With a tip of their ten-gallon hats, the handsome heroes of Western movies gallantly round up villains, lasso gals of their dreams and make a mockery of local police. Good guys wear white, bad men wear black, horses are prized possessions.

The University Resident Theater Company will showcase these romantic, American heritage films in the production of Mark Medoff's comedy The Majestic Kid tonight at 8 p.m. through Feb.23 at the Playhouse Theater, with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. on Feb. 17.

The comedy is centered on New York lawyer Aaron Weiss, as portrayed by Craig Stephen-Wallace (graduate-acting), who travels West to help Apache Indians fight for their rightful land, Bob Clendenin (graduate-acting) said.

The residual message is "fight for what you think is right," said Clendenin, who plays Judge Finlay, "a shyster who is trying to buy up the land."

Philip Lyon (graduate-mass communications) said old-time Westerns are generally similar.

"The good guy kills the bad guys and then rides off into the sunset, or wins the heart of a school teacher maiden. It is good versus evil," he said.

Lyon attributed the genre's heyday of the 1940s and 1950s to the 1939 movie "Stagecoach," which was the first Western to gain main feature status. Previously, cowboy/Indian/bandit shows were low budget cliffhangers inserted between a cartoon display and the featured film, he said. Today, many Westerns herd Hollywood's box office business.

"Star Wars was a modern day version (of Westerns)," he said. "It was Luke Skywalker, all in white, versus Darth Vader, all in black. Skywalker rescues Princess Leia."

Majestic Kid director George Brown said heroes also exist beyond the screen.

"We do not have to be Rambos, or John Waynes," Brown said."(We), the common people, can change the world. The students of Tiananmen Square, citizens of East Germany and people of Romania have learned this."

Sound designer Tom Hague (junior-theater) has been busy learning how to collect background noise. By searching through expansive music files he said he has found tunes to keep the Western theme of Majestic Kid together. Before the stage curtain opens the Playhouse will fill with songs about cowboys, and intermission will feature cowboy melodies. In addition, he said an outdoor night ambience will be created through singing crickets and mooing cows.

To further enhance its American frontier theme on stage, The Majestic Kid will integrate film footage of original Westerns and children playing cowboys and Indians, Clendenin said.

Since 1984 Brown has been a member of the Society of American Fight Directors, an organization which promotes safety and training in stage fighting. As a certified actor combatant, Brown often designs fight choreography for URTC productions, including Boys of Winter.

Although trained in Renaissance style weapons, no rapiers or daggers will appear in The Majestic Kid.

Saddle up partner, and head for entertainment. Tickets for "The Majestic Kid" can be purchased at the URTC box office from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Eisenhower Auditorium, and at the Playhouse in the Arts Building, between 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday.