THEATER REVIEWS : ‘VIRTUE VICTORIOUS’ : Its Own Reward : The Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama & Vaudeville Company mounts an old-style production.

At least once a year, the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama & Vaudeville Company diverts from its usual menu of pastiches of popular shows and stories and presents a classically themed, old-style melodrama.

This year, it’s “Virtue Victorious,” a contemporary piece whose author, Tim Kelly, is a frequent contributor to the group’s repertoire.

Nobody is tied to the tracks in this one, and there’s nary a buzz saw in sight. But there’s a plethora of villains and a story that’s somewhere between Charles Dickens and Gilbert & Sullivan.

Lotta, beautiful daughter of the Richest Man in New England, marries below her station. Her husband, Sterling Ware, works in the laundry. “It’s honest work,” he states with due pride. “And clean.”

Virtue and hygiene notwithstanding, the couple are disowned by Lotta’s family, and she soon finds herself to be a homeless widow with a newborn child. And that’s just the first act: Things get even worse, before they get (somewhat) better.

Wendy Huffman stars as Lotta and as Little Richard, her 12-year-old son around whom Act II revolves. As a boy, she’s terrific, evidently patterning her acting on the youthful (thank heaven) Mickey Rooney. As a girl, she’s not bad either.

Though the music ranges from relatively unknown songs to authentic Gilbert & Sullivan to two songs from Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!” nothing is made of the name Little Richard. Some in the audience may be anticipating at least a dumb reference, if not a rousing version of “Tutti-Frutti.”

No other attempt at subtlety is taken by writer Kelly or director Joy Enright. Robert Craig plays the villainous Geoffery Badum with mustache-twirling glee (though he doesn’t twirl his mustache). Tony Briant and Scott MacGregor play a pair of swabbies straight out of “H.M.S. Pinafore,” and Gaynor Kelly is a welcome addition to the Melodrama players as a sinister Gypsy.

The cast’s singing is a little below average this time around, though the group’s enthusiasm goes a long way toward compensating for that slight drawback. Enright’s choreography is fine, and the costumes and sets--by Linda, Harvey and Steve Bredemann--are up to the Melodrama’s standard. Music is by synthesist Nancy Honaker and bass guitarist Mike Stock.

The post-show “Vaudeville” finds the cast performing a revue of songs reminiscent of the turn of the century.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“Virtue Victorious” continues through July 25 at the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama & Vaudeville Company, 45 E. High St., in Moorpark. Shows are 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays; 8 p.m. on Fridays, and 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturdays. General admission is $12, with a $9.50 ticket for children and seniors at the Thursday, Saturday matinee and Sunday performances. Group rates are also available. For reservations or further information, call 529-1212.