THEATER:’Dolls’ and a ‘Cat’ were hot in ’06

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a series of four columns chronicling the year 2006 in local theater.

Oldies definitely became goodies in local community theater during 2006, as two productions with their roots in the 1950s surged to the top rungs of the year-end ladder at the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse and the Newport Theater Arts Center.

The Civic Playhouse’s revival of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” was the most impressive local community production of the year, but right behind was Newport’s musical romp, “Guys and Dolls.”

“Cat,” directed by Frank Minano, proved to be, as this column put it, “an excellent revival of this rich and powerful exercise in frustration and avarice, offering some of the finest individual performances you’ll see on a community theater stage all year.”

Meanwhile, Michael Ross’ staging of “Guys and Dolls” prompted this column to remark, “A large cast, topped by some standout performances, energizes the Newport production.” The show “may have a few miles on its odometer, but there’s little rust in its engine.”

Another vintage musical, Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” directed by Stephen Reifenstein, occupies third place among local community theater offerings. Fourth is Newport’s revival of “The Deadly Game,” while the fantasy musical “Seussical” placed fifth under John Blaylock’s direction.

Superior individual performances abounded on both stages, but those standing out just a bit further from the rest came from the superb ensemble of Laura Lindahl, Scotty Walker, Michael Dale Brown and Glenda Wright — the “big four” from “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” — and Costa Mesa’s Brian Wessels — also a “cat” but in a different show, “Seussical.”

Newport’s outstanding acting efforts were more scattered — Austyn Wells in “Guys and Dolls,” Kevin Deegan and Bob Kokol in “The Deadly Game” and Sharon McMahon in “Goodnight Mrs. Puffin.”

Other performances worthy of note at the Costa Mesa playhouse were delivered by Christopher Diehl (“An Ideal Husband”); Marc Montminy, Noelle Carney and Jennifer Fyffe (“Seussical”); and Brian Drummy and Jeff Calof (“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”). Carney, just 13, proved a stellar show stealer.

Registering above the radar at Newport were Stephanie Schulz, David Rousseve and Della Lisi, all for “A Doll’s House”; Bradley Miller and Christopher Peduzzi (“Guys and Dolls”); and Mitchell Nunn and Dee Shandera (“Goodnight Mrs. Puffin”).

There’s no mention of Newport’s “The Sunshine Boys” in this column for the simple reason that I never saw it, as I was hospitalized at the time. Apologies are herewith offered.

Collegiate theater — at UC Irvine, Orange Coast College and Vanguard University — comes in for its curtain call next week, after which the Daily Pilot’s man and woman of the year will be announced.