ON THEATER:

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second of two columns reviewing theater in Huntington Beach in 2008.

In a year dominated by revivals at Golden West College, one of the oldest of them all prevailed as the top productions and performances of 2008 are assessed.

“Of Mice and Men,” John Steinbeck’s compelling drama about migrant workers in California during the Depression, proved to be the year’s most successfully realized production.

The show elicited these comments from this column: “At Golden West, director Tom Amen has meticulously crafted this rural California fiefdom of the 1930s, and scenic designer Sigrid Hammer Wolf has created some backdrops at once gorgeous and gritty to illustrate the period.”

No. 2 on the year-end list is “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” the musical based on a popular 1954 movie. “Director Marti Ramm has fashioned a robust, high-kicking treatment of life in the Oregon back woods, circa 1850” is how this column described it.

Another golden oldie, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” took third position, followed by the musical “Nine” and the comedy “Leading Ladies.”

Among the actors, two fellows playing crusty, garrulous old men share top honors for their performances. Michael Bielitz in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and Blake Coomb in “Of Mice and Men” were the standouts in a testosterone-heavy year.

Julie Patzer and Shirley Romano, both in “Leading Ladies,” topped the list of actresses in leading and supporting assignments, respectively.

Excelling, musically, in supporting roles in “Nine” were Carrie Theodossin and Natasha Grach. As we commented, “Neither advances the story, but both are terrific.”

Other noteworthy performances during 2008 were delivered by Cazimir Milostan and Christian Navarro, both in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”; Dan Wozniak in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”; David Chorley and Bruce Alexander, both in “Leading Ladies”; Lawrence Hemingway and Brent Callender, both in “Of Mice and Men”; and Patrick Rowley in “Nine.”

Next year, as the college’s Mainstage Theater undergoes some renovations, the spotlight will shift to the adjacent, intimate Stage West Theater for “Rashomon,” March 6 to 15; “Beyond Therapy,” May 1 to 10, and “What the Bellhop Saw,” June 19 to 28.

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.