VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : ‘The West Side Waltz’ a Touching Surprise : Play from ‘On Golden Pond’ author is Elite Theatre Company’s best production yet.

Playwright Ernest Thompson is probably best known for “On Golden Pond,” which became a multiple Academy Award-winning film. His subsequent “The West Side Waltz,” now playing under Christine Laird’s direction at the Elite Theatre Company is a pleasant surprise.

Margaret Mary Elderdice (Judy Heiliger), getting on in years, advertises for a companion. Robin Bird (Natasha Saum), an aspiring actress in her 20s, shows up. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry. . . .

Mary E. Schactschneider co-stars as Margaret Mary’s annoyingly peppy friend, Cara; Edward K. Hudson appears as the building’s cartoonish superintendent; and Todd R. Garrett shows up as a friend of Robin’s. The Elite folks’ past productions have ranged from barely tolerable to quite good (last year’s “Little Women” an example of the latter). This is their best yet, and especially recommended for older audiences.

* “The West Side Waltz” continues through Feb. 20 at the Petit Playhouse, 730 South B St. (Heritage Square), Oxnard. Performances are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets, $10; $8, seniors. For reservations or more information, call 483-5118.

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Now filling the stage of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum Theatre, “Romeo and Juliet” is big and long--3 1/2 hours--and features dozens of performers. It doesn’t creep along, and director Gary Romm wisely plays up the action sequences (fights staged by Michael A. Bradley) and the somewhat bawdy moments.

Seth Allen and Jeannine Marquie star. Theirs is a particularly modern portrayal in a production that (again wisely) avoids incomprehensible accents. Susan Kelejian shows considerable wit as Juliet’s nurse, and Mark Andrew Reyes and Daniel Restuccio are dynamic as Romeo’s good friends Mercutio and Benvolio. Mercutio’s duel with Tybalt (Jason Narvy) is a highlight.

Ken Alexander’s clever set design becomes increasingly interesting as the play proceeds; it isn’t as minimalist as first appears.

* “Romeo and Juliet” continues through Sunday at the Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum Theatre, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. in Thousand Oaks. Performances are tonight , and Saturday at 8 p.m.; and Sunday (a cystic fibrosis benefit) at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18; $15, seniors and $10 students. Tickets are available at the Civic Arts box office and (with an added service charge) Ticketmaster. For further information, call 449-2787. A special performance at 7 p.m. Friday at Aspen Elementary School, 1870 Oberlin St., Thousand Oaks, will benefit the school. All tickets $5. Call 446-9237.

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Whoever first called “Charley’s Aunt” “the world’s funniest play” (as it’s being advertised) must have done so shortly after it was written, more than 100 years ago. Still, Brandon Thomas’s venerable farce does have its moments, and shows its age surprisingly well in the current Ojai Art Center production, directed by David Douglas.

Oxford students Jack Chesney (Thomas Daniel Flores) and Charles Wykeham (Chris Palmquist) want to introduce their girlfriends to Charley’s wealthy aunt. But when Dona Lucia is unavoidably delayed, the boys decide to dress up their pal Lord Fancourt as the woman. You can imagine the mess that ensues.

This production seems to have been beset by casting problems. The fellow set to play Lord Fancourt couldn’t show up on Friday nights, and evidently no actor of suitable age (among other characteristics) could be found to play the girls’ guardian. Things worked out: It’s difficult to imagine how anyone could create a better Fancourt than Friday-night substitute Nicholas Taylor Bagby. (Bruce Alan Solow takes over on Saturdays and Sundays.) All things considered, J. Jaye Brown manages not to look too ludicrous, only about 20 years too young to be guardian to one of the young women.

Joan DeLuca and Gita Gould play young ladies straight out of Gilbert and Sullivan; Rodman Casselberry is Jack’s improbably bearded butler; David Gidlow plays Jack’s father; Beverly Rose Gidlow appears as Charley’s real aunt, and Marianne Ilges-Johnston provides a few comic monuments as Dona Lucia’s younger friend.

* “Charley’s Aunt” continues through Feb. 10 at the Art Center Theater, 113 S. Montgomery St. in Ojai. Performances are Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10.50; seniors and Art Center members, $8.50; children 11 and under, $7.50. Group rates are available. For reservations or information, call 646-0117.

Casting Call: Auditions for the Cabrillo Music Theatre’s March 29 to April 7 production of “Damn Yankees” take place Saturday through Monday in Burbank and Newbury Park. Equity members will be considered--and paid under a Guest Artist contract--for the roles of Applegate, Joe Hardy and Lola, and the otherwise non-union cast needs dancers, a children’s ensemble and others. For more information, call 497-8613.

The Conejo Players will hold auditions Sunday through Tuesday for the upcoming production of “The Secret Garden”; there are numerous roles for adults and children. For further information, call Devery at (818) 991-1909.

A new company is forming to produce interactive murder mysteries. Contact Terri Taylor at 642-5402 for audition information.