will help the students too,” he said. “And who knows, some of them may end up in the Broadway cast.”

* “GETTYSBURG, the Musical” will be performed tonight and Thursday in Fullerton College’s Recital Hall, 321 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. 7:30. $6. (714) 871-8101.