Ventura College students pulled in quite an audience on March 3 at the production of “Room Service,” written by John Murray and Allen Boertz.

Directed by Jay Varela, “Room Service,” set in 1937, is the story of 7 days in the life of the swindling, would-be producer Gordon Miller, played by Gabriel Olivera, living in a Broadway Hotel, with most of his cast and crew.

According to Varela, the production received notable fame when it was first adapted for the screen by the unforgettable Marx Bros. in 1938. “Room Service” is presented in the main theater at Ventura College, and has an ensemble cast.

The late 1930’s satire comedy had to go through some minor adaptations to make some of the jokes a little easier for today’s audience to digest. One major deviation from the premise of the original script was the role of the angel, which changed to a human named Simone Jenkins, played by Meghan Dunn, who represented the major financial backer for the production within the story, said Varela.

The 8 week long production, which included five weeks of dress rehearsal, began Jan. 8 and completed production with its final performance March 5 at 3 p.m. The construction crew, lighting crew, make-up artists and cast consisted entirely of Ventura College students.

Various administrators oversaw the production, but were careful not to interfere with the creative process, leaving the actual physical work to be completed only by the students. Peter Rabb, who played Joseph Gribble, said that because the production was mainly controlled by students, it was easy to choose to be a part of it.

The main character, Miller, struggles desperately to get his heaven-sent play, “Godspeed”, onto the stage. “Godspeed” is written by Leo Davis, played by James Culbertson, an author who is “wet behind the ears” and who has never seen the Broadway stage outside of one issue of Variety Magazine.

Miller is assisted by the crackpot director, Harry Binion, played by Scott Naurath, who finds his inspiration in his lack of clothing with Miller’s dim-witted personal assistant Fakir Englund, played by Corey Colin.

The Ventura College production of “Room Service” ensured to be a very spirited and well put together comedy.