VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : Local Companies Lift the Curtain on Schedules for 1996 : Productions as varied as ‘Damn Yankees,’ ‘Assassins’ and ‘Richard II’ promise wide range of choices for audiences.

It has been nearly six years since we began covering the local theater season and we now write regularly about more than 20 theater companies in Ventura County. And news of other groups in the general vicinity pops up from time to time.

Many of the longer-lived troupes have already announced their 1996 schedules. Here’s a preview of the year ahead.

As usual, many local producers choose to ignore what other companies are doing. This is most evident in the clustering of plays on certain dates (seven openings on Jan. 12; four on March 1; three on the weekend of June 21) and in duplication of material.

While nothing so far matches the five productions of “Nunsense!” staged throughout Ventura County during one 12-month period, two groups have announced productions of the musical “The Secret Garden” within five weeks: the first in Simi Valley, the second opening April 5 at the Conejo Players’ Theater in nearby Thousand Oaks.

Those who didn’t get enough of “Guys and Dolls” when the Camarillo Community Theater produced it last year can see the Cabrillo Music Theatre’s production this July.

Every year or so, somebody seems to be doing “The Cemetery Club.” In 1995, it was Oxnard’s Elite Theatre Company; this September, it’s the Conejo Players.

In March, the Cabrillo Music Theatre presents “Damn Yankees,” with the Moorpark Melodrama offering its own pastiche, “Darned Dodgers” in June.

Just because certain shows are performed more often than others doesn’t necessarily mean their producers lack imagination. Last year’s Simi Valley production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” featured a cast of teenagers; a new Camarillo-based group, Comedy Tonight, says its May production will feature a cast of seniors.

The California Shakespeare Company is mounting “Richard II” later this month; chances are strong that it will be the only local production of that one for some time to come. And don’t look for anyone else to copy the Moorpark College presentation of “The Merry Widow,” come March.

Moorpark College opens its new multimillion dollar performance facility Jan. 25 with a production of the minimalist play “Our Town” (and Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” in March); the recently revived Xanadu Theater Company plans “Tomfoolery,” the revue of darkly comedic songs by Tom Lehrer, for March, and the Conejo Players have scheduled Stephen Sondheim’s controversial “Assassins” for May.

There’s lots more in store, including such old favorites as “Steel Magnolias,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Educating Rita” and “Sleuth,” plus “Mame,” the Caribbean musical “Once on This Island,” and productions by Ventura College and Cal Lutheran University among other groups that haven’t yet announced their schedules. Watch this space for details.

And prepare for “To Kill a Mockingbird,” opening Friday at the Arts Council Center in Thousand Oaks, followed on Jan. 12 by “The Maltese Chicken,” “Catch Me if You Can,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “West Side Waltz,” “Charley’s Aunt” and “Of Mice and Men”--at theaters from Ojai to Simi Valley.

Casting Call: On Monday, Michael Maynez will hold auditions for the Plaza Players production, Paul Rudnick’s comedy “I Hate Hamlet.” Auditions begin at 7 p.m. at the Senior Recreation Center, 420 E. Santa Clara St. in Ventura; performances will be in the same space, beginning Feb. 17. For information, call 653-2378.

The Moorpark Melodrama will hold auditions Jan. 14 for “Gone with the Gust.” Writer-director Elaine Raleigh specifies that the two female leads be particularly strong singers, though virtually all cast members should come prepared to sing (bring your own sheet music) and learn a few dance steps. There is some pay. Auditions will take place at the Melodrama’s theater, 45 E. High St. at 9 a.m. Be prepared to stay until 1 p.m. For further information, call 529-1212.