Two Varied Productions at the West End Playhouse

When your co-star is a life-size “flying” car with googly eyes, a propeller nose and the voice of an adorable, precocious preschooler, you have to work hard not to be upstaged.

In “Be-Bop Sizzle Pop!,” a Back Alley Theatre production at the West End Playhouse, human cast members David Pinto and Monty Turner have to work harder. They take a back seat to the mechanical wonders of Tune Buggy.

Pinto and Turner wrote the hour of mostly ear-pleasing songs and stories for preschoolers. Pinto, as the Captain, operates Tune Buggy and provides keyboard accompaniment. Turner, his mop-haired, deliberately childish sidekick, gets the audience involved and plays storyteller.

Tune Buggy (last seen in Lois Young’s “Pancakes” at the Back Alley) runs on magic words--that’s where the show’s title comes in--and on purple jelly beans supplied by Monty and eager audience volunteers. When Tune Buggy forgets his manners, the audience helps him remember please and thank you .

His propeller spins, his eyes roll and his wings light up, ready to take the Captain and Monty to the Zoo, Rememberland or the town of Unga Bunga. Each stop is an excuse for a silly song or story. “The Monster Bird of Unga Bunga” and the title song are the biggest crowd-pleasers.

Pinto and Turner need to find their rhythm together. Low-key Pinto requires more presence and Turner is obviously tense. Tune Buggy, however, is irresistible.

Through Dec. 31, Saturdays at 10 a.m. and noon; Sundays and Dec. 26-Dec. 29 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tickets, $6.50; (818) 780-2240.