Scoring Points

Look carefully, now: “Annie Get Your Gun” and “Here’s Love” are the last two plays opening in Ventura County between now and Christmas that aren’t based on stories by Charles Dickens. And one of the two shows--”Annie Get Your Gun”--isn’t even seasonal--which may be a blessing for those who don’t observe the holiday, or those who fear drowning in eggnog before the season’s over.

For those who feel Dickens is essential to holiday good cheer, have no fear, “The Cricket on the Hearth” and three variations on “A Christmas Carol” will be on the boards soon. Defying the year-end tendency to stage holiday shows is the Actors’ Repertory Theatre of Simi, whose “Annie Get Your Gun” closes this weekend at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center.

Traditionalists will be pleased to hear this is not the version now playing on Broadway, which various hands have seen to update--now that the writers aren’t alive to protest.

But this is not the original 1946 version, either: The group has retained “Old-Fashioned Wedding,” one of two songs written for the 1966 revival, and (to keep the show under three hours) has excised an entire subplot, including two characters (Tommy and Winnie) and two songs, the better-known of which is “Who Do You Love, I Hope.”

Quibbling aside, this “Annie” remains a terrific show, with great songs by Irving Berlin; a funny script by Herbert and Dorothy Fields; and a strong cast under the direction of Jan Glasband, musical director-pianist Gary Poirot and choreographer Dani Brown.

Local audiences will recognize many welcome faces among the huge cast, including Damian Gravino as the dashing sharpshooter and “big, swollen-headed stiff” Frank Butler; Harrison Ray as Buffalo Bill Cody; James Leslie as the Cody show’s advance man; Frederick Helsel as Chief Sitting Bull (perhaps the smartest, most compassionate character in the show, his comic role notwithstanding); and Ron Rosen as Cody’s competitor, Pawnee Bill. New to the scene, and welcome, is Laura Jean Stevens as Butler’s plucky competitor and would-be love interest, Annie Oakley.

While the producers have disposed of characters and songs, they’ve retained two spectacular (and easily dropped) dance numbers--a good move because the troupe members are far better dancers than one often finds in community theater productions.

DETAILS

“Annie Get Your Gun” concludes this weekend at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, 3050 Los Angeles Ave. in Simi Valley. Performances are 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, and 2:20 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15; $12 seniors and students; and $8 ages 12 and under. For reservations or further information, call 581-2714.

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Holiday Nostalgia in Thousand Oaks: Down at the Conejo Players, they’re performing “Here’s Love,” Meredith Willson’s 1963 musical based on the 1947 nonmusical film “Miracle on 34th Street.”

The story--dealing with competition between two New York City department stores--probably won’t resonate much with anybody these days, particularly since one of the stores (Gimble’s) has been out of business for years.

And the heart of the story--a fellow named Kris Kringle is put on trial to determine whether he, by declaring himself to be Santa Claus, is insane, doesn’t mean much in 1999, either.

As for the songs, Willson tried hard to emulate his earlier success with “The Music Man” and some of the numbers will sound awfully familiar in that context--but he still felt compelled (and wisely so) to include “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” a 1952 hit for Perry Como, to beef up the score.

All that said (and the plentiful anachronisms ignored), the show is not without its innocent charm, and the players--under the direction of Dick Johnson--perform it with as much passion as they might a much more memorable show.

Charles Lindley is as convincing a Kringle as you’re likely to see; Mark R. Johnson and Lorraine MacDonald are likable young lovers; and Najarra Townsend and Hayley Caricker alternate in what was Natalie Wood’s role in the film.

Linda Stiegler is musical director, Zach Spencer conducts the orchestra, Lady Jan Faulkner is the choreographer, and director Johnson designed the stage set.

DETAILS

“Here’s Love” continues through Dec. 11 at the Conejo Players Theater, 351 S. Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (including tonight) with a matinee Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 Thursdays; $12 Fridays and Sunday; and $14 Saturdays, with a $1 discount for seniors and children under 12. For reservations or further information (including details on student rush), call 495-3715.

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