O.C. CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : Organized Crime on a Small Scale in Laguna Beach : The young actors manage to provide some memorable moments in the musical ‘Bugsy Malone’ at the Moulton Theatre.

Dandy Dan is muscling in on Fat Sam’s territory, and it isn’t pretty--there’s a pie with Sam’s name on it, and the whipped cream is flying.

At the Moulton Theatre, the Laguna Youth Theatre is romping through its most ambitious production to date, Alan Parker’s stage version of his ‘70s movie musical extravaganza “Bugsy Malone,” a kid-sized, Prohibition-era spoof full of warring hoodlums, “splurge guns” that shoot goo, chorus girls, bumbling cops, show biz breaks and true love.

Rarely are young performers given such a lavish and complex setting in which to strut their stuff. And, while performance quality varies (this isn’t an old Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney MGM musical, where the kids next door become seasoned, knock-your-socks off pros overnight), they acquit themselves capably and provide some memorable moments.

In the movie version (starring Scott Baio and Jodie Foster), the child cast lip-synched as adults sang the marvelous Paul Williams score. Here, the actors do their own singing. The results are mixed.

Group numbers such as the hoodlum anthem “Bad Guys” and the raucous speak-easy theme “Fat Sam’s Grand Slam” are winners. So is “Down and Out”; as Bugsy, James Bryant does his best solo with a chorus of Depression-era outcasts, on and around eye-catching scaffoldings.

Unfortunately, however, most vocals tend to wander rather disconcertingly in the upper ranges. And, as is common among non-professionals, the 40, age-8-and-up cast members concentrate so hard on getting lines and movement right--which they all do--that they aren’t always able to convey a real sense of character.

But among those who add something extra, Sara Lepere is breathtakingly graceful in her solo dance to the plaintive “Tomorrow Never Comes;” and Ashley Morgan, in her small role as Dandy Dan’s moll Louella, is a kick as the stereotypical gum-chewing, nail-filing, dumb broad (“May I ask to whom I am talkin’?”).

Claire Gaboury’s Tallulah is a fetching Southern vamp, and Sabrina Harper, as Bugsy’s flame Blousey Brown, has just the right sweet-faced look for an ingenue of an earlier age. Drew Ostrowski’s Fizzy is a low-key narrator but does a fine job miming the complicated keyboard rhythms, while Josh Wheeler as Fat Sam and Brad Bredeweg as Dandy Dan give the bad guys some clout.

Romantic moments and expository dialogue bring the energy level down, but in those group numbers, all excel. Joe Lauderdale’s tight staging and Tim Klega’s effervescent choreography work like a charm, from the Grand Slam chorus girls’ Charleston to the grand finale where the entire cast sings “You Give a Little Love.”

Marvelous period costumes by Brigitte Harper--cloche hats, furs and lace, smartly tailored suits and wide-brimmed hats in miniature--and set designer Robert L. Smith’s multilevel city buildings and speak-easy deserve star billing.

* “Bugsy Malone” plays at the Moulton Theatre, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets: $8 for adults; $5 for ages 13 and under. (714) 494-8021.