‘Terebithia’ an Involving Production

The audience was very still throughout a recent performance of the Serendipity Theatre’s latest theater production, “Bridge to Terebithia.” It was the best kind of quiet in youth theater: the quiet of involvement.

Tight pacing, believable performances and a sensitive script had drawn theatergoers into this stage version of Katherine Paterson’s award-winning novel about discovery and loss, adapted by the author with Stephanie Tolan and Steve Liebman. At the end, tears were audibly close throughout the house.

Jesse (Josh Wheeler), a young farm boy, is the story’s focus. Dreams aren’t part of his hard life--even his love for drawing is alien to his struggling parents.

When a well-to-do, well-read, well-traveled fifth grader named Leslie (Yasmine Abdul-Wahid) moves in next door because her successful parents “wanted to reassess their priorities,” Jesse is the only one who befriends her.

Ebullient Leslie opens his eyes to music, theater, literature and art. Most importantly, she teaches Jesse to play and dream by inventing the fantasy world of Terebithia where they rule as king and queen.

When tragedy takes Leslie away from him, Jesse is at a crossroads: He can allow pain and anger to shrink his horizons again, or accept the gifts she gave him and become a torch-bearer himself.

The cast members are age-appropriate, with adults in adult roles and children in child roles, a concept that frequently means a play with only a surface existence. There are layers here, however, due to director Scott Davidson’s assured guidance and the teen-age Wheeler’s thoughtful performance.

Wheeler, who was a fine Tom Sawyer in last season’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” conveys convincing vulnerability and confusion as Jesse. He also lends the character a touching gentleness, particularly in Jesse’s patient response to the shenanigans of his pesky kid sister May Belle (spirited little Rebecca Fresco) and his sharp-tongued, careworn mother (Katy Henk).

Abdul-Wahid gives Leslie a comfortable, cheerful energy, but Tamara Hoffman, as Jesse’s older sister, an unremittingly selfish slattern, is allowed no dimension. The adult actors add substance. As the sympathetic teacher who encourages Jesse’s artistic talent, Patricia Ayame Thomson is a lovely presence. Henk, with little to do, manages to portray a mother who cares deep down, but whose hard life leaves little room for tenderness, while Gary Bolen projects sincere warmth as Jesse’s inarticulate father.

The production design, while simple, has a nice, substantial look to it, thanks to Randall Perry’s stylized woodsy set and Ken Realista’s effective lighting.

“Bridge to Terebithia,” for ages 7 and up, Coronet Theatre, 366 N. La Cienega Blvd., Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1 and 4 p.m. through Nov. 29. $12, $6 for ages 13 and under; (310) 652-9199.

‘Toon In: “The Simpsons’ ” Dan Castellenata (Homer) and Nancy Cartwright (Bart) are among several celebrities who will perform readings of children’s stories at the Holiday Book Fair at South-Central’s Verbum Dei High School on Dec. 5 from noon to 1:15 p.m.

Free to the public, “this is really a communitywide effort to say we care,” said Nickey Sawyer, president of the Junior League of Los Angeles, which is hosting the event.

Children and parents will be able to choose used books to take home; in addition, each child will be given a new, wrapped book provided through donations from major publishers and many celebrities.

For further information or to contribute “books of any kind, not just for kids but for parents and older brothers and sisters,” Sawyer said, call the Junior League at (213) 937-5566.