Adventurousness of the ‘Amateurs’

Sure, community theater groups tend to do the same thing over and over--what else would explain this year’s three near-concurrent productions of “Godspell,” two of “The Odd Couple” and an unwritten rule that every year somebody has to perform “Romeo and Juliet”?

Two productions of “1776”--not the cliche of “Fiddler on the Roof” but still performed locally every few years--are already announced for next year, and two of “The Fantasticks,” which is a cliche.

Still, since performers hate doing the same shows time after time, a surprising number of productions every year are at the very least unconventional. Some of them are pretty good, and a few even attract audiences. You’ve just got to look for them. Read the reviews. And bring a friend.

Last week in this space, we paid attention to the various professional theater groups operating in Ventura County. But most local productions are amateur affairs (remembering that the term “amateur” means they’re doing it out of love), a group that will here include college productions.

College is the perfect place to perform searing social drama and anything more than 100 years old that wasn’t written by Shakespeare--the goal isn’t as much to make money as it is to educate, after all. And we’re fortunate to have three fine college theater departments in Ventura County, one of which--Moorpark College--has a facility that’s in many ways the best in the county, including the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

The problem with Moorpark and Ventura College and Cal Lutheran University is their locations. Try to give anybody directions to any of the three and see how easy it is. Heck, try to find a street address for any of them. There’s no signage to speak of to help locate any of them (or if there is, it’s on the other side of the campus).

Ventura College’s main-stage theater is large and comfortable but could use some work. Cal Lutheran’s Preus-Brandt Forum has been considerably improved from the days when it was basically a lecture hall, but really ambitious shows have to move to the lawn (the annual Summer Shakespeare productions in association with the Santa Susana Repertory Company) or to the Civic Arts Plaza.

All three colleges also have smaller “black box” theaters, the less said about which the better, other than to note that these are where you can often see the particularly interesting stuff.

What’s to look forward to next year? “1776” (opening tomorrow at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center and at the Conejo Players Theater in March) can be a lot more fun than your high school history classes (I know, so can periodontal surgery); Moorpark College is producing the searing drama “Extremities” and my choice for the best musical ever, “Guys and Dolls”; two of the less arch Stephen Sondheim musicals--”Sweeney Todd” and “Into the Woods”--are coming up; and the people behind Ventura College’s upcoming “Kiss Me, Kate” bring much promise.

Cabrillo Music Theatre will be putting on “Fiddler” but also doing “Funny Girl,” and when was the last time you had an opportunity to see that one? Same goes for “Carousel,” scheduled for the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center in the fall.

And those are just some of the less obscure shows coming up.

A couple of brand-new plays will be presented during the year; those who missed the Santa Paula Theater Center’s “Moon Over Buffalo” last year can see the Conejo Players’ production in August; and the Elite Theater Company in Oxnard opens its season Friday night with Lee Blessing’s “Eleemosynary,” a play whose title most people can’t even pronounce. (The company describes it as “a funny, sensitive and probing play that examines the subtle and often perilous relationship between . . . a young girl, her mother and grandmother”).

And happy New Year to you.

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Todd Everett can be reached at teverett@concentric.net.