THEATER REVIEW:APA will tackle ‘Forum,’ ‘Miss Saigon’

School is in for the aspiring Broadway performers at Huntington Beach High, and the curriculum couldn’t be more varied.

The Academy for the Performing Arts has unveiled the two musicals it will present for 2006-07, one an early Stephen Sondheim chuckler, the other a tense dramatic episode from the Vietnam war and its aftermath.

There will be “comedy tonight” when the APA mounts “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” next month. But the spring musical — “Miss Saigon” — is no laughing matter.

Rehearsals are underway for “Forum,” the early-’60s musical comedy for which Sondheim penned both music and lyrics for the first time. Previously, he contributed only the lyrics for “Gypsy” and “West Side Story.”

Director Tim Nelson has just announced the cast for “Forum,” a show in which he played the juvenile lead about three decades ago. This particular venture is enjoying a rebirth of sorts, having just been staged by the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse and, last season, by the Newport Theater Arts Center.

In the APA production, Neil Starkenberg will take the role of Pseudolus, a Roman slave striving to secure his freedom by assorted devious methods. Brian Wessels, who recently stole the show as the Cat in the Hat in Costa Mesa’s “Seussical,” has landed the part of Hysterium, the jittery “slave in chief.”

Nelson’s old role of Hero has fallen to Alex DesCombes, with Jared Marino as his “dirty old man” father and Nick Miranda as the neighborhood procurer, Marcus Lycus. Alex Syiek will strut to the stage as the warrior Marcus Lycus, while the befuddled Erronius will be played by Jake Wells.

Two of the three ubiquitous Proteans are double cast, with Travis Ammann playing one of them at all performances and the other two divided between Jun Wang, Kyle Selig, Sean Zia and Nick Johnsen. Ryan Marks covers all three in a swing assignment, while Quinn Nagle and Katie Brewster also are swings.

All of the other roles are double cast, with the delectable Philia assigned to both Kelsy Richardson and Brittany Buchanan and the overbearing mother Domina split between Carrie Millard and Rachel Echevarria.

The courtesans from the house of Lycus will be, at various times, Allison Ross, Sarah Sack, Emma Degerstedt, Arroya Karian, Brittney Gerardi, Sally Blotzer, Natalie Pitt, Torey MacDonald, Rukka Suzuki, Samantha Bullat, Tatianna Beaman, Samantha Burgidge, Aly Lespier and Jesselyn Templin.

“We got the rights for ‘Miss Saigon’ for the spring, and we’re really excited about that,” Nelson declares. “We plan to tap into the Vietnamese talent at Westminster High.”

Additionally, the APA players will be traveling to Scotland next August to perform in that country’s Fringe Festival.

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” will be presented for two weekends, Oct. 20-22 and Oct. 27-29, in the auditorium of Huntington Beach High School. More information is available by calling (714) 962-5440.