Debbie Reynolds The ballroomdancingasmass-entertainment fad goes back to the early days of television, when, in 1949, "Come Dancing," a long-running British TV program, began a halfcentury run on the BBC.

The format has morphed into its popular U.S. counterpart, "Dancing with the Stars," and the Broadway stage show "Simply Ballroom."

The latter was presented by Theater League at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza last week, proving to be a crowd pleaser for Conejo Valley patrons. The show features a variety of ballroom dance competitions, consisting of two-minute vignettes that spotlight such styles as rumba, cha-cha, tango and jive.

"Simply Ballroom" is the brainchild of Jon Conway, who drew his inspiration from "Strictly Come Dancing," another BBC series that expanded on the legendary "Come Dancing" format. "Simply Ballroom" made its debut in Manchester, England, in 2005. Worldwide acclaim resulted in the show being brought to America, first to Las Vegas at the Golden Nugget and then to the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. It is now touring the U.S.

For star power, the producers engaged iconic film star Debbie Reynolds to share master of ceremonies duties with singers Sam Kane and Nicole Funicelli.

"Simply Ballroom" dispenses with the annoying antics of judges and the competitive posturing by celebrities, as featured in "Dancing with the Stars," and allows the audience to simply enjoy the talents of the performers, who hail chiefly from Great Britain.

At this stage in her career, Debbie Reynolds plays the role of a daffy but lovable veteran of show business. Introducing herself as "Princess Leia's mother," the 76-year-old Reynolds takes frequent potshots at her age and assumes nobody in the audience is old enough to know who she is, although many appeared to be her peers and may have been drawn to the show by her presence alone.

Reynolds entertained with funny stories about her appearance in the MGM musical "Singin' in the Rain" and sang familiar favorites, such as Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown's "Good Morning" and a particularly charming version of her biggest charting hit, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans's "Tammy." One forgets how good an impressionist Reynolds is (she appeared as a guest on the '70s variety show "The Kopycats," alongside Frank Gorshin and Rich Little), and she did brief but effective imitations of Katherine Hepburn, Mae West and James Stewart.

The best way to describe cohost Sam Kane: Imagine Al Gore as a British lounge lizard. Kane, a British-born Broadway star, is extremely likable in a cheesy sort of way. His unctuous preening would seem phony if it weren't apparent that he really enjoys himself in this role. As a singer, Kane combines elements of Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck; his best moment came when he sang classic saloon song "One for My Baby," although I could have done without the excessive echo.

New Jersey-born Nicole Funicelli is pert and attractive, but she was overwhelmed by Kane's personality; when the two performed together, it was almost as if she were standing behind him.

The company of 14 dancers, led by dance captain Crystal Main, was marvelous. Except for a couple of minor mishaps (one dancer slipped during his entrance; another nearly missed catching his female partner), the troupe performed flawlessly.

The costumes were pretty much what you see on "Dancing with the Stars": tight-fitting for the men, colorful and revealing for the women. The men's black jumpsuits, open to the navel, seemed better suited for the disco-mad '70s.

The main problems I had with the show were the rigid and stiff dialogue, the cheaply recorded music (almost entirely played on synthesizers) and the obviously lip-synced vocals in ensemble passages. Having a live orchestra would certainly have raised the level of the show to equal the professionalism of the performers. As it stands now, the whole effect comes off as entertainment you would expect to see on the main stage of a cruise ship.

More imagination could have gone into the song selection as well. Insufferably clichéd songs such as "SingSing, Sing" (swing dance) and "La Cumparsita" (tango) could have been replaced with more effective numbers. I did like hearing The Ides of March's 1970 hit "Vehicle."

All in all, "Simply Ballroom" may not be dance for art's sake, but it showcases the best of "Dancing with the Stars" without the unnecessary glitz and bloated egos.