Prime Time

Miss Jean Brodie--a teacher at an Edinburgh school for girls--is both unconventionally bohemian and inspiring, placing her somewhere between “Auntie Mame” and Sidney Poitier’s character in “To Sir, With Love.”

In her 1961 novella “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Scottish novelist Muriel Spark joined the lengthy tradition of writers paying tribute to real or imagined influential teachers, a line that extends from “Goodbye, Mister Chips” through the Poitier vehicle, to “Mr. Holland’s Opus” and beyond in both directions.

Jay Presson Allen wrote a Broadway play and the screenplay for the subsequent 1969 hit film based on the property; Oxnard’s Elite Theatre Company is currently presenting the theatrical version.

Brodie’s free spirit in matters ranging from her style of dress to her love life upsets (stop me if you’ve heard this before) the school’s authorities, leading to (not to give too much away) consequences. There’s even a bit of a mystery: The story is told in retrospect by a nun--and Brodie’s schoolgirls aren’t Catholic--so one can while away the 135 minutes trying to figure which of the four girls will so commit herself, and, perhaps, why.

Camille LaFredo is quite appealing as Miss Brodie, rolling the occasional “r” to remind us all that we’re in Scotland (the other actors don’t bother, which may be just as well). The production’s other particularly strong performance is by the reliable Virginia Streat, who under Judy Heiliger’s direction gives headmistress Miss MacKay a rounded, almost sympathetic portrayal.

Mariel Mendez, Kristine Terrell, Stephanie Slabo, Danielle Sharaga, Carissa Arce, Breanne Leach and Gabrielle Sharaga play members of Brodie’s classes through a period of several years spanning the 1930s. Chuck Frankenberg and Larry Duff portray teachers--Frankenberg’s Mr. Lowther is solid and steady; Duff’s Teddy Lloyd is an art teacher who is one of the villains of the piece. Adrienne Brasted plays the nun, and Tom Bird is the reporter who draws the story out of her.

“Miss Brodie’ is briskly paced, hasn’t been performed locally in many years if at all and does give that standard theme a refreshingly acid spin.

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DETAILS

“The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” continues Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through Sept. 12 at the Petit Playhouse, 730 B St. in Oxnard’s Heritage Square. There will be no performance Sept. 10. Tickets are $12; $10, seniors. For reservations (recommended) or further information, call 483-5118.

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“YUM YUM” IN SIMI VALLEY: Each of the last three summers, a group that began life among the cast and crew of the “Power Rangers Turbo” TV series has given a worthy production at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center: first (and most remarkably) a fine “Hamlet”; last year, Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs”; and currently (although most of the “Power Rangers” people have disappeared), “Under the Yum Yum Tree.”

Lawrence Roman’s farce is as thin as it is funny: Irene Wilson (Lillian Byrd), who is leaving San Francisco, lets young Robin Austin (Nicole Bull), who is between semesters in college, use her apartment for the summer. Robin is carrying on a romance with eager attorney Dave Manning (Timothy Dean), whom she persuades to (reluctantly) move in with her on (even more reluctantly) a platonic basis to test their relationship. Complicating matters is the building’s landlord, Hogan (Mark Howard), who has had an impressive record bedding the occupants of this particular apartment. (Hogan was played by Jack Lemmon in the 1963 film.) High jinks ensue.

The comedy, dealing in one way or another with frustration, may appeal most to men, who would like to be Hogan but more often wind up as the confused, well-intentioned Dave. In any event, Sunday’s audience seemed to find the whole thing most amusing, despite (if not because of) the last-minute substitution (for the weekend only) of Jason Narvy for Dean. Narvy--and everybody else, particularly Howard as the despicable, though engaging, landlord--was quite good under Paul Schrier’s smooth direction, and it’s nice to have a cast that can really project dialogue into the audience.

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DETAILS

“Under the Yum Yum Tree” continues Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through Aug. 29 at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, 3050 Los Angeles Ave. Tickets for all performances are $15; $12, students and seniors; and $8, ages 12 and under. For reservations or further information, call 581-9940.

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Todd Everett can be reached at teverett@concentric.net.