The accidental discovery of a soldier’s World War II diary yields the plot of Yank!, a terrific new musical by brothers David and Joseph Zellnik, in its West Coast premiere through Aug. 17 at Diversionary Theatre. Yank! is directed by Igor Goldin.

Yank! manages to wrap a send-up of war movies and a valentine to the music of the ’40s around a poignant if somewhat predictable story about gays in the military.

The time (1943) is set with a lovely ballad called “Remembering You.” The place is Fort Bragg, and a new platoon of recruits is about to undergo basic training.

It’s the usual wartime draft cross-section: there’s Tennessee (Zachary Bryant), Czechowski (Juston Harlin), Rotelli (Rocky DeHaro), Svensen (Jacob Caltrider) and the Professor (Sven Salumaa). But the story is between the fumblefingered Stu (Tom Zohar) and Mitch (Tom Doyle), irresistibly drawn to each other but aware of what that means.

The show’s title comes from Yank, the magazine for service members published during the war. Stu becomes a Yank photographer, working for and with Artie (Eric Dowdy), whom he meets in the Los Angeles USO.

The camaraderie, fear and loneliness of war go down pretty easily with the great songs, terrific acting and some fine hoofing (especially by Dowdy and Zohar). But the Zellniks never stray far from their more serious message about the absurdity of U.S. military personnel policy.

Zohar is better than I’ve ever seen him, using facial expressions, posture and a heretofore unheard pleasant singing voice to great advantage.

That’s not to slight Amy Biedel, one of this city’s finest singing actresses, who plays a variety of roles in a whole wardrobe of wigs and gets to sing some great songs. And she gets to do the campy send-up of war flicks at the top of the second act, playing a nurse uttering platitudes to a fatally wounded soldier describing his dreams as he slides down the other side of the hill, the whole played out with flickering lights reminiscent of old movie projectors.

The rest of the cast is equally up to the challenges of this fine musical.

If the ending isn’t exactly a surprise, well, neither is the ending of most musicals, especially of the time period. Every element of this show works. Long may it play.

Yank! plays through Aug. 17 at Diversionary Theatre. Shows Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m.; Monday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets call 619-220-0097 or visit www.diversionary.org.

Helen – that most desired, envied and detested woman in Greece – may have gotten a bad rap.

She’s been accused of complicity in her abduction and transfer to Troy by Paris, and of disgracing her country and husband Menelaus by jumping into bed with Paris, a shame which inspired the suicide of her mother Leda.

But Euripides wants us to know the other side of the story in Helen, playing through Aug. 3 at the Swedenborgian church under the auspices of The Theatre, Inc. Douglas Lay directs.

Helen (Robin Christ) tells us she was spirited away not to Troy but to Egypt, where she was treated with respect by old Egyptian king Proteus. The capricious goddess Hera made a phantom copy of her, and that’s what Paris took to Troy.

But since the death of Proteus, Helen has spent her time chained to his tomb in order to get away from his son Theoclymenus (Brian Abraham), who has designs on but no respect for her.

This version of the Helen saga isn’t just a figment of Euripides’ imagination: it can be traced to Homer, Herodotus and the poet Stesichorus. Euripides simply continued his penchant for writing about strong female characters in this 70-minute estrogen-soaked romance. This Helen is smarter than the testosterone brigade which brought her to Egypt, and in charge regardless of the fact that she is a virtual prisoner.

The play is all about paradox, illusion and surprise. Nothing is quite what it seems, such as the “barbarian” Egyptians showing themselves to be more civilized than the Greeks.

Robin Christ even gets to demonstrate her considerable dancing chops in her terrific portrayal of Helen: vain and funny, lusty yet committed to Menelaus despite their lengthy separation. It is she who solves their problem: whereas Menelaus contemplates suicide, she comes up with a clever plan to get them back to Greece.

The cast is rounded out by fine performances by Douglas Lay as Menelaus, Brian Abraham as both Teucer and Theoclymenus, and Chorus members Bianca Chapman, Vanessa Milton and Melissa Hamilton.

Seldom presented but definitely worth seeing, Helen is in a short run. Get your tickets now.

The Theatre, Inc.’s production of Helen plays through Aug. 3 at the Swedenborgian church at 4144 Campus Drive. Shows Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinee Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets call 619-216-3016 or visit www.thetheatreinc.com.

