Dick Van Dyke On May 9, a packed house at the Fred Kavli Theatre was watching a DVD and having the time of its life.

No, the entertainment wasn’t a digital video disc; it was Dick Van Dyke, who was there to participate in the 12th annual High School Choral Benefit Show.

To date, the high schools that have participated in the yearly benefit concerts have raised more than $150,000, mostly due to Van Dyke’s untiring efforts.

If you read my column regularly, you know the quality of talent our high schools are producing, and this concert was no exception.

The schools, El Camino Real, Newbury Park, Oak Park, Camarillo, Rio Mesa and Santa Susana, presented sets by full choirs and quartets. These were interspersed with performances by the Harmony Oaks Chorus from Newbury Park and some priceless singing and hoofing by Van Dyke with protégé Brent Moon.

There were plenty of nods to Van Dyke’s career. The Harmony Oaks Chorus sang “I Love to Laugh” from “Mary Poppins,” and Van Dyke’s own group, the Vantastix, did a “Poppins” set as well, plus “Me Ol’ Bamboo” from “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and “I Am a Fine Musician,” a traditional song that he’d performed on the old “Dick Van Dyke Show.”

The stars of the night were the members of the high school choirs. The Newbury Park, Rio Mesa and Camarillo choirs gave traditional performances standing on risers, while the others did full show choir routines, complete with costumes and choreography.

Santa Susana High School wowed the crowd with a medley of songs from “Guys and Dolls.” Van Dyke delivered one of his patented sneezes in a walk-on during “Adelaide’s Lament.”

El Camino Real’s set featured songs from “Phantom of the Opera” with Van Dyke as the guest phantom, wearing cape and halfface mask, while Oak Park did songs from “A Chorus Line,” as the still spry 84-year-old Van Dyke joined the high-kickers on “One” without missing a step.

The schools’ vocal quartets included the Go-Getters (Rio Mesa) singing Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” the Victrolettes (Oak Park) doing an old Guy Lombardo favorite, “Get Out Those Old Records,” and Fivrato (Santa Susana) singing “Send in the Clowns.”

Sound Check, a barbershop group stemming from the Harmony Oaks Chorus, offered a set that included “Fugue for Tinhorns” from “Guys and Dolls” and “Stay Awake” from “Mary Poppins.”

Van Dyke has such a good time hosting this event, he can’t resist joining in the fun himself. He said he looks forward to the show every year and the kids’ performances get better and better.

“Prior to this concert I go to all the schools and rehearse with the kids,” he said. “I help them sell it to the audience, ’cause a lot of times they’re thinking of the words and they don’t smile or anything. I tell them you’ve got to get the lines in your head so you don’t have to think about it, and then you can connect with the audience. It’s great fun working with them because they are attentive and they listen.”

For Van Dyke, life without music means merely existing. With schools eliminating arts programs, he is committed to preserving the cultural richness that music programs bring to young people’s lives. Van Dyke realizes that kids need someone of his stature to help the cause.

“I never trained or did anything,” he said. “I did it the hard way. I watched a lot of Fred Astaire and Laurel and Hardy movies, and that became my act.”

Van Dyke also helps kids overcome the inevitable stage fright and insecurities about performing.

“You’ve just got to make yourself do it. Eventually you’ll start to relax. There isn’t any way to overcome it overnight. There just isn’t, ’cause I’ve been there.”

Long after the show ended, Van Dyke was still having fun at the reception, singing “Swinging on a Star” with the quartet Harmony Connection and having the time of his life.

For Dick Van Dyke, there’s still “no business like show business.”