'THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE' REBORN (REVIEW)

Joe Essner is Godfrey Pond and Beth Bishop is Miss Evelyn Whitchurch in "The Happiest Days of Your Life."

Trying to pick a play to stage for the St. Vincent de Paul Youth Ministry's annual theatrical production, director Gerry Strohmeyer thought of one he and his wife, Joan, had appeared in 30 years ago in Salina, Kan. He couldn't remember the name of the play but recalled good fun in an English boarding school. All this also sounded familiar to their son, Marty, who is the drama teacher at Chaminade High School in St. Louis, but the title eluded him as well.

Finally they called Salina, where the community theater company happened to have a data base with the Strohmeyers' names appearing 30 years ago in "The Happiest Days of Your Life."

The play will be presented at 8 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday at the St. Vincent's School Parish Center.

"The Happiest Days of Your Life" is a post-WWII farce set at Hilary Hall. Bomb damage has made it necessary for the boys to make room for the girls of St. Swithins boarding school, a circumstance provoking both consternation and excitement.

Hijinx, misunderstandings and increasingly tangled webs of deceit result, especially when unapprised parents show up for unexpected visits. As one exclaims, "There's something very peculiar going on here."

The play is a breezy treat on a hot summer night.

Bishop sparkles as the sensibly-shoed St. Swithins headmistress Miss Whitcomb, her voice seemingly pinched by the force of her strait-laced underpinnings. Umbrage is her middle name. Her opposite number, Hilary Hall headmaster Godfrey Pond (Joe Essner) is a hilarious havoc-maker, especially with a bell in his hand.

Another source of merriment is Dick Tassel (Ryan Fenwick), a Hilary Hall staff member smitten with St. Swithins staffer Joyce Harper (Micaela Shaffar). Also very good is Michael Sirimaturos as Rupert Billings.

Memorable in smaller roles are Amanda Strohmeyer as the perpetually exercising Miss Gossage, Gail Heuschober and Jill Edwards as Mrs. Smythe and Mrs. Peck, respectively, Matt Essner as the mischievous Hopcroft, and Karen Ivers as the visiting little girl, Kate Sowter.

Also appearing in the well-acted play are Ben Essner, Chris Shank, Amber Elfrink, Matt Essner, Adam Fenwick, Josh Essner, Megan Kelley, Susan Layton, Suzanne White, Jill Eichhorn, Sarah Vickery, Therese Yoffie, Amy Buehrle, Mark Buehrle and Amanda Gosche.

The boarding school set is first-rate and the action and repartee are fast-paced thanks to Strohmeyer's strong direction.