Times drama reviewers look back on Los Angeles’ smaller and children’s theater productions in 1988 : Best Shows Were for Older Kids

Children’s theater is always a grab bag of the amateur and professional, with the majority of it aimed at the youngest audience. This year’s best, however, was targeted at older kids and teens.

South Coast Repertory’s Educational Touring Production of “Mountains and Molehills,” by Jerry Patch and Diane King, takes top prize. The stylish, comic musical addressed ways for kids to deal with problems of feeling different, parents’ divorce and being picked on. Combining straight talk with humor, it never struck a false note.

For younger children, “Wolftales” a first children’s theater effort by La Mirada’s Pegasus Productions scored big at the La Mirada Civic. This big, bouncy musical, featuring a terrific turn by lead Johnny O’Cullen, mixed “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs” to create a saucy delight with just the right touch of sentiment.

Although its recent “Barnum” was a disappointment, the Laguna Moulton’s Youth Theatre production of Suzan Zeder’s Depression-era drama “Mother Hicks” earlier this year, directed by Scott Davidson, represented another community theater effort of surprising quality. Making a play about poverty and loss during a time in history unfamiliar to young children, took courage. Doing such a fine job of it showed what care and commitment--and a shrewd use of available resources--can do.

Cathy Rigby proved that she could fill those legendary ruby slippers when she played Dorothy in the Long Beach Civic Light Opera’s thoroughly satisfying “Wizard of Oz.”

The Mark Taper Forum’s Improvisational Project--last year’s top winner--had a long way to go to match that triumph, a nationally acclaimed production of “1,000 Cranes,” Colin Watson’s drama about a child’s fear of nuclear war. This year’s show, “The Bear That Wasn’t,” was a runner up, but, with ITP, coming in second isn’t bad. Aimed at a younger audience than previously targeted, this delicately-staged message play about conformity, identity and our relationship to the environment was humorous and touching.

The Hampstead Players snuck in under the wire with a zany post-Christmas version of “A Christmas Carol” currently at the Pasadena Playhouse’s Balcony Theatre. It’s a two-man, G-rated Dickens burlesque for ages 5 and up featuring the wacky talents of B. J. Turner and Steve Cassling.

Honorable mentions go to “Pancakes,” Lois Young’s puppet and music show for tots at the Back Alley Theatre and to the California Youth Theatre’s contemporary staging of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” at the Pacific Design Center during the summer. It was a well-spoken, entertaining romp.