Out & About / Ventura County : Theater Notes : Casting a Worthy ‘Godspell’ : 3rd recent production entertains; Lloyd Webber saluted in T.O.

You’ve got to hand it to the folks at Camarillo Community Theatre: not only is theirs the third production of the New Testament musical “Godspell” to appear on local stages in the last month (and the second in Camarillo), they had the sense of humor to open on the Jewish New Year. That noted, theirs is the only one still running, and--while the staging is not as reverent or inventive as one or another of the earlier versions--the singing and dancing constitute a good try and result in a pleasant evening’s entertainment.

Opening with the portentous strains of Richard Strauss’ “Also Spake Zarathustra,” also used to open the film “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Elvis Presley’s stage shows, this production slips into the “Tower of Babble” number that the previous Camarillo production cut. Jesus (Damian Gravino, always worth seeing) wears coveralls, though he doesn’t carry carpenter’s tools; the other members of the cast, playing various roles, wear outfits bearing individual markings, perhaps to help distinguish them to the audience. (As each devotes him or herself to Jesus, the sign becomes a heart; nice touch.)

Director Christi Carter has updated the script with references to Starbucks and President Clinton, and in the show’s best inside joke, Gravino alludes to his last role at the Theatre, as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.”

The cast (Eric Boydston, Steven Braun, Claire Culver, Rob Griffith, Michael Klein, Melanie McGuire, Rena Petrello, Erin Wilson, Susan Wiltfang and a youth chorus) is attractive; musical director Dean Mora gives a spirited performance; and Jennifer Carroll’s choreography is fun. This may not be a “Godspell” for the ages, but the production is certainly an agreeable one.

DETAILS

“Godspell” continues through Oct. 17 at the Camarillo Community Theatre, 330 Skyway Drive on the Camarillo Airport grounds. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets to all shows are $12; $10, seniors, military and students; and $8, children. There is a special “Family Pack” price of $35 for two adults and three children; group discounts are available for parties of 20 or more. For reservations or more information, call 388-5716.

Lloyd Webber Without All That Acting: With the scheduled farce “Noises Off” pulled at the next-to-last moment, Gold Coast Plays is filling the time with a touring revue, “The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber.” Married co-stars Raymond Saar and Diane Ketchie met while in the San Francisco cast of “Phantom of the Opera”; Valerie Perri has toured in “Evita”; and--although he has no Lloyd Webber experience--Scott Harlan lights up the stage every time he’s in the spotlight.

The program draws songs from shows ranging from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” through “Sunset Boulevard” (nothing more recent). The songs are performed pretty straight for the most part, although there is a sequence where Ketchie, sitting in for Harlan at the piano, tries to impose various classical styles over Lloyd Webber’s melodies.

Of the composer’s several lyricists, only Tim Rice is mentioned, unless one counts T.S. Eliot as a lyricist. It’s a significant omission, in that without those lyricists, everyone would have been singing “Dum de dum,” or something like that.

Of some interest to serious Lloyd Webber fans were a song cut from “Starlight Express” (not that anybody knows the songs that are included in that show) and “Kansas,” a failed Rice-Lloyd Webber attempt at a pop song that, with different lyrics and a slowed-down melody, became one of their best-known numbers.

Saturday’s performance seemed rather dispirited, as though everybody had done these songs entirely too many times; the apathy billowed out into the audience. It’s entirely possible, of course, that this was a temporary aberration. More a cabaret act than a full-scale show, “The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber” is at least moderately interesting and a fast-paced two hours long.

DETAILS

“The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber” continues through Oct. 2 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum Theater, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. Performances are at 8:30 p.m. Tickets range from $22 to $28 and may be purchased through TicketMaster or the Civic Arts Plaza box office.

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