MOORPARK THEATER'S FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT : FIXED CHANDELIERS TO RECAST LIGHT ON TROUPE.

Byline: Alicia Doyle Daily News Staff Writer

Linda Bredemann always knew there'd be light.

For the past two decades, the Moorpark theater owner has admired the six antique chandeliers hanging inside the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama and Vaudeville Company on High Street. Intricately crafted from brass-color tin, each hexagon-shape shade is carved to depict the theater front's art deco design.

There was only one problem - the lights had no light.

``They were 79 years old, and needed to be upgraded,'' said Bredemann, who bought the Melodrama in 1986. ``We knew we had to rewire them. But we knew it would cost a lot of money.''

With new theater seats, a piano, carpeting and earthquake repairs on the Melodrama's fix-it list, the chandeliers' future remained dim.

But when a local electrician and avid theatergoer offered his services last year, there was a light at the end of the theater's tunnel.

``Performing arts are important, and downtown Moorpark is important to me and this community,'' said Gerald Saavedra, owner of General Services Electric in Moorpark. ``I wanted to contribute something to both of them.''

It took Saavedra about four months of his own time - working weekends only - to rewire all six chandeliers. The theater is compensating his company with free advertising. The job normally would have cost about $30,000 - at $5,000 per light, Bredemann said.

``Finally, after all these years, it's going to happen,'' said Bredemann. ``We're so grateful. If it wasn't for him, we'd still be waiting.''

The theater will celebrate Friday at 8 p.m. with a black-tie lighting ceremony. Guest of honor will be Lorine Willard, the theater's owner from 1934 to 1952. ``The Pirates of Penzance'' will be performed after a champagne toast.

The Melodrama on High Street will offer afternoon and evening melodramas - a type of theater that uses suspense, sensational episodes, romance and happy endings. Melodramas also have a villain to boo and a hero to cheer, Bredemann said.

The theater also has taken melodrama one step further - it features rock 'n' roll and spoof productions, including ``Robin Hood,'' ``Phantom of the Opera'' and ``Hamlet.''

While remodeling, Bredemann concentrated on preserving the theater's historic integrity. Over the years, she has continued to restore and refurbish instead of destroy the theater's art deco designs and details.

Built in 1928 to replace a wooden structure that housed a silent-movie theater - and then called El Rancho - the theater was the social focal point for the community from 1928 to the mid-1950s, according to historical documents.

During the Depression, the theater offered a lottery-type drawing to pull in customers.

The current snack bar originally was the town's malt shop. The box office has been a dentist's office, a temporary library, a local newspaper office, a snack shop and beauty salon.

However, the theater suffered with the advent of television after World War II.

The Moorpark Melodrama shut down for several years and housed everything from a church to a Spanish theater to a junk shop. In 1982, it reopened as the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama and Vaudeville Company.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: (1--Ran in Simi and Conejo Editions--color) Linda Bredemann had the chandeliers fixed at the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama and Vaudeville Company.

Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News