ON THEATER:

One of the funniest comedies to come out of the 1960s was Joe Orton’s “What the Butler Saw.” But that’s not the show they’re doing next at Golden West College.

This one is titled “What the Bellhop Saw” by Billy Van Zandt and Jane Millmore, and according to its director, Tom Amen, is every bit as funny.

Amen will hold auditions at 7 p.m. May 4 and 5 for the frenetic farce set in a posh New York hotel where a mild-mannered young man checks in for a planned illicit affair.

“Little does he know,” Amen commented, “that his indiscretion will precipitate a fantastic nightmare involving not only his abrasive wife, but a renowned author, a Middle Eastern terrorist, a scheming bellboy, an incompetent CIA agent, a sex-starved maid, a ditsy secretary and a little girl in pigtails.”

All roles — written for actors from 18 to 50 — are open and tryouts will be at the Stage West Theater on the Golden West campus, where the comedy will be performed June 19-29. Amen noted that auditions are open to all members of the community, regardless of student status.

Need more information? Check out www.gwctheater.com.

Friends of longtime Huntington Beach Playhouse actor and director Phil de Barros, who died recently at the age of 89, will hold a memorial service Sunday at the site of some of his theatrical memories.

The service will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. in Huntington Beach Central Park, adjacent to the city library which houses the theater now used by the playhouse. It was on the Central Park stage that de Barros staged many summer Shakespearean plays.

Although he performed and directed for many local theaters, his home venue was the Huntington Beach Playhouse — where he first appeared as Starbuck in “The Rainmaker” in 1966. He was a longtime playhouse board member and held the honorary title of “president emeritus” at the time of his death.

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.