‘SNOW QUEEN’ --A TREAT FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Don’t let the chilly title mislead. The Cast-Off Theatre Company’s production of “The Snow Queen,” at Los Angeles City College’s Camino Theatre, is a toasty warm holiday treat for children.

Director Ben Martin, who wrote exuberant book and lyrics and co-wrote the tuneful score with Justin Tanner, has turned Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale into a musical frolic.

Andersen’s message of love and loyalty doesn’t suffer a whit amid all the campy humor and hijinks.

The story of Kay, the boy stolen by the icy Snow Queen, and courageous Gerta, the friend who saves him, survives intact.

Children in the audience are invited to participate every step of the way, encouraged to hiss the evil Snow Queen (Lorraine Williams) and her villainous Emissary (Sean Runnette), to decide what direction the action should take and to come on stage and lend a hand when needed.

Tall, personable Stirling Glen Nix as Brother Story serves as narrator, on-stage director and audience cheerleader.

Sunday’s audience eagerly joined in--sometimes unexpectedly--but the attractive young cast never lost control, keeping things moving at a fast clip, letting the enthusiastic audience response complement the action, not interfere with it.

A shiver or two are provided when the Queen’s hooded Ice Slaves enter, moving zombie-like, singing an eerie counting song as they pour buckets of “ice” into a pit. Randall L. Edwards designed his lighting and simple sets for maximum effect.

Imagination is a major ingredient in the production. Some of the props are played by cast members. Margo Rose Hernandez plays an appealing, chubby teapot, Mimi Umidon is the magic Rose Bush and Dan Teachout, a cosy armchair. (Teachout doubles as the perfidious King.)

Instead of Andersen’s band of bloodthirsty robbers, a motorcycle gang captures Gerta in the woods. Christy Jimmerson as Motorcycle Mama, the head of the gang, is a strutting delight. (Lead lyrics for her solo were written by Robin Rumack, with electronic music by Mark Governor.)

Her lonely daughter Wenkie is played by Pamela Bond with just the right touch of vulnerability.

Gerta is aided by Jason Stroud and Cat Dale, a prince and princess with dialogue straight from a Valley shopping mall. (Like, fer sure).

Two comic scene stealers of outrageous charm are Lyle Ticer and Richard Darnell as a couple of hip Ravens. (Darnell also did the show’s appealing choreography.)

Sean Runnette’s Emissary is cool and authoritative, magnificently unaffected by the audience’s boos and catcalls that greet his every entrance.

Lorraine Williams’ Snow Queen doesn’t work as well. She lacks the proper menace and mystery, nor has she been served well by her clunky, too-short white satin dress and tinsel-trimmed cape. G. Shizuko Herrera’s otherwise effective costume design, with its purposely whatever-was-in-the-trunk look, is a disappointment here.

Jonathan Amirkhan is fine as the tormented Kay, but it is Gerta’s story, and Lori Hosepian shines in the role. She can sing, she’s attractive and warm, with a believable strength of character.

Performances at 855 N. Vermont Ave. (entrance on Heliotrope) are Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday 2 and 7:30 p.m., with a final matinee Sunday, 2 p.m. (213) 669-5528.