HOP TO IT : Broadway on Tour’s ‘Velveteen Rabbit’ Has a Bit of Magic in Store for All Ages

Being grown up would be great if there weren’t that reality to deal with.

You could stay out late, but the kids will have you up at the crack of dawn.

You could pig out on Oreos, but you still have five pounds to lose from Christmas of ’89. And let’s not even mention what you could do with your Visa card.

Children, especially very young ones, don’t seem to have this trouble. To most of them, reality and fantasy are chums, so close that the lines that divide them blur and sometimes disappear altogether. While their parents work to keep things in “proper” perspective, they pour tea for a raucous party of stuffed bears and snatch an extra cookie for the hippo under the bed.

Into the breach hops “The Velveteen Rabbit,” Margery Williams’ 1922 tale of a toy that is transformed by a boy’s love. Broadway on Tour presents a musical version of the story every weekend through March 22 at Anaheim’s Vineyard Christian Church.

This adaptation by William S. Kilbourne Jr. and Albert T. Viola is a downscaled and updated retelling of Williams’ story. Director Dan Halkyard has added touches to showcase his 24-member cast, which ranges in age from 6 to 16. The result is a charming, if sometimes uneven performance that will engage preschoolers on up while giving parents a privileged peek into a child’s fantasy world.

Set on Christmas morning, this “Velveteen Rabbit” opens with a cozy ballet by four toy ballerinas (fluidly danced by Megen Anderson, Erin Hersfeldt, Kirstin Jorgensen and Leslie Simmons). We meet the boy (Erik Koehler) and his frumpy parents (Josh Cuevas and Megan Finch) as the child tears into his Christmas gifts. But once these introductions are out of the way, the stage primarily belongs to the toys, who dance, play and exchange philosophies for the balance of the show.

Musical interludes, highlighted by Kimber Jacobs’ ambitious choreography, range from intimate to splashy, and only occasionally overstep their bounds, as is the case with “Nursery Magic,” a production number that in its apparent quest to involve as many members of the cast as possible, is too busy for the show’s in-the-round staging. “Lines,” on the other hand, a quasi-rap by a quintet of mechanical toys (Tracy Corey, Cheryl Graves, Kelly Parre, Patti Shagam and Jana Yokac), is right on the money, featuring razor-sharp moves and lyrics that are best appreciated up close.

For the most part, however, Halkyard’s cast plays up the hominess of Williams’ original tale. Fourteen-year-old Lauren Kling is a winsome Velveteen Rabbit, and 15-year-old Brad Spencer’s Skin Horse is a cocky but likable old-timer who is more than willing to show the new kid the ropes. The two teen-agers work well as a team, but it is Kling’s polished singing voice that carries their musical numbers, especially the bouncy “Ordinary Rabbit.”

Neal Caplin has created a two-part set that is probably unnecessary for younger audience members but is a boon to adults’ flabby imaginations. On the left is the boy’s “real” bedroom with bed and furnishings to scale; on the right, we see the room from the toys’ perspective, a cavernous space dominated by a towering toy box and alphabet blocks the size of packing crates. Costume designer Laurie Holden holds that thought with her cuddly costumes, most notably the Velveteen Rabbit’s cocoa-colored foam rubber ensemble topped with pink sateen ears. Scott Kling’s lighting and sound design is adequate, but the tinkly cocktail music during scene changes is curiously out of place.

Founded in 1988 by Halkyard, Broadway on Tour currently involves about 100 Orange County youths in its theater training programs and productions; the company’s next show, “The Frog Prince” will open April 25.

What: “The Velveteen Rabbit,” presented by Broadway on Tour.

When: Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through March 22.

Where: Vineyard Christian Church, 5340 E. LaPalma Ave., Anaheim.

Whereabouts: Exit the Riverside (91) Freeway at Imperial Highway. Drive north, then turn left on LaPalma. The show is presented on the second floor of the church.

Wherewithal: Tickets are $5.

Where to call: (714) 692-8102.