NEWBURY PARK PERFORMER GETS HIS UNION CARD.

Byline: Victoria Giraud Special to the Daily News

After 14 years in musical comedy productions all over Southern California, Jeff Wallach finally attained his Actors Equity status in the recent Santa Susana Repertory Company's production of ``Cabaret.''

As a member of the stage union, the Newbury Park resident points out proudly, ``You have to do union shows, which means pay.''

``Cabaret'' has been a rewarding play for Wallach. He's played the Emcee, one of the main roles, three different times and received the Marcum Masque award in Los Angeles in 1993 for his performance with the Kentwood Players in Westchester.

The play also presented some peculiar challenges for Wallach, especially one night in a Los Angeles production when fellow actors played a practical joke.

Off to the side of the stage, Wallach, as the Emcee, was in his dressing room as one of the characters sings the poignant ``Tomorrow Belongs to Me.'' Wallach is supposed to cry in sympathy, but to distract him, a magazine picture of a group of naked people, which was out of the audience's sight, had been placed on the dressing table.

``I hardly ever break character,'' Wallach said, adding that he somehow managed to keep a sad face while almost the entire cast was offstage waiting for him to break up.

Over the years Wallach has had a great deal of fun with his characters, especially with the Moorpark Melodrama. His last nonequity play was there as Cardinal Achoo in ``Three Musketeers and a Baby,'' a part that was tailor-made for him by playwright Wil Shupe.

``I had a lot of fun doing it,'' Wallach said, noting that half the fun was playing around with fellow actor, Jason Rasmussen. ``Our goal was to break up Aspacia Alexander (who played the wicked Lady D'Winter). It was a game between the three of us, who could bust who up.''

Last summer's Shakespeare Festival at California Lutheran University was a test of Wallach's abilities. Scheduled for another part, at the last minute (one hour's notice) he had to step into the part of Puck in ``Midsummer Night's Dream.'' He had luckily played the extensive role the year before, and rose to the opportunity.

``It all came back,'' Wallach remembered. ``I don't know if I was proudest of the lines or that I fit in the guy's costume,'' he said, laughing.

Wallach's talents extend to teaching his favorite subject - musical theater - and he's been at it since 1987. He teaches youngsters from preschool to high school, including the Performing Arts High School in Simi Valley and the Montessori School in Topanga.

He's also a noted choreographer and director for such shows as ``Man of La Mancha'' and ``Guys and Dolls,'' and choreographed the current show at the Melodrama ``Goldthumb, the Spy Who Stole Christmas.''

His love of musical comedy developed from a junior high teacher's suggestion that he get involved with a local theater to broaden his horizons.

``I was extremely shy when I was young. I would sit in the back (of the classroom) and watch everyone,'' he recalled. He joined the Encino Theater Group and then ended up running it from 1984-1987. ``I learned confidence and it strengthened my personal awareness.''

After a year of learning the technical side of the theater, he got his first role as Available Jones in ``Lil' Abner.''

``It was amazing. The recognition from family and friends alone was overwhelming,'' he said. ``I'm the only one in the family that can sing, act and dance, but, boy, have I grown.''

Although Wallach's adoptive parents were extremely supportive and encouraging, he often wondered where his talents sprang from. A few years ago he was contacted by his birth relatives, and he found that musical talent ran in the family. Ironically, he also discovered that he had unknowingly crossed paths with an older brother, who had gone to the same San Fernando Valley high school.

This year Wallach is concentrating on intense vocal training, but he could be enticed with some parts. ``I'd like to stay local. I want to prove that my getting the card (Equity) was not a fluke.''

There are parts he aspires to. Shakespeare is a favorite, and he'd like to play one of the witches in ``Macbeth'' or do almost anything in a Stephen Sondheim musical. One of his favorite roles is Jack in ``Into the Woods,'' which he performed in the nonunion premiere of the play in California.

``I'd like to be a working actor doing as many things as possible, Wallach declared.

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PHOTO (color in Conejo only) Jeff Wallach, a musical comedy actor living in Newbury Park, attained Actors Equity status.

Tina Gerson/Daily News