WEEKEND REVIEW : Theater : ‘Western Star’ Shines a Dim Light at Premiere

Everything about the new country musical “Western Star,” which opened Friday at the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities, evinces the practiced craft of skilled professionals.

That was to be expected. Dale Wasserman, who wrote the book, long ago earned a permanent place in the Broadway pantheon for creating “Man of La Mancha” with composer Mitch Leigh and lyricist Joe Darion.

Though Wasserman teamed with different collaborators for “Western Star”--Frank DeTurk and Bill Francoeur wrote the music and lyrics--it was still to be hoped that they’d been blessed with inspiration.

Instead, the team has put together a polished but schematic musical so steeped in old-fashioned Broadway conventions that you would have thought it was a revival from the 1950s and not a world premiere.

The show’s first number, “Damn Near Perfection,” an anthem to the glories of the Old West, introduces the church-going pioneers of a Colorado town called Esperanza. They sing about their “land of opportunity” where they have escaped the past and made a fresh start.

At the same time, Adam No-Name (Michael G. Hawkins), an embittered loner who has retreated to a cabin in the Rockies, lets us know how much he detests the encroachment of civilization:

Don’t wanna see any railroad tracks / Don’t wanna see any fences / Any man thinks he can claim this land / Is plumb out of his senses.

Adam doesn’t just scorn society and all its delusions, he nurses a Job-like resentment of God, whom he blames for the death of his young wife and children in a diptheria epidemic back in the Dakotas. Which is why he has given up practicing medicine.

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By the second number, “Those Who’ve Gone Astray,” two con men show up in Esperanza at a storefront prayer meeting. They are bad Sam Goode (E.E. Bell), who passes himself off as Good Sam the preacher man, and his runt-sized partner in flimflam, Red Willie Magaw (Walter Winston Oneil). They intend to steal the money the townspeople have scraped together to build a church.

The sheriff, Thaddeus Crabb (David Kieran), who doesn’t trust the pair, challenges Sam to pull off a miracle. If he can talk Adam down from the mountain--every town needs a doctor--Crabb will believe Sam is a bona-fide man of the cloth.

Sam and Red Willie’s plan is foiled when three young newcomers from Tennessee show up and steal the money themselves. The plot thickens when one of them, Julie (Kathi Gillmore) is left behind by her good-for-nothing husband, Leeroy (John Bisom). With winter coming on, she persuades Adam to take her in. Guess what happens.

Despite the country flavor of the score throughout, “Western Star” sounds at times like an odd pastiche. You can hear pale imitations of Ferde Grofe and Aaron Copland in the overture. Adam’s solo, “Voices in the Wind,” borrows musical phrasing from Stephen Sondheim.

Even the title tune, “Western Star,” has melodic refrains taken from Andrew Lloyd Webber. When Sam sings “Follow me, lonesome stranger” you can almost hear Eva Peron singing “Don’t cry for me, Argentina.”

Sam’s plea to Adam--”It’s not possible to resign from the human race”--comes right out of Dolly Levi’s mouth. And let’s not overlook Frank Loesser. Wasserman and company certainly didn’t. Both the concept and staging of “Celebrate Your Darkside” and “Those Who’ve Gone Astray” (if not the tunes themselves) recall the revival meeting at the Salvation Army storefront in “Guys and Dolls.”

Of the 14 songs in “Western Star,” only one is memorable: “The Mandolin Waltz,” a touching lament based on “The Tennessee Waltz.” Gillmore sings it beautifully and deepens our feeling for Julie. Hawkins is also an able singer, but the character of Adam remains as colorless as the ballads he’s given.

Bell cuts a buoyant, Burl Ives-ish figure as Sam and carries much of the show with his performance. Magaw is more of a stock character, the villain who won’t reform, played by Oneil with comic zest.

The rest of the large cast filling out the stage under Irv Kimber’s direction has plenty of gusto--especially the robust Bonnie Onken. Set, costumes and lighting work well, too.

But the ovation from a very receptive opening-night crowd notwithstanding, “Western Star” doesn’t have what it takes to get beyond the provinces.

* “Western Star,” Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, Manhattan Beach and Aviation boulevards, Redondo Beach. Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 and 7 p.m. Ends Sunday. $20-$35. (310) 372-4477. 957-4033. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.

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Michael G. Hawkins: Adam No-Name E.E. Bell: Sam Goode Walter Winston Oneil: Red Willie John Bison: Leeroy Donivan Kathi Gillmore: Julie Donivan Benjie Randall: Benjamin Gwinn Gary Lee Reed: Harlin Trimble Bonnie Onken: Cassandra Trimble Monica Barnas: Victoria Trimble Erin Stott: Alexandra Trimble David Kieran: Thaddeus Crabb Jeannine Barba: Myrtle Crabb Randy Hills: Kirk Murray Sam Zeller: Spencer Trigg A Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities production of a new musical by Dale Wasserman with music and lyrics by Scott DeTurk and Bill Francoeur. Executive producers James Blackman and Irv Kimber, in association with Tamanar Partners. Directed by Kimber. Musical director and conductor Dennis Castellano. Choreographer and musical staging Jon Engstrom. Assoc. choreographer Anne Marie Roller. Asst. director Gerard Babb. Scenic designer Ed Gallagher. Costume and lighting designer Pamela Gray. Sound designer John Feinstein. Production stage manager Steven R. Donner. Stage manager Bonnie Lorenger.