VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : Serving Up Suspense During Dinner Hour : ‘Catch Me If You Can’ an often funny mystery at Marquie in Moorpark.

“Catch Me If You Can,” now playing at the Marquie Dinner Theatre, is a suspenseful, often funny mystery with a real “Gotcha!” ending.

It originated as the French play “Trap for a Lonely Man,” adapted for the New York stage by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert. The same play was adapted as at least three TV movies, most recently 1986’s “Vanishing Act,” written by Richard Levinson and William Link and starring Elliot Gould as a character reminiscent of the team’s best-known creation, the rumpled, seemingly bumbling detective Columbo.

In Weinstock and Gilbert’s version, Inspector Levine (J. Paul Vincent) is summoned by vacationer Daniel Corban (Mark Sawyer) whose wife has been missing for some time, following a lovers’ argument. In the meantime, another woman (Denice Stradling) has shown up, claiming to be his wife and with enough evidence to convince everybody (including a local priest, played by Ron Ford) except Corban that she is.

Also in the cast are Don Pearlman as a local storekeeper, Hal Conley as Corban’s boss, and Valerie Belardinelli as the Conley character’s weekend “date.”

* “Catch Me If You Can” continues Thursday-Saturday through Feb. 24 at the Marquie Dinner Theatre, 340 N. Mobil Drive in Moorpark. Doors open for all shows at 6:30 p.m.; dinner is served at 7 and the play begins at 8:15. Admission is $26 (seniors, $24) on Thursday nights; $28 on Fridays and Saturdays, with group rates available. Tickets include the show, dinner, tax and tip; a cash bar is also available. For reservations or further information, call 484-9909.

“Other People’s Money”: Jerry Sterner, a businessman turned playwright, brought an informed view of high-level financial dealings to “Other People’s Money,” an off-Broadway show that later became a hit film. In the current Conejo Players’ production, director Jere-Rae Mansfield and her cast keep the money stuff easy to comprehend while making the most of the characters.

Lawrence “Larry the Liquidator” Garfinkle’s specialty is the purchase and dismemberment of companies, to the ultimate benefit of his clients. From the point of view of Garfinkle’s targets, the man is a monster, closing down their place of employment and crippling the Rhode Island town’s economy. On the other hand, Garfinkle can be seen as a bright guy, taking huge delight from moving huge amounts of “Other People’s Money” around. His handsome commission is almost beside the point.

Kelly R. Green gets both sides of Garfinkle, nibbling away at his omnipresent Dunkin Donuts as he engages in financial maneuvers that will place 12,000 employees on the street.

Fighting him are New England Wire & Cable’s president, Jorgensen (Ken Johnson); his longtime assistant, Beatrice (Marlene Reinhart); second-in-command Coles (Dave McMoyler); and Beatrice’s daughter, Kate (Jennie Sine), now a high-powered Wall Street attorney.

Jorgensen attempts to fight fairly for his employees, even though Garfinkle’s success would ensure a handsome retirement for all of the main characters, will cause some to regard “Other People’s Money” as a fantasy. Sterner has created some solid characters and frequently witty dialogue. But leave the kiddies at home--they’ll be bored, and some of the language might embarrass you in their presence.

* “Other People’s Money” plays 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through Feb. 24 at the Conejo Players Theatre, 351 S. Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks. Tickets are $8 on Thursday, $10 on Friday, and $12 on Saturdays, with senior and group discounts available. For reservations or further information, call 495-3715.

Stuff of Dreams: When members of the audience were asked during last Saturday’s matinee how many had seen the 1941 classic film “The Maltese Falcon,” a remarkably small percentage of the crowd raised their hands. Still, everybody appeared to have a pretty good time at “The Maltese Chicken.” Commissioned especially for the Moorpark Melodrama, the show was written and directed by Scott Martin. Those who have seen the film will recognize the Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre characters (here played by James Harlowe, Damian Gravino and Paul Roache, respectively) watching the bodies pile up as they search for the objet d’art.

“The Maltese Chicken” differs from most Melodrama shows in that members of the cast are for the most part older (and better singers) than usual; all of the songs are Scott Martin originals; and some of the jokes are a bit more subtle than usual--watch the sets to change from shades of gray to color, thanks to the efforts of the unseen “Teddy Turner,” sneaking in during scene changes to “colorize” the production.

* “The Maltese Chicken” continues through Feb. 16 at the Moorpark Melodrama, 45 E. High St. in Moorpark. Show times are 7 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays at 3. Tickets are $12; $9.50 for seniors (55 and older) and children (11 and under) on Thursday nights and Saturday and Sunday matinees. For reservations or further information, call 529-1212.