THEATER REVIEW / ‘NEWSCAST MURDER’ : Played to a Pulp : The Moorpark Melodrama comedy is punctuated by musical numbers and performed by an energetic young cast.

Six o’clock news anchor Cassandra Dumont has been murdered, and the suspects include just about everybody she met while clawing her way to her exalted position. So begins “Newscast Murder,” the present production of the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama & Vaudeville Company.

Among the possible culprits: fellow reporter Luther Preston, Stan Van the Weather Man, consumer reporter Jeannie, the town mayor, and arch-villainess Mrs. Big. The private eye in the case is Mavis Davis, brought in by one of the suspects to clear him with the police in this musical parody of pulp mysteries and film noir.

It’s the usual Moorpark Melodrama stuff and nonsense, broad comedy punctuated by musical numbers and performed by an energetic young cast for a family audience.

Kimberly Decker stars as Mavis. Her gumshoes may sport high heels, but the wisecracking dame is the match of any private eye in the works of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. And, she sings better than Robert Mitchum or Humphrey Bogart, if not Dick Powell.

Scott MacGregor and Jana Kovalivker play tough cops Slack and Bronski, James Harlow is Mayor Nelson, and Jackie Hendrickson plays Mrs. Big with particular relish (perhaps obtained from the Melodrama’s snack bar). The news desk includes Darrin Ingram as Luther Preston, Terese Noel as Jeannie, Robin Murphy as Jimmy and Robert Craig as effete Stan Van. Erin Appling is the crafty Cassandra.

Joy Enright directed and choreographed this production, which is notable for more ambitious--and better-realized-- dancing than many of the Melodrama’s shows. Singing is about par. Tim King is the musical director, and Chadwick Lourtie supplies some smoky saxophone work.

The post-show “Vaudeville” presents members of the cast in a salute to Ed Sullivan’s old TV variety show.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“Newscast Murder” continues through Feb. 14 at the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama & Vaudeville Company, 45 E. High St., Moorpark. Performances are at 7 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. All tickets are $12, with group rates available for every performance except Saturday evenings. For reservations or information, call 529-1212.

CASTING CALL / AUDITIONS

The California Shakespeare Company has scheduled open auditions for 14 men and four women for its upcoming production of “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Auditions, which will consist of cold readings from the script, will be at the company’s theater on Sunday at 7 p.m., and Monday and Tuesday nights at 7:30. Rehearsals will begin on Feb. 1; performances will be Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons, March 12 through April 10. The California Shakespeare Company is at 6685 Princeton Ave., in Varsity Park Plaza, Moorpark. For further information, call 498-3354 or 373-9243.