Fool’s gold, according to my dictionary, is actually iron pyrite (native iron sulfide) or possibly copper pyrite (native copper-iron sulfide). It resembles gold, it’s coloured like gold, it glitters like gold. But it’s not the real thing.

But as far as excellent entertainment of the musical theatre variety goes, the Kimberley Summer Theatre production of Fool’s Gold, now playing on the Centre 64 stage, is definitely the real McCoy.

Set in the saloon of the Gold Nugget Hotel in the fictional small mining town of Fortune in the Crown Colony of British Columbia in the summer of 1885, Fool’s Gold features a cast of characters that you might expect in a musical-comedy defined by that era.

There is a charming “snake-oil salesman” who just might reveal some depth of character below the charm; there is the frontier woman who is tough enough to make her own way running a hotel who just might decide to fall in love; there is a shady character who insists on trying to run the town.

And there is the brash and brassy music hall entertainer from England who clearly does have a heart of gold.

These and other characters populate Fool’s Gold, but what elevates the play above having fun with stereotypes are a witty script, a fine musical score, and an energetic cast that sings and dances its way into the hearts of the audience, if the opening night crowd was any indication.

The program notes indicate that Kimberley Summer Theatre draws in a lot of talent from the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria; the talented director Kailey Tiefenbach and a number of the actors have studied there. But there is no lack of local talent helping to make this production such a success.

Music and lyrics (with the exception of only one song) are the original work of Kimberley’s own Terry Macham. The songs are, by turn, rousing (Let Your Light Shine) and poignant (Somewhere), and all the numbers have a professional and polished feel.

Evidence of more Kimberley talent is found in Roxanne Harper’s script, which takes joy in playing with alliteration; there is “lots and lots of lovely lolly” not to mention the touting of tonics and the peddling of potions in Fool’s Gold.

Accompanist Tim Plait also calls Kimberley home; if you’ve attended almost any musical event in Kimberley or Cranbrook for the past few years, you’ve probably seen this talented pianist.

Theatre patrons who drive up to Kimberley from Cranbrook will be pleased to see Cranbrook teacher/thespian Alexander Gilmour in the cast reprising his role as the Reverend Joseph Dobbs; he has no trouble holding his own with the rest of the highly professional cast.

And Kimberley’s Stuart Campbell, no stranger to the KST stage, appears in Fool’s Gold in two roles (Crazy Bob and, later, Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie, the latter based on a historical figure from the early days of frontier justice in B.C.).

Nilsen Tiefenbach brings a great voice and lots of charm to his role as Professor Aloysius P. Ramsbottom, the travelling salesman whose plans to sell his “Ramsbottom’s revitalizing remedy” are foiled by Cedric Longfellow, Esquire. That shady role is ably played by Benjamin Miller (the butler Jeeves in last summer’s KST production of By Jeeves).

Brianna Dennehy, Dan Bowman and Craig Wilson play the Archibald siblings Ellen, George and Gerald. The sister’s efforts to keep her dim-witted brothers in line provide for some comical scenes, not to mention more than a few pratfalls.

Celia Sudbeck-Reid plays Ruby Smith, proprietress of the Gold Nugget Hotel and niece of the mysterious Crazy Bob, who may or may not have left some hidden treasure behind. And Val Hudson is Tessie O’Toole, the Cockney gal making sheep’s eyes at the good reverend.

The lively, and sometimes very funny, choreography is also by Kailey Tiefenbach. It’s her sixth season with Kimberley Summer Theatre, so she’s beginning to seem like a local, too.

Fool’s Gold is an updated version of a 2002 KST show. If you’ve seen it before, you already know it’s worth seeing again. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth the price of admission just to see how Terry Macham writes a 1950s doo-wop style musical number (Almost Seventeen) into the production, and makes it work.

Fool’s Gold runs Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. till August 15. Tickets are available at Black Bear Books & Video (Kimberley) or Lotus Books (Cranbrook).

Get your tickets and Bob’s your uncle!

(P.S. The stellar voices of cast members can also be heard in Tuesday to Saturday vaudeville shows at 12:30 and 1:30 p.m., July 14 to August 15, in the Kimberley Platzl.)