Ventura County Weekend : Theater : NOTES : A Lively Troupe Makes ‘Guys and Dolls’ a Good Bet : Deft casting, a funny script and strong choreography bring successful end to Camarillo Community Theatre season.

Known for the generally high quality of its musicals, Camarillo Community Theatre concludes the season at Camarillo Airport Theater with “Guys and Dolls.”

The energetic production by a particularly youthful cast is directed by Linda Steigler. Several choreographers are credited, resulting (it appears) in each being able to concentrate on her particular number with largely commendable results.

The troupe headed by Daniel J. Gibson as big-time Sky Masterson, Shelley Packham as missionary Sarah Brown, Gary Schaffner as small-time hustler Nathan Detroit and Sandy Gaskell as the perpetually engaged (to Nathan) Miss Adelaide is pretty uniformly fine.

Steigler’s casting is particularly witty: In addition to being swell performers, Gabriel Vega (as Nicely-Nicely Johnson), David Banuelos (as Benny Southstreet), R.J. Henchy (as Lt. Brannigan) and Bob Pryor (as Big Jule) contribute diverse physical attributes for an amusing-looking ensemble. Ignore the mostly cheap-looking sets--though the sewer is a marvel--and revel in the funny script and marvelous songs.

Thieves Not So Bright: No sooner did the Elite Theatre Company buy a new light board than some dirty, rotten son-of-a-gun walked off with it. It’s an NSI board, says the company’s Judy Heiliger, about 10 feet by 12 feet and with 16 faders. If you see such a new device at some local theater or music club, ask ‘em where they got it. If you find it, call Heiliger at 525-6219. Maybe she’ll give you a season ticket.

Opening This Week: Local playwright Angela Wayne Randazzo’s comedy, “A Moment of Silence,” plays for two nights only this weekend at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum Theatre. The show premiered in March at the Simi Valley Cultural Assn.’s Court Theater.

“Simi Valley was our first-ever production,” Randazzo said. “Our next step is to take it into a bigger theater. Our eventual goal is to take the play into Los Angeles.”

To that end, Randazzo--whose previous credits include teleplays for “Cagney and Lacey” and “Remington Steele,” has invited several actors and producers from the Big City, feeling that they’re more likely to appreciate her work in the new Civic Arts Plaza than in a smaller local space--even though she’s paying a relatively high rent for the posh showcase.

“Really, it’s a thrill for the actors, too; for most of them, it’s the biggest theater they’ve ever been in.”

Most of the cast remains intact from the original production. At the time, the play was described in these pages as “comic Southern Gothic, sort of what you’d get if you put ‘Daddy’s Dyin’--Who’s Got the Will?,’ ‘Steel Magnolias’ and the cast of TV’s ‘Designing Women’ into a blender and set the speed to ‘chop.’ ” But Randazzo says it’s been slightly rewritten “to make it more of a human comedy, less broad than it was.”

Performances are Saturday and Sunday nights at 8 at the Forum Theatre, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. Call the Civic Arts Plaza box office at 449-ARTS.

The California Shakespeare Company begins its new season Friday night with “Henry IV, Part 1.” Its many other virtues aside, this is the play appropriated in part by filmmaker Gus Van Sant for his 1991 art house hit, “My Own Private Idaho.”

“Henry IV” will be performed Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sunday afternoons at 3, through Oct. 15 at the theater at 6685 Princeton Ave., Moorpark. For reservations call 498-3354.

Lastly, a national touring company of “Cats” continues to play the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center through Sept. 24. It’s a no-name cast--all seasoned troupers, though. And since they’re all in kitty suits, who cares if you can’t recognize them?

through 19 for all shows, $12.95 up to age 12; group rates; prices include show, buffet, tax and tip; 484-9909.

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DETAILS

* WHAT: “Guys And Dolls.”

* WHEN: Fridays through Sundays at 8 p.m. through Oct. 14; Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Sunday and Oct. 1 and 8 only.

* WHERE: Camarillo Airport Theater, 330 Skyway Drive, on the grounds of Camarillo Airport.

* HOW MUCH: $10 general admission; $8 students, seniors and active military; $5, children under 12. A special family plan is available; call for details.

* FYI: For reservations or further information call 389-3193.