STAGE REVIEW : Children Still Get Big Kick Out of ‘Pippi’ : Minneapolis Children’s Theater production is winning even for those very familiar with the trials and tribulations of the invincible Pippi Longstocking.

Ah! Pippi Longstocking, that invincible, irreverent child with the ecstatic pigtails. She’s alive and well and as salty as ever in the Children’s Theater Company production of the play by Astrid Lindgren based on her beloved children’s books. The company, in town from Minneapolis, stopped for two performances Tuesday at UC Irvine, but will be in Los Angeles this weekend.

CTC’s “Pippi Longstocking” is a broad, farcical production of Lindgren’s delightful script, as bright and bold as the heroine herself. As directed by Brian Russell, the slapstick is finely choreographed and the cheerfully cartoonish effect is highly enjoyable. The production is winning even for those very familiar with the popular Pippi videos, as was one young man in the house who was moved to annotate the action for his mother, a hopelessly grown-up person.

CTC’s production proved itself equal to other tellings, no matter the medium. In her big boots, ragged dress and hallmark hairdo, Jennifer Gordon makes a robust Pippi whose gymnastic agility is a surprise. Another bonus is the original musical score by Roberta Carlson and Thomas W. Olson, sung winningly throughout, though it was the theme from the videos that was on the lips of the younger audience members.

The party-colored gingerbread and exaggerated costumes are put to the test by the antics of the cast, particularly David Roberts and John Paul Foreman who play both the cops and robbers.

Rosalie Tenseth and Margo Andrews are wonderfully caricatured as grown-ups-you-love-to-hate, and Pippi gets plenty of good shots in. The script is full of genuine children’s humor, the kind of funny things children do and say when they think they can get away with it. As Pippi says, “I might be a bit more polite, but what fun would that be?”

‘PIPPI LONGSTOCKING’

A Minneapolis Children’s Theater Company production of the Astrid Lindgren children’s play. Directed by Brian Russell from a translation by Thomas W. Olson and Truda Stockenstrom. With Jennifer Green, Jennifer Gordon, Danielle Hurley, Rachel Wilkie, Paul Hurley, Vincent Kartheiser, Rosalie Tenseth, David Roberts, John Paul Foreman, Margo Andrews, Scott Thun, Jill L. Olson. Original music and lyrics by Roberta Carlson and Thomas W. Olson. Musical direction Victor Zupanc. Set design Don Yunker. Costumes Marsha Wiest-Hines. Lighting design Charles D. Craun. Sound Scott Edwards.

* Plays Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. at UCLA’s Wadsworth Auditorium in Westwood. Information: (213) 825-9261. Also at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre in Malibu. Information: (213) 456-4558.