Klugman provides the answers

If you’re a fan of show business anecdotes, you’ll find an embarrassment of riches in “An Evening With Jack Klugman” at the Falcon Theatre.

A veteran actor of some 60 years’ duration, Klugman is perhaps best known for his television work (“The Odd Couple,” “Quincy, M.E.”), but he has also worked extensively in both film and theater alongside such luminaries as Ethel Merman, Henry Fonda, Judy Garland, Lee J. Cobb and John Garfield.

In his 80s, Klugman is fit, perspicacious and remarkably spry. More than a decade ago, Klugman underwent throat cancer surgery that left him literally speechless for years. With determined effort, Klugman managed to retrain his few strands of remaining vocal cord into a remarkably strong, distinctively raspy speaking voice, which never wavers under his stream of indefatigable reminiscence.

No director is credited, nor is one required. The premise is remarkably simple. Written questions are collected from the audience before curtain, then during the show a moderator (Rowan Joseph) reads out the questions, which invariably send Klugman on a tear. It’s an impressive extemporaneous feat by any standards, a cozy fireside chat, with Klugman as garrulous host. If a few false notes surface (Klugman tends to gush a bit and apparently adored everyone he ever worked with), we accept them as part of the ongoing conversation, which is usually choice. Sherry Santillano’s simple living room set is appropriately cozy, while Adam Klugman’s video clip contributions are integral to the fun.

-- F. Kathleen Foley

“An Evening With Jack Klugman,” Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 4 p.m. Ends Oct. 19. $25-$37.50. (818) 955-8101. Running time: 2 hours.

*

‘Bismarck’ scores many direct hits

Before its 20th century associations with unclothed women, “burlesque” denoted a lowbrow parody of high-minded targets. Nowadays, authentic burlesque often seems scarcer than a mallard’s fingers, Christopher Guest and “Saturday Night Live” notwithstanding.

Thus, “The Unsinkable Bismarck” at the Eclectic Company Theatre is a refreshing blast of vintage hambone wind. Jeff Folschinsky’s send-up of how Hitler’s pet battleship went end-up fuses the BBC to Sid Caesar, with sidesplitting results.

Folschinsky’s incorrigible script recalls “Bullshot Crummond,” as revisited by Mel Brooks in “To Be or Not To Be” mode. While England’s so-called intelligence forces grapple with same-sex distractions, the Bismarck sinks after the Fuhrer entrusts its strategic command to a duck.

Director Paul Millet keeps this craziness careening across the split-focus set at a Benny Hill clip. Drew Dalzell’s sound, John J. Grant’s lighting and Kristen Monda’s costumes provide smirking commentary.

The actors make up a lunatic crew. Shon Little’s Capt. Lindemann and David Reynolds’ Adm. Lutjens are uproarious cable-ready clowns. So is Matt Godecker’s Lt. Vienna, hysterical in his nonstop third-person asides.

David Fruechting’s microphone-phobic Adm. Tovey sifts all the buffoons from the “Carry On” films into one hilarious nincompoop. He blusters in perfect sync with Aaron Belliston’s infatuated Lt. Andrews, a rib-tickling blend of Nicholas Nickleby and “Simpsons” peon Waylon Smithers.

William Joseph Hill’s various radio personas constitute a one-man Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and, as Field Marshall von Quackers, stuffed scene-stealer Eric Straussbird is ready for star billing.

Such is the old-school spark of this chortling spoof, even in its sporadic misfires. Sitcom casting forces should book passage now.

-- David Nichols

“The Unsinkable Bismarck,” Eclectic Company Theatre, 5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Oct. 18. Mature audiences. $15. (818) 508-3003. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.

*

Family divide on a rooftop

“Does Gaahd have a design?” one character asks early on in the unabashedly Christian comedy-drama “Lights.” The design in question is for a Midwestern household’s elaborate holiday display, but the line has a gentle metaphorical undertow and as such offers a helpful taste test: How much you enjoy the rest of Michael Grady’s world premiere play will depend on how amused you are by theologically shaded one-liners delivered in a Detroit accent.

Not that Grady has constructed a joke-spouting machine. In depicting the uneasy reunion of thirtysomething siblings at their childhood home, ostensibly to help their parents construct one more Christmas diorama (on a nicely beat-up rooftop set by Bobby Bingham), Grady artfully weaves interruptions, equivocations and distractions among the confrontations and heart-to-hearts.

Gary Lee Reed’s direction is expertly intimate, effortlessly rangy, and his cast is near-perfect: stiff, blustery Jim Custer as the patriarch who learned his catechism a little too literally; sweet Callan White as his forgiving, nervous-nudgy wife; lovable-lug John Senekdjian as their emotionally backed-up son; elastic Gary Clemmer as his sensitive younger brother; and Wendy Shapero as their stubbornly honest sister, disowned by Dad when she converted to Judaism.

Even those who can’t quite take such a sectarian family conflict seriously should appreciate Grady’s often bleakly witty observations on the increasingly atomized contemporary family and the admirable subtlety with which he engineers the inevitable conciliatory denouement. Ultimately, “Lights” gives off an authentic flicker and glow, even for those who are dubious about its power source.

-- Rob Kendt

“Lights,” Actors Co-op Crossley Terrace Theatre, 1760 N. Gower St., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends Nov. 16 (no show on Oct. 31). $17-22. (323) 462-8460. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

*

Cast’s spontaneity provides sparks

Set the hit movie “Barbershop” at the time of the 1992 L.A. riots and you have “Shoplife,” Micheal David Ricks’ disordered but engaging comedy-drama, now at the Ivar Brick Box.

Written, produced and directed by Ricks, who also did the set and lighting design and appears in a starring role, the play is set in a Compton barbershop owned by Randy (Jose Turner). Mirroring the successful “Barbershop” formula, Randy’s shop is a neighborhood hub, where lively denizens of Randy’s inner city neighborhood congregate for plenty of bonding, brawling and banter. There’s even a hilariously irascible old guy (JR Starr) in the Cedric the Entertainer mold.

The plot is eventful, and then some. Randy, a former college football star, and his pregnant wife, Shanice (Keena Ferguson), have been raising their young nephew Demetrius (Hosea C.) ever since his drug addict mother opted out of his life. Despite Randy’s disapproval, Randy’s best friend and business partner, JC (Ricks), deals drugs for a living -- money that supports Randy’s beloved barbershop. It’s only a matter of time before Demetrius is lured into the trade, with predictably disastrous results. Adding to Randy’s present woes, a young woman (Michelle Kopacz) shows up demanding child support for the son Randy never knew he had. Meanwhile, in the background, the city simmers in anticipation of the Rodney King verdict.

All in all, Randy is having a bad hair day. Most successful when it is lighthearted, the story soon devolves into melodramatic excess, with several characters hovering on the brink of death simultaneously. However, in Ricks’ vividly actor-centric staging, the large and spontaneous cast keeps the action eminently watchable.

-- F.K.F.

“Shoplife,” Ivar Brick Box, 1608 North Cosmo St., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 5 p.m. Ends Oct. 12. $15. (323) 769-0796. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.