Capturing Moments by the Hour

Stacked against today’s other entertainment options--especially the truckload of Hollywood non-blockbusters--the Fullerton Civic Light Opera revival of Walton Jones’ loving musical, “The 1940’s Radio Hour,” looks awfully good.

It’s as much of an escape as a Batmobile ride and offers things the competition lacks: shaded characters, unabashed fun and a little history. Not a new deal, but a good one, a paean to the American spirit during World War II.

Right now, war is about the last thing on the country’s mind, whereas it is the dark shadow cast over the good times in “Radio Hour,” set at Christmas 1942.

That undercurrent of sadness and fear, which adds a dimension lacking in nostalgia fluff pieces, may require an imaginative stretch for baby boomers and post-boomers. For some, director Don Eitner’s production must feel like an uncanny time machine to that period’s mix of light sweetness, innocence and dread.

It’s one of Jones’ cleverest elements that, as his group of radio troupers at WOV in the Hotel Astor’s Algonquin Room spin out hit upon hit (from “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” to the great “All of Me”), commercial interruptions convey the realities of wartime life. As host-producer Clifton A. Feddington, David Allen Jones elegantly pitches the products and patriotism of U.S. Rubber and Nash Car and fluidly slips in his closing line, “Bye-bye, and buy bonds.”

Eitner, the long-absent founder of the outstanding former American Theatre Arts company in Hollywood, respects the play and period; his staging comes as close as one might hope to re-creating the frenzied mood and industrial feel of a live radio studio in 1942.

Robin Kelly’s graceful Ann Collier and Debbi Ebert’s brassy Geneva Lee Browne are the stalwart divas. As male star Johnny Cantone, Vernon Willet shows a man losing his grip. His star is getting rattled by three up-and-comers: deceptively nerdy B.J. Gibson (Chris Hoch, in stunning voice), nervous Neal Tilden (comically adept Joseph Bearss) and gofer-turned-stand-in Wally Fergusson (thoroughly fresh-scrubbed Scott Barnhardt). The gal in the company having nothing but fun is Ginger Brooks (Lisa Richard pumps in sex appeal and comic flair).

A bonus is that the band is onstage. And despite some pesky mikes, musical director and conductor Grant Rohr (as bandleader Zoot Doubleman) leads his predominantly horn and brass ensemble through everything from woozy tunes such as “Blue Moon” to bluesy epics such as “I Got It Bad.” The cast sings, and the band swings.

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* “The 1940’s Radio Hour,” Plummer Auditorium, 218 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton. Thursday-Sunday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends July 27. $14-$32. (714) 879-1732. Running time: 2 hours.

David Allen Jones: Clifton A. Feddington

Vernon Willet: Johnny Cantone

Debbi Ebert: Geneva Lee Browne

Robin Kelly: Ann Collier

Joseph Bearss: Neal Tilden

Lisa Richard: Ginger Brooks

Chris Hoch: B.J. Gibson

Scott Barnhardt: Wally Fergusson

A Fullerton Civic Light Opera production. Directed by Don Eitner. Book by Walton Jones. Musical director-conductor: Grant Rohr. Set: Eitner, Jim Oxley and Donna R. Parsons. Lights: Steve Young. Choreography: Sonja Haney. Costumes: Ambra King-Wakefield.