Harry Chapin’s Songs Tell Tender Life Tales in Revue

Factory workers, taxicab drivers, tradesmen, homesteaders--from the ranks of these unglamorous, everyday folk, songwriter Harry Chapin spun the introspective narrative ballads that earned him increasing renown as a humanist icon of the 1970s. Chapin fans will relish the opportunity to revisit some of his finest efforts in “Lies and Legends: The Musical Stories of Harry Chapin,” affectingly staged by Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre.

“For every dream that took me high / There’s been a dream that’s passed me by,” sings Greg Zerkle, summing up Chapin’s rueful lessons in a refrain from “Story of a Life,” the recurring number that binds this 22-song anthology. Chapin’s characters are all wrestling with dashed hopes and fleeting triumphs.

In “Cat’s in the Cradle,” Zerkle brings poignant maturity to a neglectful father’s recognition that his son has turned out exactly like him. With a mixture of disappointment and hope, Douglas Crawford’s frontier settler greets his arranged bride in “Mail Order Annie”; as the cabby reunited with his lost love in Chapin’s signature “Taxi,” Crawford’s regretful heartache finds its painful way to resignation and acceptance.

Though the more clearly defined characters are male, Dina Bennett and Kirsten Benton bring gorgeous, complementary singing styles to their respective numbers--Benton, a Broadway-caliber belter, and Bennett finessing gossamer melodies as if they were arias. Walter Winston ONeil supplies the comic characters with feet of clay. The lively five-piece orchestra is a plus, but the company still has work to do in making the acoustics of the converted church venue appropriate for musical productions.

For all their charms, these songs were clearly not conceived as stage pieces, and audiences should be prepared for that limitation. Director George Ball (an original performer and, along with Joseph Stern and Sam Weisman, co-creator of “Lies and Legends”) is careful not to burden this engaging, unpretentious revue with undue theatricality, letting Chapin’s songs speak eloquently for themselves.

* “Lies and Legends: The Musical Stories of Harry Chapin,” Laurel Theatre, 1006 E. Main St., Ventura. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Aug. 27. $27.50-$32.50. (805) 667-2900. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.