DWP ALSO LIGHTS UP THE STAGE.

Byline: Mariel Garza

BY day, they are mild-mannered engineers, legal secretaries and customer-service representatives working at the downtown offices of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

But two times a year, they let their inner hams out and become singers, dancers and actors on the big stage.

They are the DWP Choraliers, a group I have wondered about since the Daily News reported earlier this month that the city utility spends $28,000 a year to maintain its very own choir. A choir, I thought. How much could it cost to sing a few songs in key?

I imagined a group of employees in blue robes festooned with gold DWP logos singing in delightful harmony at company picnics. I imagined they would sing songs lauding their mission of providing water and electricity to the people of Los Angeles, like ``Go Green Power, Go'' and ``The Hills are Alive with the Sound of the California Aqueduct.''

I imagined wrong.

Once upon a time in the Choraliers' 41-year history, they were a regular choir, but no more. The group of current and retired DWP employees puts on a full-scale annual spring production each year in June, with singing and dancing and all that jazz. A professional director oversees the shows. Sometimes, there's a live band.

In addition, the group does holiday shows at local schools, sings songs for disadvantaged students and performs at city functions. But the spring show is the group's big deal. After three months of rehearsals, the Choraliers perform a 90-minute show in June for employees at the auditorium in the DWP building during lunchtime. Each year, the show has a theme. This year it's television. Last year, it was magic.

So, now we know.

That $28,000 isn't to cover the cost of dry-cleaning a few robes, but to fund an annual Broadway-style show for employees. Eat your heart out, Department of General Services.

``This is a full-blown production,'' said April Steffen, a DWP systems analyst who is the Choraliers' president as well as a performer. The budget is spent on things such as renting lights and paying the director and private bands, as well as costumes and equipment for the long term, such as microphones.

The group doesn't even spend all the money it's allocated, and it uses some of its own money from fundraisers. The typical cost for the spring show is about $9,500. The holiday performances cost between $3,500 and $4,000, Steffen said.

Still, soon the group might not even have two DWP thin dimes. Ever since the Choraliers gained some notoriety for getting a chunk of the budget for doing something not really related to the city business, the 2006 spring show has been imperiled.

Higher-ups told Steffen the show is on hold until they figure out what to do. She and Choraliers are still rehearsing for the show, though, on Wednesdays and Thursdays during lunchtime.

But don't cry for the Choraliers. Even if the budget is wiped out and this year's production canceled, some version of the Choraliers' show will go on.

``We may end up reworking things,'' Steffen said. Instead of musical numbers with several people and duets, it would be individual songs. ``It would become almost a talent show.''

If the group does lose its funding this year, it will be at least partly the fault of the Daily News. So, as a peace offering to the new, fundless choir, I offer the following song at no extra charge. And the suggestion that they use it to offer their services to human resources. Perhaps they can get a chunk of that recruiting budget.

The DWP

(Sung to the tune of ``YMCA'' by the Village People, and performed, ideally, by a quartet dressed as a lineman, a meter reader, a chemist and a slick P.R. flack.)

Young man, no need to be sad.

I said, hey man, there's a place that's pretty rad.

I said, jobs for the average Joe.

And you can earn lots of good dough.

Hey man, now you're walking tall,

Oh, young man, you're the envy of City Hall,

Fat paychecks and a pension too,

There's no need for you to be blue.(dum, dum, dum)

It's fun to stay at the DWP,

You'll never leave the DWP,

You'll get great benefits, like breast-feeding tips,Just watch out for that pay to play, hey, hey.