Over the past four years, the Towle Community Theater has established a reputation for its excellent productions of adventurous, off-the-beaten-path shows, interspersed with American classics, like "Man of La Mancha" and "The Fantasticks, and the nostalgic, fun-filled "Fabulous '50s Christmas" revue.

Downtown Hammond's No. 1 attraction, the theater opens its fifth season Thursday night with Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart's 2003 Off-Broadway musical success, "The Musical of Musicals: The Musical."

"The Musical" tells the same story five times, with each episode written and performed in the style of a famous Broadway composer or composer/lyricist team -- Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Kander & Ebb.

The characters are a young ingenue who can't pay her rent, an evil landlord, a leading man who might save the day by paying the rent and a somewhat older female who dispenses advice (Dolly Levi, Mother Abbess).

The lyrics and book are filled with jokes based on the musicals and showtunes of each writer. The music plays around with but doesn't duplicate familiar melodies.

"The show's as funny, clever and witty at the end as it is at the beginning," says director Jeff Casey, who also serves as managing director at the Towle.

"The writers ride the crest as long as something works and then move on to something else." The show runs 90 to 105 minutes including intermission.

"There's a bright golden haze on the meadow ..."

The opening Rodgers & Hammerstein scene, titled "Corn!" recalls "Oklahoma!" "Carousel," "South Pacific" and "Sound of Music."

The setting is a farm with rows and rows of corn. The place: Kansas. The time: August. The hero, Big Willy, a farmer/cowman/carnival barker, is in love with June. The villain is Jitter, the evil landlord. Mother Abby (a mezzo-soprano, of course) offers inspirational advice. They all live in a wholesome, optimistic world.

The world changes in "A Little Complex," the Sondheim spoof.

The landlord takes on the guise of a demented artist intent on murdering his tenants to use their corpses as material for his art -- Shades of "Sweeney Todd" and "Sunday in the Park with George." The stuff of musical comedy, right?

The Kander & Ebb portion "Speakeasy," is set in a speakeasy in 1930s Chicago, where some of the characters are German. The Jerry Herman section, "Dear Abby," parodies "Hello, Dolly!" and "Mame." The Andrew Lloyd Webber section, "Aspects of Junita," unfolds as a pop opera with Puccini-style melodies in the manner of "Evita," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Phantom of the Opera."

"It's a stretch for me, and yet it's not a stretch," says Michele Craig, one of the performers. Her biggest challenge is to make the five characters she plays different and at the same time true to the genre, without resorting to caricature.

The director also differentiates the choreography from segment to segment to add to their distinctive styles.

It's not necessary for audience members to be familiar with details from the original shows to enjoy "The Musical," Craig says. People know the Evita feel, the Sondheim feel, the Dolly feel, the "Oklahoma!" feel and son on. Stage directions narrated by the actors also add to the fun.