Double ‘Ado’: Something to Crow About

Shakespeare goes to middle school and to Old California, too, in two inventive localproductions of “Much Ado About Nothing” for young audiences.

At Messina Middle School, eighth-grader Julian wants to take Coach Funt’s daughter Cindy to the big dance, and the coach gives his blessing; Joey and Tiffany love to trade insults; the head of the Culmination Dance Decoration Committee is queen of malapropisms; and jealousy propels creepy science teacher Mr. Martin and his teacher’s pets to discredit Cindy with false accusations.

“Much Ado About Middle School,” part of the “42nd Annual Teenage Drama Workshop” at Cal State Northridge, is the latest classics-based romp from Doug Kaback and Irwin Appel, the professional writer-composer-lyricist team who created last year’s smart and wacky version of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, “Bye, Bye Orpheus.”

With its “Archie” comics-styled set and peppy choreography by Kelly Devine, the show, while very much a student production, is infused with a spirit of fun and is well-written, for the most part. Kaback and Appel astutely inform the plot with young adolescents’ self-absorption, angst, gossip, peer pressure and budding interest in the opposite sex.

The production stumbles with an interminable number in which Julian and pal Pete get Mom’s lecture about assuming Cindy’s guilt in defacing a wall with graffiti.

The game young cast, directed by Jon Peterson, otherwise skips pleasantly along the surface, but for a few vocal projection lapses. High marks for bickering Joey and Tiffany’s English assignment: the balcony scene from “Romeo and Juliet.” They get caught up in the roles until reality intrudes and they have a “yuk” moment. Danny Nathan as Joey and Kathryn Walsh as Tiffany do seem transported by Shakespeare’s lines, so the return to self-consciousness rings true.

* “Much Ado About Middle School,” Little Theatre, Cal State Northridge, 11110 E. Nordhoff St., today-Saturday, 2 p.m. Also on the bill: “Charlotte’s Web,” Campus Theatre, today and Friday, 2 p.m., and Saturday, 11 a.m.; “Ten Minute Play Festival,” today-Saturday, 7 p.m. $5, Saturday Double Feature is $8. (818) 677-2488.

Ado, Two: East L.A. Classic Theatre’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, is far different, a fully professional production, albeit an abbreviated one at one hour plus. It takes a more traditional approach within its 19th century California setting and mariachi motif.

The amphitheater’s sun-drenched green hillside is a perfect backdrop for the sunny idyll, complemented by Lisa Hashimoto’s pretty set, with flower- and vine-entwined railings and a two-level stained-glass-style centerpiece.

Directed by Tony Plana, who wrote the adaptation with Bert Rosario, the show is double-cast with veteran stage and screen actors. At the opening, Alex Mendoza and Mauricio Mendoza played Claudio and Benedick; Kent Faulcon was Don Pedro; William Knight was Dogberry; Geoffrey Rivas was drunken “Boracho”; and Jose Andrews III was Don Juan.

The mariachi framework, a town of Mexican caballeros and white settlers, including Beatrice and Hero; Don Juan’s plot to break up Claudio and Hero’s marriage works well in the writing but didn’t entirely gel in execution in the first show.

Over-miking was a major culprit. It gave even lovers’ dialogue a loud, harshly sibilant edge. And pallid English renditions of richly ambient mariachi songs didn’t match vibrant performances in Spanish. Beatrice didn’t fare well, either. Her quick wit and light spirit were weighted in the raucous heft of Dahlia Victoria’s wig-heavy, over-the-top cowgirl portrayal.

The strengths were in the elegance of the actors playing the aristocratic caballeros, enhanced by Diane Sisko’s trim military uniforms; in the nifty sword-play and the comical use of child volunteers to serve as zany Dogberry’s deputies; and in the usually bland Claudio’s emergence as a romantic presence, singing soulful mariachi ballads in Spanish. When Mendoza sings “Amor Eterno” at Hero’s supposed grave, accompanying himself on guitar, es muy romantico, indeed.

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* “Much Ado About Nothing,” John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. E., Hollywood, Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. through Aug. 15. $7. (323) 461-3673; (323) 981-1710.