LONG BEACH PLAYERS’ ‘SNOW QUEEN’

Long Beach Community Players is spinning a tale for the holidays, bringing a benign adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” to its Studio Theatre stage. Though short on fairy tale magic, the play does have charm, reminiscent of a story cozily told on a wintry night.

In Director Deborah La Vine’s version of the classic fairy tale, short scenes are bridged with narration provided by several actors, who address the audience directly.

The action takes place on a bare stage. With few props and no sets, clever lighting becomes all-important in creating a magical mood.

(Terri Gens’ lighting design is imaginative, but the mood was not sustained at Sunday’s show, thanks to several missed cues.)

In La Vine’s version, Hobogoblin (Jose Torres, in shaggy monster gear), is the baddie here, stealing much of the Snow Queen’s thunder.

The Snow Queen, a visual delight as played by lovely Monica Darga, is cold and logical--a female Mr. Spock--not evil. As a matter of fact, she does her best to counteract the Hobogoblin’s misdeeds and kidnaps young Karl (Andrew Fike) simply to help him realize his full potential for intelligence and compassion.

Meanwhile, young Gerda (Michele Buffone) searches the earth for her friend Karl, meeting all manner of strange and helpful folk on her journey, including a gossipy crow and the sun woman in her eternal garden. Esther Drake’s colorful costumes are a plus.

La Vine keeps the pace quick, though with so much of the story’s conflict removed--none of the characters has any confrontation with the Hobogoblin, and the bad guys turn out to be not really bad at all--the tale becomes passive.

Thus, when Gerda meets a bloodthirsty band of robbers, the energy and humor of the scene bring a welcome liveliness to the stage. Kelly Loren Goodman plays the savage Robber Queen with relish, comical in her dismay when, with well-choreographed footwork, her robber daughter (Pine Harvey), rescues Gerda.

After the tale’s happy ending, the audience is invited to join in a short and cheery caroling session.

Performances continue at 5021 E. Anaheim St. on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. through Dec. 13. (213) 494-1616.