TOM TITUS -- Theater Review

* EDITOR’S NOTE: This is third in a series reviewing this year’s local

theater.

Collegiate theater certainly was alive and well in Costa Mesa this

year, with two institutions of higher learning taking their best shots a

few hundred yards from one another.

Orange Coast College long has been known as one of the most ambitious

collegiate drama programs in the nation, with upward of 30 plays produced

each year on the college’s three stages. This year, Vanguard University

-- formerly known as Southern California College -- began to make its

presence felt as well. For sheer logistics, OCC was the dominant force,

mounting some highly entertaining, involving and enlightening projects.

But, while Vanguard staged only three shows, all were solid productions.

At the top of the OCC heap was “1776,” the musical version of the

founding of our country, splendidly directed by Alex Golson. A large and

energetic ensemble cast skillfully negotiated the balance between

historics and hysterics.

Director John Ferzacca, who’s been a part of the OCC program for the

past three decades, was responsible for the college’ssecond- and

third-ranked shows of the year -- Steve Martin’s “Picasso at the Lapin

Agile” and Paula Vogel’s “The Mineola Twins.” Both shows stretched

comedy, as well as the actors, to new dimensions.

“Picasso” brought in a pair of skilled guest artists, Scott Ratner and

Craig Fleming, to take on the roles of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso

for a cerebral showdown that existed only in Martin’s fertile

imagination. The show crackled with zany wit and easily earned the

runner-up spot on the OCC roster for the year.

Jessica Marie Hutchinson did double duty in “The Mineola Twins,”

playing good and bad sisters, each farcically expanded in character to

the delight of the audience. Ferzacca is noted for uncovering unknown

pearls in the theatrical backwaters, and “Mineola” proved to be a real

gem.

Two other OCC productions given impressive stagings were “Hidden: The

Story of Anne Frank,” directed by Danae Hanson, and the wickedly satiric

“Bullshot Crummond,” staged by Shawn Shryer.

Individually, the aforementioned Ratner, Fleming and Hutchinson must

be accorded top honors for the year, along with Kurt Jarrad as John Adams

in “1776.” Also impressive were Juliette Elaine Finch in “Hidden,”

Miracle Ann Laurie in “Jesse and the Bandit Queen” and Martin Winslow in

“The Hostage.”

Meanwhile, at Vanguard, the theater department pulled outall the stops

in its powerful multimedia production of “Hamlet,” directed by student

Sunny Peabody. This was a visceral, vital rendition of Shakespeare’s

classic tragedy that demanded, and received, dynamic performances from

its student actors.

For sheer raucous tomfoolery, Carey Smith’s production of the whodunit

spoof “Something’s Afoot” also ranked high on the enjoyability scale. And

Susan Berkompas’ “Steel Magnolias” -- with the director stepping into a

key role on a week’s notice -- also made a strong impression.

As might be expected, top acting honors go to Tyler Lindsay for his

outstanding interpretation of the melancholy Dane in “Hamlet,” while

Berkompas’ antics in “Something’s Afoot” also were a joy to watch.

Other excellent performances were delivered by Christa Jenewein in

“Steel Magnolias” and Heaven Peabody in “Hamlet.”

And, although they didn’t fit into the college category, this column

would be remiss in not mentioning two other local productions, “The

Cemetery Club” by the Menorah Theater at Costa Mesa’s Jewish Community

Center and “The Bed Plays” by the New Voices Playwrights Workshop at the

Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse.

Memorable performances in those two venues were offered byLaurie Freed

in “The Cemetery Club” and Leslie Williams, Della Lisi and Sean O’Donnell

in “The Bed Plays.”

This wraps up the season in local theater, on balance quite an

entertaining one. Saturday’s finale in this series will lift the curtain

on the Daily Pilot’s man and woman of the year for 2000 in local theater.

* TOM TITUS writes about and reviews local theater for the Daily

Pilot. His reviews appear Thursdays and Saturdays.