Fresno City College's production of "eurydice," which continues through Saturday, is a stunning work of theater: handsomely mounted, decisively directed, gorgeously costumed, gracefully acted. It's one of the must-see local theatrical events of the year.

From the production's first moments as the house lights dim and a plaintive voice sings the lyrics "Don't Let Me Go," to the very last moment of the show, when a major character makes a heart-breaking last gesture before everything slides to black, the show casts an almost hypnotic spell on the audience. Director Chuck Erven has described the play as a cross between Alice in Wonderland and Cirque du Soleil. That's an apt way to capture the mood he crafts: part fairy tale, part dream, in a brisk, intermissionless, 90-minute run time. It's the kind of stage experience that resonates on more than just visual and auditory levels. It's as if you can taste the crispness of this show, stroke its rich textures, smell its musty-yet-modern aromas.

I loved it.

Now here's a true delight: It's Saturday night in the Tower District. I'm walking down the street and come across a little table set up outside a storefront theater. Sitting at the table is the director himself selling tickets.

The occasion is the inaugural performance of a new Fresno theater company, California Public Theater. The play: Christopher Durang's "Beyond Therapy."

This scene makes me happy. Maybe it's a sense of adventure -- even mystery. Who knows what awaits when I walk through that door? It reminds me of times in San Francisco and New York that I've sought out little theaters (usually on side streets and far from the lights of Union and Times squares). Some of the best theater experiences I've had are in these offbeat spaces.

In this case, I'd say that the idea of experiencing a new theater company outweighed the impact of the performance itself. But there's some good acting to be found -- and a lot of promise here.

When you've seen a show like "Hairspray" and listened to the cast recording as much as I have, it's only natural to develop a few favorite moments. For me, one of them is the reprise of "Good Morning Baltimore" that Tracy -- the heroine of this big, brash and outrageously optimistic show -- sings in jail.

"Oh, oh, oh, I'm all alone: My heart has grown, but it's broken, too," she starts softly. Then she swells to a statement of action: "Let me out so this dream's unfurled, I'll eat some breakfast then change the world." It's one of those turning-point moments in a show when all the fancy trappings of musical theater -- the sets, the big orchestrations, the costumes, the glitter and glamour -- melt away to allow an intense personal bond between actor and audience.

In the new Good Company Players production of "Hairspray," the local premiere, I waited for this moment with anticipation. And I wasn't disappointed. Ashley Wilkinson, who makes a charming Tracy, imbued the song with all that was needed: confidence, reflection, idealism. Overall, the opening night performance wasn't perfect, but this smoothly directed production more than made up for any weaknesses with an abundant dose of charisma.

I am entranced with Danielle Jorn's performance as the sad Aunt Bella in "Lost in Yonkers."

There are rare times I feel I'm in the presence of an actor truly inhabiting a character on stage, and Jorn reaches that summit in the Good Company Players production at the 2nd Space Theatre. What makes her performance even better is the strong ensemble cast backing her up with warmth and precision in this autobiographical Neil Simon play.

As Bella, aunt to the teen-age protagonists (the younger Arty, played by A.J. Barco, and Jay, played by Michael Gregory, pictured above with Jorn) who in the early 1940s are forced to move in with their fearsome grandmother, Jorn finds within her character the humorous threads that Simon intended, including her exaggerated absent-mindedness. (She sometimes forgets where she lives.) But Jorn also beautifully connects with Bella's deep loneliness and frustration. Doctors told Bella's mother that her daughter would never be more than a child in terms of mental capacity, and she's lived a life of diminished expectations. Whether Bella deserved that subdued adulthood is left up in the air in Simon's play, but in Jorn's accomplished hands, you certainly feel her character's ache at her life circumstances.

There are many laughs in CenterStage Clovis Community Theatre's chipper new production of "Noises Off," but the talented Hayley Galbraith gets one of the best. As the third act of this zany show begins, Galbraith's character -- a dippy former grande dame of British theater who is starring in the play that serves as the "show within the show" part of the storyline -- is supposed to answer a ringing phone on stage.

The phone doesn't ring, of course, because this is one of those backstage comedies in which everything that can go wrong does. Galbraith glares at the phone. Nothing. For a fraction of a second, she scrapes nervously. Still nothing. Finally, in desperation, she fixes her eyes on the receiver, takes a slight gulp and trills out a weak little "riiiiingggggg."

The moment is hilarious. Galbraith hits her beat with just the right amount of annoyance and embarrassment. If she'd overplayed the delivery, it would have seemed too broad. If she'd underplayed it, the laugh wouldn't even have registered. As it stands, it's a moment of comic perfection.

Though it's a standout moment for Galbraith, the fun thing about this production is that most of the rest of the show isn't dominated by one actor or another. Ensemble is the name of the game in "Noises Off," and director Eric Day (mostly) keeps the momentum smooth and the tone crisp.

There's a powerful and vibrant moment in Woodward Shakespeare Festival's production of "Richard III" that captures for me the heart and soul of this intense classic. The royal court, which on the whole is as bloodthirsty, fratricidal and downright nasty a lot as you've ever seen assembled under one roof, has just learned that King Edward IV's brother, George, has perished in the Tower. The king, furious, turns around to glare at the dozen or so people scattered in the room, and everyone immediately falls to their knees. It's as if Edward's eyes have a physical grip all their own as his downward nod drives these important grown-ups into positions of subservience.

I thought to myself while watching the scene: This is the power that Richard, who is literature's poster child for terror and despotism, craves more than anything. He wants to be the arbiter of life and death. He wants to make other human beings do things because he can. Imagine that: being able to make people fall to their knees simply because of an angry downward glance. It's no wonder that Shakespeare was fascinated with power -- not only with those who grab it and keep it, but with all the other complicit souls who embrace tyranny out of fear, cluelessness or self-interest.

One thing I like about this production, which is in its second weekend at Woodward Park, is that director Heather Parish has found new ways to tackle this always-important theme in the play.

I'll be blunt here: I know that some people would not appreciate a college/high school production of "Evita," which is basically what you're getting when you attend an "older kids" production at Children's Musical Theaterworks. (Performers are ages 15-20.) Snooty types would be uninterested (and I know this because I've talked to some of them) in seeing young actors portray complex characters who age over a couple of decades.

The way I look at it, I watched a 30-something Madonna play Eva Peron as a teen-ager in the movie version of "Evita," so why shouldn't I watch someone younger play someone older?

The interesting thing is that I liked Kylie Briggs, who played the title role in the CMT production that I saw Saturday night, better as her character aged. (Which is how I felt about the Madonna version, too.) This suggests to me that there's something structural going on here in this oft-performed Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice work. Even with a much younger actor playing Eva, it's still hard for her opening scenes to match those that come later in the play.