Joe Cooper, left, as Professor Cecil Wellbourne, Tarreyn Van Slyke as Priscilla Wellbourne, an unidentified gorilla, and David Fanning as Arizona Smith in "Arizona Smith and the Relic of Doom, or Safari So Good!" at the Gaslight Theatre.

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Hooray for Peter Van Slyke.

Girls rule in his latest venture at The Gaslight Theatre, "Arizona Smith and the Relic of Doom, or Safari So Good!," which Van Slyke both wrote and directed.

Not that they are in charge, mind you, but they are smart. There is nary a damsel in distress who can't save herself. We like that.

"Arizona Smith," like most Gaslight offerings, has a plot that is basically stitched together to support bad jokes and good rock 'n' roll songs modified to underscore a plot point.

For example, in this play, a bad guy croons "Man Without Pity" to the tune of "Town Without Pity."

And lines like this were abundant and produced more gleeful laughter than the warranted groans: "I was an archaeologist myself, but I had to give it up — my whole life was in ruins."

The story is not complicated: Archaeologist Arizona Smith has come out of retirement because pretty nasty bad guys are in hot pursuit of the Tomb of Rah and the Lost Relic of Doom in the tomb. That relic will give the evil-doers the power to be even more evil.

Arizona Smith (a deliciously hammy David Fanning) doesn't like that. With an archaeologist and his smart daughter in tow (that would be the laugh-at-any-cost Joe Cooper and the charming Tarreyn Van Slyke, the director's daughter), along with the researcher, highly self-sufficient Kate Reed (the powerhouse singer Deborah Klingenfus), Smith sets off to save the day.

He is battling some serious evil: Montaigne (Robert Shaw, who turned off the charm to effectively play the bad guy), a rival archaeologist; Colonel Heimlich (a hilarious Todd Thompson), a German officer; and his sidekick, Eva, a German spy (Sarah Vanek loves to play evil, and she's quite good at it). The bad guys do a tap dance, which is neither here nor there but a curiosity nonetheless. Smith also battles gorillas, tigers, snakes and alligators. But that's another story. Or should be.

The after-show olio takes us out of the jungles and into another kind of jungle, Las Vegas.

Cooper serves as the comedian host ("I just flew in, and boy are my arms tired"; "How do you make a bandstand? Take away their chairs"), and there are appearances by Wayne Newton (David Orley in a wonderfully over-the-top wig), Ann-Margret and Bobby Darin.

This is typical Gaslight fare — that is, lots of cheers and boos ("Don't worry," one bad guy says, "I can handle my boos"), music and laughter on stage and off. And that's not a bad way to spend an evening.

• "Arizona Smith and the Relic of Doom, or Safari So Good!"

• Presented by: The Gaslight Theatre.

• Writer/director: Peter Van Slyke.

• When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 7 and 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 and 7 p.m. Sundays through May 31.

• Where: Gaslight, 7010 E. Broadway.

• Tickets: $16.95, with discounts available.

• Reservations, information: 886-9428.