CHILDREN’S THEATER / CORINNE FLOCKEN : Taking Risks Proves to Be Positive Experience

Food preferences. Shoe sizes. Musical tastes. In these and countless other areas, kids are never static. Parents may complain (“Can you believe it? Fifty bucks for shoes and they fit him for, what, 30 seconds?”), but secretly, we’re bursting with pride at their constant growth.

Happily, the same can be said of Orange County’s children’s theater scene in the past year. Instead of remaining comfortably the same (“Oh look, honey, it’s ‘Snow White XXV’!”), many of these groups have taken some risky, but largely positive steps toward a new maturity.

Not all change is pleasant. With the closure of the creaking but serviceable Anaheim Cultural Arts Center, the American Children’s Theatre-Anaheim lost an affordable performance space and seems to have quietly vanished. It will be missed because although its productions were often on the rustic side, its low ticket price and lengthy runs kept basic children’s theater accessible to a large, seemingly loyal audience and sometimes showcased promising high school-age talents.

Some of those young actors may find a home with the Brea Young Actors’ Theatre, a teen-oriented offshoot of Stagelight Family Productions. The group debuted in November with a surprisingly polished staging of “West Side Story.” As Jets member Action, Jim Rizza turned in one of the standout performances. Hopefully we’ll see more of this group in ’93.

The Yorba Linda-based Broadway on Tour also reached out to teen-aged audiences when it introduced its advanced acting corps, The Rep, in a simple but emotionally charged production of “The Miracle Worker.” Later in the season, cast members Glory Gray and Lauren Kling, who had played Ann Sullivan and Helen Keller respectively, showed their comic sides with good results in BOT’s delightful “Cinderella.”

According to BOT director Dan Halkyard, the company plans to establish its own North County home in ‘93; titles in the coming year may include “The Wind in the Willows” and The Rep’s staging of “The Fantastics.”

Meanwhile, Theatrefaire for Children pulled up its roots at Irvine Valley College to venture out on its own. With funding from Pacific Bell and In & Out Burger, Theatrefaire co-founders Blake and Charlene Gould produced two shows that were notable not only for their efforts to introduce classic literature to children, but also for their visual splendor, with thanks due to veteran Theatrefaire designer Wally Huntoon.

The shows, an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” in March and James M. Barrie’s 1904 play, “Peter Pan” earlier this month, were held at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. No Theatrefaire shows have been confirmed for the Barclay in 1993, says Charlene Gould, but the group will continue to expand its new community-outreach program, which features performances by professional storytellers for local schoolchildren.

The folks at the Orange County Children’s Theatre also focused on classic tales, but their view was a little more cockeyed. The season included a twisted “Cinderella” that mixed at least six international versions of the fairy tale (did you catch that dancing cow skeleton?) and an exceptionally loony “Babes in Toyland.” The shows were rarely easy to follow, but they certainly were never boring. No word on the ’93 lineup yet. Maybe “Ben Hur, the Musical”?

South Coast Repertory and the Gem each hosted some handsome, even intelligent family shows. The most memorable of these was Greg Atkins’ richly colored if sometimes overflattering portrait of the bard, “William of Stratford,” which premiered at the Gem last spring. Although not a co-production, “William” shared talents between the two companies (Atkins is associated with SCR’s Young Conservatory staff, SCR founding artist Ron Boussom was featured in the show), and the type of partly educational, fully enjoyable show that we’d like to see more often.