CAST MEMBERS–Beth Malone and Damon Kirsche were featured in the Musical Theatre Guild’s performance of “Fade Out-Fade In.” From the hidden treasure chest of Broadway’s past, the Musical Theatre Guild plucked a gem of a show for a staged reading: “Fade Out–Fade In,” which was performed on a recent Sunday afternoon at the Scherr Forum in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

When it made its Broadway debut in 1964, “Fade Out” had everything going for it: a first-rate score, a bright young star named Carol Burnett and a hilarious show-within-a-show premise. But circumstance and bad luck followed, and it’s been mired in oblivion ever since.

If the plot—about a young ingenue trying to make it in early ’30s Hollywood—sounds like “Singin’ in the Rain,” that’s because both books were written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. But whereas Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown created the retro score for “Singin’ in the Rain,” Comden and Green penned the lyrics for the songs in “Fade Out–Fade In,” and it remains one of their best-kept secrets. (The equally stellar music is by Jule Styne).

The show had the misfortune of playing opposite “Hello, Dolly!” and “Funny Girl,” the season’s two blockbusters. And Carol Burnett left after suffering whiplash in the back seat of a cab and was replaced by the much older Betty Hutton. Variety dubbed it “the biggest star-replacement box-office slump in Broadway history.”

Like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Fade Out” is a satire of Hollywood, but even more cunning. The head of FFF Studios, L.Z. Governor (a takeoff on MGM’s L.B. Mayer), is a lecherous king of the casting couch. Paranoid about the fourth of his six nephews usurping his power, L.Z. (fabulously played by Paul Keith) has an aversion to the number 4. This results in a casting call where former usherette Hope Springfield (Beth Malone) accidentally lands the lead role in FFF’s latest blockbuster, “The Fiddler and the Fighter.”

Horrified after seeing the rushes, L.Z. replaces her with a vapid platinum blonde (Robin DeLano), who turns out to be worse than Hope. Other ’30s stereotypes include the outrageously conceited leading man, Byron Prong (Damon Kirsche); the erudite black actor forced to play “darkie” roles (Jeffrey Polk); and ostentatious gossip columnist Dora Dailey (Marsha Kramer), patterned after Hedda Hopper.

Malone, who recently finished a run in the off-Broadway cast of “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” is marvelous in this role, too. As the wholesome, star-struck Hope, she’s a terrific comedian and singer. It’s not easy to fill shoes worn by La Burnett, but Malone hits a home run with her winning performance.

Likewise the talented Damon Kirsche, who deftly plays narcissistic film idol Byron Prong (originated by Jack Cassidy) as a likable heel. Kirsche’s solo, “My Fortune Is My Face,” nearly stopped the show.

The score by Comden, Green and Styne didn’t produce any hits, but one song does come out ahead of the others: “You Mustn’t Be Discouraged,” sung by Malone and Polk in an impeccable takeoff on the classic Shirley TempleBill “Bojangles” Robinson “stair dance” routine from “The Little Colonel.” Director Lewis Wilkenfeld, who is always attentive to Broadway history, even revived the Act I closer, “A Girl to Remember,” which had been cut from the original production.

In a post-performance talkback session, the cast spoke about the rigors of learning a show with only 25 hours of rehearsal time (a union ceiling for staged readings, in which the actors carry scripts and there are no sets and limited costuming). The whirlwind of rehearsals resulted in two performances (one in Thousand Oaks and another in Glendale), which Kirsche likens to “being shot out of a cannon.”

The outcome was a delightful treat for the local audience: a forgotten classic brought back to life for one highly entertaining afternoon.