Two season's ago, Tempe Little Theatre and director Susan Ranahan mounted Love Rides the Rails, a Western-themed melodrama that went all out and was very well received. The acting was mixed, but the audiences ate it up. Can lightning strike twice? TLT hopes so. I'm here to report that Gary Peterson and David Byrne's Klondike Kalamity is like déja vu all over again. Ranahan's direction is once again over-the-top and absolutely fitting, the accoutrements such as Lance Ware's masterful piano playing, the period costumed ushers, David Durnil's excellent set, the opening singalong, and the projection screen with hilarious graphics and comments add to the feel of this 1890s evening. And, just as happened then, the acting is a mixed bag of on- and off-target, though this time more on than off.

Lumberjack Warren Oudt and his innocent daughter Nellie live in the Yukon in a unit set of a log cabin that is the epitome of box perspective. Roger B. Upright, a Mountie searching for the perpetrator of a heinous deed of which he has been accused, stumbles into the house and into Nellie's heart. Right on his tail is Fangduster T. Barrelbottom, a shiftless villain and ne'er do well who intends to swindle Warren and Nellie's land from them. Every odd character shows up, from a mysterious henchman to Fangduster named Farley Goodbody who may or may not be a woman, a snowblinded Indian named Chief Wapakonetta, a Yale-educated Prince of the Eskimos, K'Nook, and a grizzly bear named Bruno. Everything that can go wrong does, but don't be surprised if the ending is a happy one.

Ranahan proved adept at handling the farcical requisites of melodrama two seasons ago, and she is once again successful here. There is slapstick pacing, hero and villain thrusts for addressing the audience, and a lot of stagy blocking. The evening is a rich slice of 1890s theatre.

The show does mark the return of one of the successful performers: reprising his role as the arch-villain, Thomas Steele is at his oily best. He is an excellent improvisational actor, and knows how to modulate the overacting. Solid performances also come from Heath Adam Cates as the heroic Upright. The role does not give much latitude for originality, but he has the caricature down, from the toothy smile to the squared shoulders. Yonna Meyerowitz is a limber and funny Farley, and Robin T. Sawyer is solid as Nellie. Ms. Sawyer doesn't quite embody her character as much as play with it, but she is engaging and endearing.

While not a negative influence, Bob DePalma is stiff as Nellie's dad, Warren. He recites his lines and doesn't really speak with the others. The difference between melodramatic acting and bad acting is balanced by Christopher James' awful impersonation of the Chief, which is walked through without any attempt at earnest and genuine performance, while a great understanding of the nuances of overt presentationalism inform the performance of Adam Matthew Bauer as the Prince.

The design element is deck full of aces. Besides the excellent work and surprises of Durnil's set, Vickie Wagner's costumes are deliciously period, Bob Nelson and Kristen Burkhart's lighting is solid, and Nelson's special effects are quite enjoyable.

TLT's production of this silly show is earnest, which is a definite plus. There are many worse ways to spend an evening other than cheering the hero and booing the villain.