THERE IS A GIMLET-EYED sensibility to Stephen Sondheim's "Follies." It's a sort of laser vision that spots diamonds in the dust of the tattered old theater where the musical is set, then peers deeper to find yet more dust.

Sondheim's 1971 musical, revived tonight in a concert presentation by the Oakland East Bay Symphony, begins as a reunion of chorus girls and stars of the old "Weismann Follies," but quickly focuses on the lives and loves of two of the dancers and their bittersweet marriages.

The Oakland presentation, which stars the Tony-, Oscar-, Grammy- and Emmy-award-winning Rita Moreno, longtime "Beach Blanket Babylon" star Val Diamond and nightclub and Broadway performer Sharon McNight, plays at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Paramount Theatre as part of the symphony's American Masterworks Series.

"Follies," with music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by James Goldman, is a charming and complex musical that captures the feeling of the old-time "Weismann Follies" by bringing back the vintage showgirls, occasionally accompanied by ghosts of their former selves. It also explores the relationships of dancers Sally and Phyllis and their husbands Buddy and Ben.

The two couples are also visited by their younger ghosts, who help them relive the past and possibly remedy mistakes.

Michael Morgan is artistic director and conductor for the Paramount show. Choreographers include Ronn Guidi of the

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Oakland Ballet and Diane Tembey-Stawicki and Susan Bostwick, sisters who choreograph and produce the Golden Follies, a revue featuring performers 55 to 85. They appear as dancers in "Follies" along with members of the Oakland Ballet.

Singers include the Berkeley Broadway Singers. Among the show's songs are "Broadway Baby," "Losing My Mind," "I'm Still Here" and "Could I Leave You?"

Both performances include a talk an hour before curtain time in the theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets, at $25-$70, may be reserved at www.oebs.org, 510-625-8497 or 415-421-8497.

"THE MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!)," by Eric Rockwell and Joanne Bogart, currently in previews at Walnut Creek's Center Rep, opens at 7:30 p.m. May 20. It features five musicals telling the same story, but in the styles of different Broadway composers.

Composers parodied include Rodgers and Hammerstein with "Corn"; Stephen Sondheim with "A Little Complex"; Jerry Herman with "Dear Abby"; Andrew Lloyd Webber with "Aspects of Juanita"; and John Kander and Fred Ebb with "Speakeasy." While the show satirizes these musical icons, artistic director Michael Butler says, "The gentle spoofing shows a deep appreciation for musicals and for the original composers."

The musical plays at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays through June 14 in the Lesher Center for the Arts, Civic Drive at Locust, Walnut Creek. Tickets, at $29-$39, may be reserved at 925-943-7469 or www.centerrep.org.

"OCTOPUS," by Steve Yockey, a new play making its national debut Saturday at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, is a co-production of the Magic and Encore Theatre Company.

The play, billed as "a love story rendered through a post-modern gay lens," deals with the result of a single night of lust on the lives of four men. "Octopus" is directed by Kate Warner and revolves around a mysterious telegram-delivery boy and a monster from the ocean floor.

It plays in the theatre at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center, Marina Boulevard and Buchanan Street, at 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sundays through June 8. Tickets, at $20-$45, may be reserved at 415-441-8822 or www.magictheatre.org.

"PEDDLING RAINBOWS," the world-premiere revue featuring work by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, opens at 6 p.m. Saturday in San Francisco's Eureka Theatre.

The 42nd Street Moon Show presents songs written by Harburg, who supplied the lyrics for such standards as "It's Only a Paper Moon," "April in Paris," "Lydia the Tattooed Lady," "Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe," "Over the Rainbow," "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" and "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"

The show plays at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays, 6 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through May 25 in the Eureka Theatre, 215 Jackson St., San Francisco. Tickets, at $22-$38, may be reserved at 415-255-8207 or www.42ndstmoon.org.

"BEOWULF: A THOUSAND YEARS OF BAGGAGE," by Jason Craig, is a fresh look at the 1,000-year-old classic tale from Shotgun Players in collaboration with Banana, Bag and Bodice.

Jason Craig has adapted the story's narrative into something that is part homage and part parody and has each of the tale's story's narrators telling his own version of "Beowulf."

Directed by Rod Hipskind, with music composed and performed by Dave Mallory, "Beowulf" will be performed at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 5 p.m. Sundays through June 22. Tickets, at $17-$25, may be reserved at 510-841-6500 or www.shotgunplayers.org.

"SPENCERS THEATRE OF ILLUSION," a touring stage magic show featuring high-tech special effects, plays at 2 p.m. Sunday in LIvermore's Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St.

That's the production's only Livermore performance. Tickets, at $24-$31, are available at 925-373-6800 or www.livermoreperformingarts.org.

"THE BAY AREA STORY FESTIVAL," now in its 23rd annual incarnation, unfolds Saturday and Sunday in Kennedy Grove Regional Park near El Sobrante.

The event features nationally known storytellers, including Carol Birch from Connecticut, Derek Burrows from Rhode Island, Baba Jamal Koram from Maryland and Olga Loya from San Jose. Others who will perform in the two-day festival include Olive Hackett-Shaughnessy, Rick Huddle, Gay Ducey, Tim Ereneta, Nancy Schimmel, Elaine Stanley and Clara Yean.

Kennedy Grove is on San Pablo Dam Road near El Sobrante. Events are scheduled Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, at $13-$70, may be reserved at www.bayareastorytelling.org. or at the gate.

"NORTHANGER ABBEY," by Jane Austen, is dramatized by Diane Tasca, who turns Austen's first novel into a theater piece with the social satire and Gothic-novel spoof intact.

The show opens today in Mountain View's Pear Avenue Theatre, 1220 Pear Ave., Unit K. It's the story of Catherine Morland, who is so caught up in her reading of Gothic novels that she begins to feel that Gothic drama may be drifting into her real life.

As the story unfolds, Catherine begins to mature and develop her own judgment and learns to keep her imagination from running away with her.

"Northanger Abbey" is directed by Rebecca J. Ennals. It plays at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through June 8.

Tickets, at $20-$30, may be reserved at 650-254-1148 or www.thepear.org.

Reach Pat Craig at 925-945-4736 or pcraig@bay- areanewsgroup.com.