`HIGH NOONISH' A TICKLISH TRIUMPH : THE FACTS.

Byline: Victoria Giraud Daily News Staff Writer

It isn't Gary Cooper, alone facing the bad guys at High Noon while Grace Kelly waits, but the Moorpark Melodrama's comic western ``High Noonish'' will keep you laughing at the shenanigans.

Yellow Streak's marshal, Hap Hazard (the amiable Bob Ellstrom), is reluctantly giving up law enforcement to marry his sweetheart, Betsy (an appealing Cristina Callahan). He's turning over the job to Chuck Wagon, played with dash by Jerry Machado.

Trouble is, Tex Shooter (the roguish Chris Carnicelli), just out of jail, where he was put by the marshal, is coming to town on the train about ``high noonish.'' He and his outrageous female gang - Tekeella Shooter (Pat Newbert), Josey Cuervo (Amy Mills) and Jackee Daniels (Amy Sullivan) - are planning to take over and no one aims to oppose them.

Even the screechy-voiced Mayor Sidesaddle, the irrepressible Kathi Janca Gravino, isn't too worried; neither is the frisky Jana Rains Austinson, who plays the sexy saloon owner, Juanita Juarez.

Innocent Betsy thinks she's got her new husband, Hap, in line as they ride out of town headed for a Niagara Falls honeymoon. But soon he's admitting he hasn't exactly been an angelic bachelor. He wants to return to Yellow Streak; the lure of dealing with the outlaws is irresistible and, besides, he can't desert the town.

Back they come for the predictable but funny ending, where good triumphs.

Uniquely, in this musical spoof, written and directed by Scott Martin, there is a humorous narrator. The guitar-playing Balladeer, a spunky and entertaining Lorraine MacDonald, adds her own musical comments on the situation throughout the day.

Others in the talented, campy cast include: Kim Coger as Sparky, Richard Hawkes as the Preacher and Denis Finnegan as Rufus.

One of the best production numbers in the musical is ``Bang, Bang.'' Performed by the entire company, it was well-coordinated, wonderfully sung and worthy of a professional theatrical company.

Also noteworthy was the hilarious spoof of the Village People with the song ``Not So Macho Men'' done by Chuck and the men of the cast. The women in the cast sang ``The Man in Your Life,'' a witty rendition of an old saying of Mae West's, which went something like, ``It's not the men in your life that count, it's the life in your men.''

WHAT: ``High Noonish,'' by Scott Martin.

WHEN: Thursdays (call for dates) at 7 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 6 p.m.. and Sunday at 3 p.m., through Nov. 17.

WHERE: The Moorpark Melodrama, 45 East High St., Moorpark.

COST: $12, except $9.50 on Thursday and for matinees.

INFORMATION: [phone].

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Photo

Photo: Bob Ellstrom plays Gary Cooper stand-in Hap Hazard, marshal of Yellow Streak, and Christina Callahan plays his sweetheart, Betsy.