Last year, actor and voiceover artist Bill Ackerman traced the history of filming locations in the Conejo Valley with an entertaining tableau of scenes from films like “Spartacus” and television shows including “Gunsmoke,” held at the Stagecoach Inn museum in Thousand Oaks. A year later, Ackerman has concocted a series of “in-a-nutshell” short plays documenting the history of the Conejo Valley, from its origins just after the Civil War to the founding of Thousand Oaks in 1964. The production, titled “I Dream of Genie,” references the popular 1960s fantasy situation comedy to work as a framework as two guests (Sarah Ely and Lisa Halub) accidentally summon up a genie and travel back in time to witness scenes from the city’s history, after trying to polish up an old oil lantern. The eighteen vignettes were rolled into a story that was part “Twilight Zone” and part “A Christmas Carol,” with Ackerman and a large cast playing multiple roles. The play was presented in an outdoor setting on the grounds of the old Stagecoach Inn over two weekends, October 5-13.
Upon rubbing the lamp, Sarah and Lisa are startled when a billowing cloud of smoke reveals a Genie, played by actor and children’s book author Chris Carnicelli, who utilized his vast costume library to come up with a series of outlandish guises for his effusive Genie character. Channeling classic comics like Frank Fontaine (Crazy Guggenheim) and Joe Besser (The Three Stooges), Carnicelli’s over-the-top antics as the Genie were clearly the highlight of the production, appearing in a silver turban with gold Trump-style sneakers and then reappearing as a tie-dyed hippie, Italian Chef Pasgetti, an Elvis-in-Hawaii clone, and an “Easy Rider” biker to introduce each segment.
We meet many of the Conejo Valley’s historical pioneers, some of whom bore surnames familiar to Valley residents, including Newbury, Borchard and Janss, with ample name-dropping of former Conejo Valley hot spots, including Jungleland, DuPar’s, Lupe’s, and the El Matador.
The story begins as the Obrador family arrive in the area in 1867. Ten years later, James Hammell (played by Greg Seymour) established the Grand Union Hotel, which opened on the Fourth of July, 1876 on land overrun by 18,000 sheep, built as a stopover for travelers going from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. Later, Egbert Newbury arrives with his family from Michigan and establishes the area’s first post office with Newbury serving as its first postmaster.
As the years roll by, the Genie takes us to 1893, when developer Peter Janss moves to Los Angeles and begins buying and selling parcels of land, some of which would become the campus of UCLA. In 1910, he purchases 6,000 acres of land in the Conejo Valley, which are handed down to his two sons (played by real-life brothers Sargis and Grigor Panosyan) who in turn establish local industry, residential services, and the first homes. The play ends with the formation of the Conejo Historical Society and the founding of the City of Thousand Oaks, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2024.
Ackerman’s brief vignettes utilized the porch and area in front of the Stagecoach Inn, with local actors and members of the community portraying both historical personages and characters he invented to help depict different eras. The production was fast moving and generally lighthearted, reflecting Ackerman’s own easy-going, wry humor. During intermission, period-appropriate refreshments, such as caramels and sarsaparilla, were sold.
Unlike many other communities, the Conejo Valley has a rich history that is, thanks to the Conejo Historical Society, well documented, and Ackerman’s “living history” worked well as an introductory primer in introducing stories of the area’s long trail of pioneers and entrepreneurs, which presaged Thousand Oaks’ founding in 1964.
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