THEATER REVIEW:

You can count the premiere military courtroom stage dramas on one hand — two fingers, actually. There’s Herman Wouk’s “The Caine Mutiny” from the World War II era and Aaron Sorkin’s “A Few Good Men,” which could be played out today.

The latter play, now on stage at Golden West College, delves into the guilt or innocence of two Marines on trial for the murder of a third. It also examines the military chain of command, the role of the legal system in the armed forces and an individual soldier’s responsibility in the matter of direct orders.

Sorkin weaves these elements together in a gripping and tantalizing drama, superbly directed by Tom Amen at Golden West. The popular movie version, also penned by Sorkin, may have gone into greater detail in matters of characterization, but his characters are given indelible life on stage in the GWC production.

Amen’s production is amplified by the presence of two ex-Marines, Lawrence Hemingway and Jeremiah Cannone, who play the accused men. Hemingway delivers one of the strongest portrayals of the evening as the bull-headed lance corporal bound even in captivity to his absolute code of conduct.

As the brash young Navy lawyer assigned to the seemingly impossible mission of defending the pair, Damien Xavier Johnson touches all the bases of his often-flippant officer. With a tough act to follow (his late, illustrious father), Johnson’s character bobs and weaves with his co-counselors and his courtroom opponent before zeroing in on the Guantanamo base commander in the high-voltage showdown scene.

Shawna Skipps administers some admirable bite to her role as the lieutenant commander who takes over the defense of the hapless private, played with touching vulnerability by Cannone. Skipps excels as a burr under Johnson’s saddle throughout the trial preparation process.

The standout supporting role of the malevolent base commander is splendidly handled by A.K. Zeller, who revels in his power and authority during his initial meeting with the defense team. Zeller employs magnum force in establishing this formidable character, and his courtroom meltdown is expertly handled.

Brian Sipkovich delivers a teeth-grittingly potent performance as the lieutenant in charge of the accused men’s platoon, claiming almost divine authority for his actions. David Chorley strikes some well-honed sparks as the third member of the defense unit who hits the real raw nerve of the situation.

Johnson’s courtroom rival and ball-playing buddy is cleverly interpreted by Eric J. Davis. Bruce Alexander keeps a lid on the conflicts as the no-nonsense trial judge, and Eddie Navarro etches a tragically pathetic figure as the sub-standard marine private whose death forces the courtroom drama.

Two technical elements of the Golden West production are outstanding, apart from the authentic costumes of Robin S. Whitney. Sigrid Hammer Wolf’s multi-setting scenic design works beautifully for the episodic script, while the booming blackout sound effects of military drill teams, music and cadence counts firmly establishes the play’s mood.

You may know “A Few Good Men” from the popular movie version, but seeing it played out on stage brings a lustrous immediacy to the complex story line. At Golden West College, the production stands tall indeed.

APA students, grads electrify “Miss Saigon”

Over the years, Huntington Beach’s Academy for the Performing Arts has mounted some impressive pieces of musical theater, but with their current production of “Miss Saigon,” they’ve set the bar even higher for future budding professionals.

Currently, the academy’s performers are reprising their season-opening production of one of the theater’s most difficult assignments, “Miss Saigon,” and doing so with passion and power, at Westminster’s Rose Center Theater, the academy’s home base while Huntington Beach High School is being renovated.

Actually, this “Miss Saigon” — complete with landing helicopter effect — is a combination student-alumni exercise. While Brittany Gerardi returns in an indelible interpretation of the Vietnamese bar girl Kim, many of the principal cast members are academy graduates, including the two top male performers.

“Miss Saigon” — set during and three years after the evacuation of Vietnam in 1975 and ’78 — was the “next stop” for creators Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, having already gotten Broadway’s attention with a little project called “Les Miserables.” Dramatic intensity and superb vocalizing are even more crucial to this show than to “Les Miz,” given its achingly personal dramatic theme.

Director Tim Nelson, who doubles as musical director, has given this difficult show a full-throttle interpretation, with impressive principal actors resoundingly supported by a large and enthusiastic ensemble, beautifully choreographed in the pandemonium-packed production numbers by Diane Makas. There are voices in this show that you’d swear you wouldn’t hear south of a professional staging.

Joe Anderson feasts on the showcase role of the engineer, a con man, wheeler-dealer and pimp who subsists on his wits in Saigon while conniving for a visa to the United States. He gets his spotlight number, “The American Dream,” late in the show and makes it the solo you’ll remember.

Gerardi and Matt Bartosch, as the marine who spends a random night with her and falls in love, bring a pair of outstanding singing voices to their intricately etched characters. Gerardi’s fervent mission to send their child to the States and Bartosch’s conflicted nature — he’s now happily married to an American woman — fuel an incendiary situation.

Brian Chapman impresses as Bartosch’s wartime buddy who’s become an advocate for children of GIs left behind in Vietnam. Carrie Hacker has some intense moments in the second act as Bartosch’s wife, while Glynn Montemayor rages convincingly as a Vietnamese military man betrothed to Gerardi’s character.

One certified scene stealer, however, is 4-year-old Olivia Aniceto as the child of the American and Vietnamese lovers.

The Vietnam war now is more than three decades into the history books, but its substantive effects on its participants, as well as its human byproducts, make for riveting theater. The academy’s production is a fully realized, heart-rendering achievement.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “A Few Good Men”

WHERE: Golden West College Mainstage Theater

WHEN: Closing performances at 7:30 tonight through Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday.

COST: $10 to $12

CALL: (714) 895-8150 or www.gwctheater.com

?

WHAT: “Miss Saigon”

WHERE: Rose Center Theater, 14140 All American Way, Westminster

WHEN: Closing performances at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday

COST: $13 to $18

CALL: (714) 793 1150 ext. 1

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.