FOR SIMI COUPLE, LIFE IS BUT A STAGE.

Byline: Jean Russell Vogel

SIMI VALLEY - "The play's the thing," agree Rick Steinberg and Cheryl Talbot of Simi Valley, who met through local theatrical activity.

Steinberg was auditioning with the Conejo Players in 1982 for a singing role in a Oscar Hammerstein work. Talbot, a new member of the group, was rehearsal accompanist. The two, it turned out, were working from different versions of the score. Despite this, the singer got the part, and three years later, married the accompanist.

During a busy past year, Steinberg has directed plays for the Conejo Players and for Marquie Productions dinner theater in Camarillo, and Talbot often has been involved in production support.

For "Catch Me if You Can," which closed at Camarillo last weekend, she was rehearsal secretary and provided piano music during the pre-play dining hour.

During this period Talbot was also polishing her modern musical fairy tale, "Another Happy Ending," which has been chosen by the Simi Valley branch, American Association of University Women, for its annual live theater offering for children and the "young at heart."

Last month she began rehearsing the cast of 21 volunteer actors, which includes her husband as a singing Rumplestiltskin.

Viewers of the play, March 22-31 at Hollow Hills Elementary School, also will meet the original longhair, Rapunzel, and witness the encounter of the Beanstalk's Jack with Cinderella, who may or may not have found happiness with the prince.

A "cross-fertilization" of fairy tale plots, Talbot's work grew out of her 20 years teaching drama and directing the public performances of students at Sequoia Junior High School. Writing her own material was Talbot's response to a dearth of suitable scripts of classic fairy tales.

Kay Barker, who began directing the AAUW presentations in 1986, applauds the talent displayed in "Another Happy Ending" and welcomes the selection of a work by a local writer associated with both AAUW and the National League of American Pen Women, Simi Valley branch.

The plays are the major fund-raiser for AAUW's college scholarships. In recent years, Lynne O'Hanlon, now branch president, joined Barker in producing the plays.

For Steinberg and Talbot, next month begins a brief break from their theatrical enterprises, but with their "day jobs" continuing, at Albertson's for Steinberg and at Sequoia for Talbot.

Their home contains a veritable drama library and a costume collection envied by play producers. The space is shared with Talbot's grand piano and folk harp, a recent acquisition.

Soon to come is a large quantity of textbooks for Talbot to evaluate in connection with her appointment to a state committee charged with choosing new textbooks for English instruction in California elementary schools. Three years ago Talbot opted to teach in an English-social studies integrated team.

For more details about the performances of "Another Happy Ending," call [phone] or [phone].