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A revival of John Fisher’s campy and sexual 1992 vaudeville drag revue “Cleopatra: the Musical” opened Friday at Zellerbach Playhouse on the Cal campus, presented by Cal’s Department of Dramatic Art/Center for Theater Arts. 

Fisher is the Cal playwriting wonder who authored “Medea: The Musical” and “Combat!,” both of which had successful runs in San Francisco. Other plays by this prolific writer include last season’s Zellerbach World War II play “Partisans,” and the outrageous and hilarious gay bath house tale “Barebacking,” which played last season at Theater Rhinoceros in San Francisco. 

“Cleopatra” is a campy musical comedy vaudeville cabaret show with a bawdy drag spin that tells the story of 18 years of Roman history from 48 to 30 B.C. 

Beginning with Julius Caesar’s military victory over Pompey the Great, the musical follows Caesar’s love affair with Egyptian queen Cleopatra (Jeffrey Meanza in drag), Caesar’s accession to power, and his ultimate assassination. 

The story then follows the ensuing civil war in Rome and Cleopatra’s love affair with Marc Antony. This comedy ends with the mass death of almost everyone in this 26-actor cast. 

There is a lot of music in “Cleopatra,” but none of it is original. The tunes are all pinched from Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and others. In many cases, Fisher and his co-lyricist James Dudek have written bawdy new lyrics for the songs. 

The tunes include “Anything Goes,” “Blue Moon,” “I’ve Got Rhythm,” “Let’s Fall in Love,” “Someone to Watch over Me,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” “My Funny Valentine,” and many more. 

In some ways, “Cleopatra: the Musical” is like “The Boys from Syracuse,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical rewrite of Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” or “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” the Stephen Sondheim/Larry Gelbart reworking of Roman playwright Plautus. 

In other ways, with its over-the-top antics, “Cleopatra” is like a Monty Python story such as “The Life of Brian.” . 

In this big-cast epic story, most of the 26 performers double in multiple roles. There is a lot of cross-gender casting, where men play women, and women play men. That makes the romance, well... different. 

Playwright Fisher’s direction employs many silly sight gags, like a soldier getting his finger stuck in the mouth of Pompeii’s severed head. Or a baby in swaddling clothes having a large bowel movement. 

Caesar’s home has a marquee outside saying “Caesar’s Palace.” He and Cleopatra have a son names Caesarion. That is the level of the play’s humor. 

But in an evening that runs nearly two and a half hours, “Cleopatra” is long, and though the performers are enthusiastic, the story never really takes off. The script is not quite funny enough to carry all the obvious effort that went in to it. 

“Cleopatra” ends up coming off as a college class play, where the big joke is seeing your friend up on stage in a silly costume playing a silly part. The production struggles to reach beyond that to a general audience. 

There is some good acting. The performers in this production specialize in silly walks, silly voices, and silly singing. Jeffrey Meanza’s drag Cleopatra pulls a strong focus. 

The actors basically try to go over the top in their performances. Christopher Herold is zany and energetic as Caesar. He doubles as Caesar’s eight-year-old son Caesarion, playing him like the schizophrenic Jonathan Winters little-boy-in-shorts character. 

Amir Talai creates a distinctive deadpan character as put-upon soldier Rufio, an assistant to Caesar. 

The singing from this cast of mostly current and recent Cal drama grads is not the strongest you will hear, but they get through it adequately. Laura LeBleu, as alcoholic Marc Antony, has one of the better voices. 

Pianist Andrew Bundy and percussionist Colleen F. Clay do a good job with the classic show tunes. Designer Wendy Sparks’ flashy Roman costumes appropriately fit “Cleopatra’s” Las Vegas revue feel. 

“Cleopatra: the Musical” plays Friday through Sunday, through Aug. 13, at Zellerbach Playhouse on the Cal campus. For tickets and information, call (510) 601-8932.