Most women going to a bar for girls’ night out wouldn’t choose the Victorville Holiday Inn, but this night Katherine (Angela Norton Lepkofker) sits alone at a table trying to ignore the unwanted attention of lounge lizard entertainer Ronnie Earl (“the man with two first names,” played by Douglas Davis, co-owner of the theater).

Katherine waits for her boyfriend of 15 years, convinced (or self-deluded) by a whisp of a conversational thread that he will propose tonight.

Next to appear is Cassie (Hillary Bertran Harris), 19 and pregnant, awaiting the arrival of the baby’s father so she can give him the news.

It’s clear from the moment she enters that Susan Coleman (Shauna Hart Ostrom) is a Bad Girl. That plunging neckline, expensive heels, the ’tude – and the admission that she’s having an affair with her married boss – are enough for Cassie to label her. “She’s a cougar,” Cassie says. “She preys on younger guys.”

Last to arrive is Lettie (Marilyn Wolfe), gray of hair and unsmiling of demeanor, who sits alone looking – well, lonely. Lettie is just trying to get over her anger at husband Carl for dying two years ago and leaving her. But sisterhood is powerful, and soon she joins the others.

As much as these women want to avoid Ronnie’s attention, they wouldn’t mind seducing the cute bartender (Timothy Benson), who seems to spend half the night reminding one or another of them that he’s engaged.

But all this chitchat is just prologue for what is essentially a musical revue of hits from the likes of Diana Ross, Shania Twain, Aretha Franklin and Cyndi Lauper. So sit back, relax and get ready to hear oldies but goodies like “Respect,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “If We Hold On Together.”

Ostrom’s degrees in vocal performance show; she is spectacular on “My Strongest Suit” (from the show Aida) and on “Son of a Preacher Man.”

Lepkofker, recently relocated from New York, shines in Diana Ross’ “If We Hold on Together; Wolfe is a hoot in “Love Potion No. 9” and the younger trio vamps the Supremes with wild costumes while they belt out “Baby Love” and “Stop! in the Name of Love.”

The guys? Oh yeah, I almost forgot. They’re in this too, Davis in an indescribably awful costume and black cement-look wig; Benson just as easy on the eyes as they come.

But this is “Girls’ Night Out.” You go, girls.

Girls’ Night Out! plays through Aug. 2, 2008 at Broadway Vista Theater. Shows Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets call 760-806-7905 or visit www.broadwayvista.com.

This is your last chance to see 14 short plays (12 of them premieres) in the Resilience of the Spirit Festival 2008, playing through Aug. 3 at Compass Theatre (formerly 6th@Penn). Thirteen of them play in repertory through July 27; Glen O’Malley’s full-length Paradise will be presented from July 30 through Aug. 3.

I only managed to see three plays and a staged reading, but on the basis of that, I’d recommend seeing any or all on the schedule.

Illinois playwright William Campbell’s The Twenty-Year Package (directed by Christopher Burger) is a goofy (but possibly prescient) look at human engineering. Parents-to-be Ruby (Scott Streigel) and Ashley (Amanda Cooley Davis) are at the hospital, readying for delivery, when the doctor (Tom Hall) comes in, asking whether they’d like to upgrade the package of traits they want programmed into their new daughter. He of course wants to sell them the deluxe package. Squabbling about the package leads to … well, go see for yourself.

Jackie Goldfinger’s His Last Fight (directed by Chelsea Whitmore) portrays the conversation between a young female boxer (Olivia Espinosa) waiting to be called for her fight and the trainer (Don Pugh), who counsels her to get out before it’s too late. But she has a plan. Goldfinger is a local playwright who recently moved to Philadelphia.

Baltimore playwright Rosemary Toohey’s The Body Washer (directed by Sunny Smith) presents the death of an innocent Iraqi woman through the eyes of three women: Mara, a Muslim whose job is washing the bodies of the dead for burial; Nikki, an American National Guard soldier who fired the fatal shot; and Amy, a female journalist reporting the numbers, who tries to make sense of the death.

Nicole Solas, Asia Jackson and especially Diana Sparta are wonderful in this poignant and moving play, each explaining that she is only doing her job.

The fourth scheduled play was scrapped due to unavoidable circumstances, and Compass artistic director Matt Thompson’s Ape Mantis got a wonderful staged reading from Amanda Cooley Davis, Scott Striegel and Michael McKeon. The question here is how to deal with unwanted conversation at the bus stop.

Resilience of the Spirit Festival 2008 concludes Aug. 3 at Compass Theatre. For schedule, tickets and play descriptions, visit www.compasstheatre.com.