Good Grief

Out-of-the-mainstream material is what college theater is . . . well, if not all about, certainly much about. Student actors and crew are exposed to a wide variety of styles, and the producers aren’t as driven to fill the box-office till as commercial theaters are.

Chances are “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” wouldn’t do big business if presented by a local community theater; some people might remember that David E. Kelley wrote a 1996 film adaptation, starring his wife, Michelle Pfeiffer, but hardly anybody actually saw it.

Still, Michael Brady’s domestic drama is a nice little piece, fraught with opportunities for actors.

Distraught over the recent accidental death of his wife, Gillian, a man named David is weekending at their summer home with his teenage daughter, Rachel, and her friend, Cindy.

In an attempt to bring David out of his depression, his longtime friend Paul and his wife, David’s sister Esther, bring along a young woman, Kevin, one of David’s students years ago. Will David decide to live in the present and repair his relationship with his daughter? Will Cindy’s crush on David go unrequited? Is a bluebird blue? Does a bear have hair?

The current Moorpark College production, directed by Rolland C. Petrello, moves along smoothly, and Petrello’s set design is another asset. Brady keeps his script from sinking too far into Teardrop City by the inclusion of affable Paul, here played with considerable elan by Jason Cart. Seth Allen plays the tormented David; Shannon Creen is appealing as Rachel; Hillary Carter-Liggett’s Cindy is a bit sitcom-ish, but that’s in the script. A man would be a fool not to run off with Jessica Freund’s Kevin, and Kristin Henry has some nice scenes as Esther.

So distraught is David--who thinks he may have had some culpability in the fatal accident--that he occasionally talks to . . . well, she’s played by Katina Daleiden.

DETAILS

“To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” continues at 7:30 tonight through Saturday at the Studio Theater in the Moorpark College Performing Arts Center, on Collins Drive off Highway 118 in Moorpark. Tickets are $10; $8 students and seniors; $6 with Moorpark College student identification. For reservations or further information, call 376-1485.

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November Crunch: Every year about this time, local theatrical producers seem to take a weekend or two to see how many of them can open shows simultaneously. On the upside, this means lots of opportunity for actors and backstage people; the downside is that too many shows are competing for the same relatively small talent pool.

Ten shows have been announced so far to open in Ventura County during the first two weeks of November, starting with the classic French farce “A Flea in Her Ear” at Cal Lutheran University on Nov. 4. Meredith Willson’s musical “Here’s Love” (the first Christmas show of the season) opens at Conejo Players, “Annie Get Your Gun” at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center and a Monty Python revue at the Camarillo Community Theater on Nov. 5. Peter Shaffer’s ‘60s farce “Dark Comedy” opens at the Arts Council Center in Thousand Oaks on Nov. 6.

On Nov. 11, “Mr. Bundy,” a drama involving family members’ reactions when they learn that their next-door neighbor is a convicted child molester, opens at Cal Lutheran. The next day, the Elite Theatre Company in Oxnard debuts its contemporary retelling of “A Christmas Carol,” Ventura College presents the ‘20s-set farce “Charlie’s Aunt” and Moorpark College opens the Broadway musical “Candide” (music by Leonard Bernstein) on Nov. 12. Finally, the Theatre League brings a touring production of “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” to the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum Theater on Nov. 12. Whew!

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