In Fine ‘Forum’

Classic baggy-pants burlesque comedy may be virtually dead, with the supply of aging practitioners diminishing rapidly. It’s a relief to fans of the ancient art, then, that “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” exists, and that even (relatively) young actors are able to rise--or lower themselves--to the occasion.

Students at Cal Lutheran University are performing the 1962 musical through this weekend at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, better to accommodate a cast (and, it is hoped, audience) larger than the campus theater could hold.

Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart purportedly based their book on the work of ancient Roman playwright Plautus, which shows just how far back this kind of slamming-door, ogling-the-pretty-girls farce goes.

The show stands as the last for which Stephen Sondheim wrote a conventional (i.e., hummable) score.

Oliver Trible stars as Pseudolus, the clever slave seeking to be freed. He extracts a promise from his young master, Hero (Aaron Strange), that if he, Pseudolus, can effect a tryst between the callow lad and the girl of his dreams, Philia (Dana Shaw), Hero will free him. There are only two problems: Philia is a concubine in the house of Marcus Lykus (Andrew Gratt), promised to vainglorious warrior Miles Gloriosis (Andrew Miles). And Hero’s parents, the embattled Senex (Hector Santa Cruz) and Domina (Simone Rizkallah), would hardly approve of their son marrying such a girl.

Other principal characters include doddering neighbor Erronious (George Peckham) and Pseudolus’ fellow slave, Hysterium (Fred Hamel).

All are fine--very good, even--but the young lovers deserve special commendation in what can be thankless roles. Shaw radiates, and Strange is a wide-eyed wonder of innocence, a J. Pierpont Finch waiting for someone to mount a “How to Succeed . . . “ behind him.

Kevin P. Kern directed, cannily, and it sounds as though a few of the better jokes were supplied by him and/or the cast for this edition. Musical director Daniel Geeting and vocal coach Diann Alexander make the most of vocalists with a variety of abilities, and Leigh Kern’s choreography is imaginative. Set designer Mary Murdock has come up with a backdrop that is simple--as called for--but quite nice.

DETAILS

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” continues through this weekend at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets for all performances are $19.50, $11.50 for students, and are available at the Civic Arts Plaza box office, at Ticketmaster outlets, or by telephone at 583-8700.

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Spring Cleaning: With his company’s production of Agatha Christie’s “Go Back for Murder” opening Saturday night, we checked in with Gothic Productions’ Michael Jordan. Another group he is involved in, Classics in the Park, will produce Shakespeare’s infrequently performed “Timon of Athens” in various outdoor locations in July and August, directed by Irene Silbert. “It’s not really a comedy,” Jordan said, “but it doesn’t have death and damnation all over the place, either--it’s sort of a morality play.”

Come September, Gothic plans to perform “The Three Musketeers,” condensed from the Classics in the Park production from two years ago, venturing forth from the Thousand Oaks Arts Council Center to, first, Cal State Northridge, then the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum.

Rubicon Theatre’s production of “The Boys Next Door,” which opens this weekend, features among its cast Dana Elcar, co-founder of the Santa Paula Theater Center and an actor with a long list of professional stage, screen and television credits.

Best known to younger audiences as the longtime co-star of the TV series “McGyver,” Elcar seems not to have performed locally since Santa Paula’s 1992 production of “Waiting for Godot.”

DETAILS

“Go Back for Murder” opens Saturday and continues through May 20 at the Arts Council Center, 382 Greenmeadow Road, in Thousand Oaks. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays. Tickets for all shows are $10; $8, students and seniors. For reservations (recommended) or further information, call 499-4355.

“The Boys Next Door” previews tonight and Friday at the Laurel, 1006 E. Main St., in Ventura. Tickets for these two evenings are $20; $18, students and seniors. The opening Saturday is $125 per person, followed by the first regular performance at 2 p.m. Sunday. After that, the regular run begins: 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday evenings, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. through May 27. Tickets range from $25.50 to $35, and there are numerous special promotions. For reservations or further information, call the theater, at 667-2900 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays.