Hammerstein in a Not-So-Grand Light

Some lyricists are born to write cabaret songs. Oscar Hammerstein II was not one of them.

That truth becomes evident in “A Grand Night for Singing,” the mediocre revue by West Coast Ensemble at LunaPark in West Hollywood.

Hammerstein and composer Richard Rodgers were certainly one of Broadway’s greatest and most durable songwriting duos. Even so, the soaring sentiment of Hammerstein’s verses sounds turgid and a little silly in a small, intimate venue, especially compared to the savvy romantic wordplay of, say, Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter or Lorenz Hart. Martinis and after-hours flirting go better with Hart-Rodgers’ “Bewitched” than Hammerstein-Rodgers’ “Beautiful Mornin’.”

But “Grand Night” offers just a fleeting glimpse of the “Oklahoma!” team anyway. The songs--more than two dozen of them--are performed rapid-fire, almost like one long medley. If you haven’t heard “We Kiss in a Shadow” (from “The King and I”) dozens of times before, you certainly won’t remember it from its audition-style rendering here.

The cast--Angela DeCicco, Peter Husmann, Ann LeSchander, Michelle Mikesell and Alec Timerman--includes some strong and pleasing voices. But the period costumes and lame vaudevillian antics accompanying many numbers just detract from the power of the music. Director Tony Tanner would have been well-advised to play it straight and avoid the clumsy entrances and exits, especially on LunaPark’s postage-stamp-sized stage.

“A Grand Night for Singing,” perhaps, but not for listening or watching.

* “A Grand Night for Singing,” LunaPark, 665 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood. Thursdays and Saturdays through Sept. 1, then Thursdays-Fridays through Oct. 6, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 6. $15. (213) 871-1052. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.