Sunny Spots on Any Given ‘Night’

Shakespeare is no sunnier, and perhaps no more brilliant, than in “Twelfth Night,” and two outdoor productions vying for attention in Orange County try to keep things bright and uncomplicated.

Memorable they’re not, and the skill level in South Orange County Community Theatre’s staging at Dana Point’s Lantern Bay Park easily exceeds that of Huntington Beach Playhouse’s in Huntington Central Park adjacent the library.

Still, both serve this exquisite, virtually indestructible comedy, and either is a fine summer alternative to the overpriced, empty-headed amusement spectacles nearby.

If setting were everything, Huntington Beach would take the prize. Only Theatricum Botanicum in L.A.’s Topanga Canyon offers as sylvan an outdoor summer setting as this; the only thing missing from the spectacular surrounding park is Helena Bonham Carter strolling with a parasol.

Though the Lantern Bay Park promontory provides a lovely coastal background (accenting the play’s mythical Illyria as an island paradise), the marine layer rolls in quickly--take warm jackets, pillows and blankets. Once night falls, we could be almost anywhere.

Oddly, both productions have unsightly staging warts. The Huntington set pieces (by Bronson and Harold Gooder) are unneeded and ugly; the grassy Dana Point space is surrounded by functional handrails that should be dressed up.

The pace of both stagings is fairly brisk and uncluttered. Director Doug Matranga at Dana Point has a more intelligent grasp of the comedy than does Huntington Beach director Phil de Barros. Matranga translates this with energy to his actors, who, line by line, give a far clearer and more robust reading than the Huntington Beach actors do.

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Compare Douglas Gabrielle’s Sir Toby Belch in Dana Point with John Miller’s. Gabrielle commands attention with a Falstaffian vigor and puts his portly frame through some surprising stunts (an early duet with David Martin’s fine Sir Andrew Aguecheek is a nice comic dance). Miller battles a monotone delivery and takes Toby’s identity as leader of his Elizabethan slackers too literally: He slacks off in his role too.

At the play’s emotional center, shipwrecked Viola takes on a new identity--as the boy Cesario--to win the favor of Illyria’s Duke Orsino, and Shakespeare designs her to win our favor instantly.

That means charisma, which Dana Point’s Michelle Lehman has and Huntington’s Wendi de Barros has only slightly. Lehman is more glistening as a woman and more boyish as a boy. Throw in the all-important casting of Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian: Dana Point’s Scott HaringQ more closely parallels Lehman than Huntington’s Mark Reynolds does de Barros.

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Alice Ensor’s Olivia in Huntington is rightly proper, but Susan Schultz in Dana Point is regally magnetic--a key difference that affects the whole comic roundelay swirling about Olivia.

By contrast, each Malvolio--that puritanical party pooper--is equally strong with different approaches: Huntington’s Randall Stanton is bitter and caustic; Dana Point’s B. Aaron Cogan is a little younger and more foppish, like he’s modeling for a Van Dyke painting.

Some of the supporting roles at Huntington--Robert Goodwin’s Fabian, Amanda Rafuse’s mischievous Maria--far exceed their Dana Point counterparts for sheer fun.

The live Elizabethan music at Huntington is also much more fulfilling than the thinly strummed guitar by Todd Fuessel’s Feste at Dana Point.

On the other hand, Matranga’s staging keeps you on your toes, because you may be pulled into the action without warning (a woman in the audience Saturday played a prison guard).

No one will want to preserve these “Nights” forever, but Dana Point is where the action is.

* “Twelfth Night,” Huntington Central Park, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach. Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Aug. 11. $7. (714) 375-0696. Running time: 2 1/2 hours.

Wendi de BarrosL Viola/Cesario

John Miller: Sir Toby Belch

Randall Stanton: Malvolio

Alice Ensor: Olivia

Robert Shirreffs: Feste

Charles Massaro: Duke Orsino

Nick Cook: Sir Andrew Aguecheek

Amanda Rafuse: Maria

Mark Reynolds: Sebastian

A Huntington Beach Playhouse production. Directed by Phil de Barros. Set: Bronson and Harold Gooder. Costumes: Bettie Muellenberg. Musical director: Scott Claycomb.

* “Twelfth Night,” Lantern Bay Park, Dana Point. Friday-Sunday, 8 p.m. Ends Aug. 25. $10. (714) 489-8082. Running time: 2 1/2 hours.

Michelle Lehman: Viola/Cesario

Douglas Gabrielle: Sir Toby Belch

B. Aaron Cogan: Malvolio

Susan Schultz: Olivia

Todd Fuessel: Feste

Joel Greene: Duke Orsino

David Martin: Sir Andrew Aguecheek

Kristin Olsen: Maria

Scott Haring: Sebastian

A South Orange County Community Theatre production. Directed by Doug Matranga. Sound: Brian Lau. Costumes: Kimberly Crone.