CHILDREN’S THEATER : Wide Variety of Offerings Scheduled for Youngsters

When children’s theater groups begin their new season later this month, some serious topics will be tackled: Nazi concentration camps and the poverty of Victorian London will be among the themes dramatized by young thespians.

But fairy-tales will not be forgotten. “Sleeping Beauty” will be put to song, “Hansel and Gretel” choreographed and “The Hobbit” dramatized. And near the Christmas holidays, an old-fashioned circus will unfold with Tom Thumb, Jenny Lind and Jumbo the Elephant.

The Laguna Playhouse launches its children’s season Oct. 7 with “A Little Princess” by Virginia Glasgow Koste. Misfortune follows Sara Crewe, one of the privileged students at Miss Minchin’s select Seminary for Young Ladies, as she becomes a kitchen “skivvy” in this unsentimental portrait of Victorian London.

Next at the Playhouse, opening Dec. 2, is “Barnum,” a musical look at the world of Phineas Taylor Barnum by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart. “Wiley and the Hairy Man,” a comedy by Susan Zeder adapted from a folk tale of life on the Tombigbee River in Alabama, opens Feb. 24, and “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” a glimpse of war-torn Europe through the eyes of children in Nazi concentration camps, opens April 21. Set in Prague during 1942, “Butterfly” explores Terezin, “the waiting room for Auschwitz,” from the memories of a young survivor.

The Playhouse’s last offering of the season is “Nightingale,” a light-hearted fable set in ancient China about a little bird who saves the empire from a selfish emperor. It opens June 16. For more information on Laguna Playhouse productions, call (714) 497-0743.

South Coast Musical Theatre begins its season Oct. 7 with “Tintypes.” A swirl through ragtime, ice cream socials and pre-World War I music halls, it’s a nostalgic celebration of American music and history. Then, opening Feb. 16, comes “The Hobbit,” a musical version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic tale of a mythical land of trolls, magic and dragon-guarded treasures. Both productions will be held at the Irvine Little Theatre and at the Circle Theatre, both at University High School in Irvine. For more information, call (714) 640-6306.

The Robert B. Moore Theatre at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa will be the scene of several music and dance productions by children’s groups this season. Ballet Pacifica will perform “Pinocchio” Sept. 24 and “Little Red Riding Hood” March 4. On Oct. 29, the Missoula Children’s Theatre will ramble down the yellow brick road with “The Wizard of Oz.” And starting Feb. 25, the Cerritos College Children’s Theatre will set “Sleeping Beauty” to music in a play called “Sing Ho for a Prince,” which finds Prince Charming saving the sleeping princess with the help of a court magician and four fairies.

Also set for the Robert B. Moore Theatre are three productions by the Coast Ballet Theatre: “Fairy Tale Wedding,” a dance version of “The Princess and the Pea,” opens Nov. 12; “Beach Blanket Ballet,” a “dance meets surf” presentation revealing the many sides of ballet, opens April 8, and “It’s Incredible,” a potpourri of family entertainment including juggling, mime, comedy and magic, begins May 13.

The children’s classic, “Hansel & Gretel” comes to the Moore stage May 6 when the Ballet Repertory sets the story to music and choreography by Anthony Sellars, who, as a child, danced the Hansel role in a television special. For more information on all shows at the Robert B. Moore Theatre, call (714) 432-5527 or 432-5880.