THEATER REVIEW : Show-Biz Shenanigans Make for a Swell Time : Viewers need to gauge their expectations appropriately for ‘The ‘Great American Backstage Musical.’

However unfortunately named, “The Great American Backstage Musical” gets some things very right.

It’s undeniably a musical, written in 1976 by Billy Solly and Donald Ward in the style of those classic comic songfests of the 1930s and ‘40s. The backstage plot concerns the show-biz shenanigans of an enthusiastic though unevenly talented barroom troupe.

And its romantic, rags-to-riches themes are as American as apple pie.

As for great, well, that may be going a bit far for this no-frills production with less than epic aspirations.

But the show makes for a swell time, provided that you calibrate your expectations appropriately.

Although produced under the umbrella of the Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera, the show is not part of the company’s regular season of big-scale musicals on the Granada Theatre’s main stage.

Instead, affiliate SBCLO director Mark Lipschutz has carved out an ingenious performance space in one of the Granada’s upstairs mini-theaters usually reserved for movies. The makeshift stage and minimal props are in tune with the show’s creators’ intentionally low-budget guidelines, although the steep seating access and awkward viewing angle create some initial hurdles.

Once you’re settled in, however, the real draw is the five-member ensemble that features some familiar faces from past SBCLO productions.

The show is as much affectionate tribute as a spoof of the cornball musicals of bygone days. The jokes abound with “topical” references to the Andrews Sisters, the Schubert theater moguls and Alice Faye.

True to form, the flimsy story line revolves around the thwarted romance between the charming but untalented bar owner, Johnny (William T. Lewis IV), who’s determined to parlay his mediocre song and shtick revues into Broadway success, and the brilliant singer-dancer Kelly (Mary Dombek), who loves him.

In supporting roles, Karyl Lynn Burns and Jae Ross are two of Johnny’s performers with their own intermittent relationship (highly reminiscent of these performers’ fireworks as Nathan and Adelaide in last season’s “Guys and Dolls”).

Also on hand are Fred Lehto as a relentlessly nice guy and Catherine Dougher as a sophisticated but jaded British musical star.

With only Christopher Stockton’s piano and Gloria Autry’s violin for accompaniment, the cast manages admirably full renditions of the show’s original songs.

It’s remarkable how deftly Solly’s music and lyrics capture the spirit of his idols--such as the bantering “On the Avenue” duet between Dombek and Lehto that recalls the upbeat style of Cole Porter’s “It’s De-Lovely.”

Another high point is “When the Money Comes In,” where Dombek leads the company in a Depression-bred fantasy of the good life; in a nod to Busby Berkeley, she’s joined by a pair of giant dancing coins (courtesy of costume designers Gillian Wells and Melissa Tadeo).

The showstopper is “You Got the What?”, a rousing jitterbug number in which a doctor confronts patients in the throes of uncontrollable dance moves. “You’ve got the bug,” the doctor concludes as he himself falls victim to the snappy beat. The diagnosis is accurate--and the number is infectious.

Details

* WHAT: “The Great American Backstage Musical.”

* WHEN: Tonight through Saturday night at 8, Sunday at 2 p.m.

* WHERE: The Granada Theatre, 1216 State St., Santa Barbara.

* COST: $10 to $15.

* FYI: For reservations or information, call (800) 366-6064.