THEATER BEAT : ‘Human Comedy’: A Parochial Musical

William Saroyan, as critic Brooks Atkinson once noted, was a wildly uneven writer. His plays contain flashes of poignance amid rambling melodrama, and cleverly eccentric characters alongside cardboard cutouts. But “The Human Comedy” at the West Coast Ensemble is a musical adaptation of a Saroyan story that gives us only the lesser Saroyan, and it’s mostly hometown hooey.

Set during the 1940s in a small California burg not unlike the one in which Saroyan himself was born, “The Human Comedy” focuses on a widow and her children, including one son, Homer (game Richard Israel), who takes a job as a telegram messenger, and another, Marcus (the unemotive Scott Poland), who’s away at war.

Homer’s duties delivering war department notices every time one of the town’s young men are killed in action provide the pathos. He tries to keep a stiff upper lip, the town girls pine away for their fellas overseas and the stalwart Mother (capable Angela DeCicco) struggles to keep her brood together, as life goes quaintly on.

Act I is mostly expository, but it’s a familiar scenario that could be sketched in half the time. It’s not until well into Act II that the story spends time with a character--Marcus’ war buddy Toby (lukewarm but honest Bill Dispoto)--who makes this ditty the least bit memorable.

Unfortunately, the music (by Galt MacDermot, libretto by William Dumaresq)--which consists mostly of full-cast numbers and a few more intimate songs--is as uneventful as the plot, which you can pretty much scope out by the end of the first few scenes.

Director David Gately gives the production a Thomas Hart Benton-lite look. He’s also done a passable job with traffic control, shuttling an energetic if uneven cast around the multileveled playing area. Yet he hasn’t added any layers to a musical that’s ultimately as flat as the Central California valley in which it’s set.

* “The Human Comedy,” West Coast Ensemble, 6240 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood . Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Runs indefinitely. $15. (213) 871-1052. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes.

Talent Wasted on This ‘Cabaret’

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Any lingering doubts that there are some first-rate stage talents in L.A. who’ve got a bit too much time on their hands should be dispelled by “An Off-Broadway Cabaret.” The first production at the new 60-seat Tonto & Dietz cabaret is an expertly crafted if ill-conceived evening of songs that’s got everything going for it except a reason to be.

The charismatic and amply talented Bonnie Franklin, Byron Nease, Teri Ralston and Gary Sandy wend their way through a pastiche of show tunes compiled by Marilyn Shapiro (the venue’s titular Tonto). The songs range from classics such as “Threepenny Opera” to duds like “Godspell” and even “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

Lara Teeter’s seamless direction is both precise and inventive, although he tends to go heavy on the cutesy stuff. The program, however, lacks a conceptual core, swinging as it does between, say, Sondheim’s provocative ambiguity and Maltby and Shire’s drivel.

Ultimately, it makes you wonder why pros like these would bother with such an iffy vehicle. Surely there’s not that little work out there. But then again, maybe there is.

* “An Off-Broadway Cabaret,” Tonto & Dietz, 12747 Ventura Blvd., Studio City . Fridays-Saturdays, 8:30 p.m.; Sundays 3 & 7 p.m. Ends March 6. $15. (818) 763-4166. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Star Shines in ‘Desperate for Magic’

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Chambers Stevens’ “Desperate for Magic” at Theatre Geo may not be a killer show, but the dude is worthy. Way.

A personable guy dressed in clean blue jeans, Stevens is a pre-pre-boomer’s dream of what a Gen Xer should be. His show is a breezy one-man monologue in which Stevens portrays more than a dozen characters, including a string of Southern twentysomethings.

Most of the guises are underdeveloped, the setups are familiar and there’s not much of a through line. But there are several turns within this rapid-fire chain of personas, cleanly directed by Betsy Sullenger, that give you a glimpse of this young actor’s considerable presence and potential.

When he appears as a white guy who wants to be black, for instance, Stevens segues into a surprisingly lithe dance sequence. And in another compelling bit, he plays a deaf man who speaks both aloud and in sign language.

The piece is bracketed by Stevens’ autobiographical narrations, which tend to be cloying--even when he’s talking about his mother’s death. But then again, Stevens is so unaffected that he almost gets away with it.

* “Desperate for Magic,” Theatre Geo, 1229 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. Mondays-Wednesdays, 8 p.m., Ends Feb. 23. $10. (310) 288-6009. Running time: 1 hour.

‘Twin Peeks’ and Audition Fever

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How do you spell “Twin Peeks: Two One-Act Comedies”? S-h-o-w-c-a-s-e--as in a play that’s staged just because some actors figure it’s a good way to get themselves seen during pilot season. This bill at the Court isn’t the worst case of audition theater ever, but it doesn’t have much inherent dramatic value either.

In Peter Tolan’s “Pillow Talk,” two guys on a road trip find themselves forced to share a bed for the night. Pleasantly unflashy Joshua Malina is an effective comedian who makes the most of a limited role. Tom Gallop, on the other hand, is a bundle of twitchy mannerisms who mugs his way through the entire piece.

Playwright Aaron Sorkin (“A Few Good Men”) earns a couple of chuckles with “Hidden in This Picture,” an attenuated one-liner about a novice film director’s hubris as he’s shooting the final shot of his first film. Malina acquits himself decently here too, playing an insecure screenwriter to Gallop’s director, but Gallop simply reprises the grimaces he used in the first play.

* “Twin Peeks: Two One-Act Comedies,” Court Theatre, 722 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. Monday-Wednesday, 8 p.m. Ends Wed. $12. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.