STAGE REVIEW : A ‘BAWDY’ CABARET IN WESTWOOD

Cabaret theater in the heart of Westwood seems a natural idea. But “A Bawdy Evening/The Village Cabaret Theater,” which unveiled Thursday, has much work to do before this seven-member ensemble finds its focus and its audience.

The talent behind the show is strong, representing a marriage between key members of the L.A. Connection Comedy Group and a director (Dick Schaal) who is a devotee and rare practitioner of Paul Sills’ Story Theater form.

A warm communal environment, with table seating and drinks, in a room on the upstairs premises of D. B. Levy’s Restaurant, is a smart setting. But there’s a problem: The show’s not ready yet. This is not a storefront; this is a glossy venue, and the production doesn’t fly.

Co-partners Kent Skov (who performs in the show and is founder of the L.A. Connection) and Schaal (who started his career with “Second City” and seeks to create a similar ambiance here) have hitched their hopes to the magic-woodcutter world of Story Theater. This is the production’s medium. The post-intermission is devoted to improvisational comedy, and here the troupe is rusty.

These actors know Story Theater technique. They can be impish, naive, and they effortlessly tell/act out a tale. In this case, the unnamed bawdy sources suggest Decameron out of a Chaucerian bloodline, with a touch of Chinese and Appalachian folklore worked in. This hourlong segment does compel you, especially in the beginning, to a childlike enthrallment.

The trouble is that eight straight ribald “classics” quickly begin to sound and look very much alike. One peasant maid/matron with her legs flung wide for one country swain or another is fun--once or twice. The charm with Sills’ Story Theater (in which Schaal performed in the 1970 hit Mark Taper production) gained momentum from all the barnyard animal roles and the sense of what would happen next. No such luck here.

There is, indeed, a horse--a terrific, cloppity turn by the show’s co-musician, Stephen Schwartz--which suggests what these performers might do in other forms and/or roles.

Standout in the group is the lanky, moon-eyed Ted Davis, who is comical standing still. One member, the puckish Denise Pickering, is physically fine but she talks in an unrelenting tinny squeal--a detail, but this show is ragged on detail.

For instance, the set and scrim are unnecessarily bland. The lighting hardly ever varies, you can hear kitchen voices on the other side of the room, and the stage needs heightening to improve sightlines. It is symbolic that the program misspells the name of the restaurant and even a word (devise for device ) . That’s what ragged means. The buck stops where?

Victor Lane’s sound effects are super. And the work of the other actors--the beguiling, animated Wendy Schaal, the drollish Stephen Rollman, the sublime Janice Hubbard (co-composer/instrumentalist with Schwartz), and the assured Skov is sufficiently rich to make you hope for better.

The show has celebrity support. Opening night guests included Buck Henry, Valerie Harper (who had performed with Schaal in the Taper’s 1970 “Story Theatre”), Harvey Korman, Lorna Luft and Fred Willard.

Performances are at 10936 Lindbrook Drive in Westwood, Wednesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m., indefinitely. Tickets: $7 for the full evening, $5 for the improv set. Snacks and drinks can be ordered at the table. (213) 208-3775.