THEATER REVIEW / ‘WINNIE THE POOH’ : Children’s Favorite Will Charm Adults Too

Ojai’s Illusions Theatre group is opening its current season with a program of adaptations of seven of A. A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh” stories. The result, adapted by Illusions founder Elizabeth Ridenour, doesn’t measure up to the original, but it’s a great improvement over what the Walt Disney Studios have wrought with the beloved Pooh over the years.

A flurry of costumes, dance and storytelling, it is, more than most so-called children’s theater, something that should appeal to youngsters as it charms their parents.

Early in this century, Cambridge-educated Milne wrote a series of stories and poems inspired by and starring his young son, Christopher Robin. The stories--collected in the books “Winnie the Pooh” (1926) and “The House at Pooh Corner” (1928)--tell of Christopher Robin’s adventures with his menagerie of lively toy animals, including the dimwitted but earnest teddy bear Winnie the Pooh, rambunctious tiger Tigger, despondent donkey Eeyore and others.

The books have sold millions of copies through the years and have become a sort of minor franchise of the Disney folk.

Ridenour goes back to the original stories, adapting them for the stage. This requires some trimming--the second half of the incident with Pooh and the bees has disappeared, for instance--and some might argue that the right sort of narrator might help set things up, where Ridenour lets the stories tell themselves. But there’s still much to enjoy, particularly for those with some basic familiarity with the characters and their relationships.

Typically for Illusions, the cast is a mixture of adults and children--more of the former than the later, this time around. Joseph Rund stars as Pooh, the “bear of very little brain,” with Tod Cossairt as the inquisitive but cowardly Piglet; Kim Stroud as Tigger; Tim Sumner as Eeyore; Willoughby Johnson as the wise but pedantic Owl; and Jenny Brown is Rabbit, who at least thinks of himself as being quite clever. Ridenour appears as Kanga, with John David Allen as the infant Roo.

Also on hand are Kelly Lamar as the Queen Bee and a seemingly endless string of young dancers as her family in one of the show’s most impressive pieces.

Especially notable is young Tyson Babayco; it would be difficult to imagine a more perfect Christopher Robin.

The costumes, by Illusions’ Kim Stroud and Kelly Lamar, are based on Ernest H. Shepard’s original illustrations for the Milne books. They are quite satisfactory, as is the makeup, credited to Susan Sumner, Jennifer Stroud, Patty Atkinson and the cast.

Live music led by keyboardist-guitarist Seabury Gould is always a high point of Illusions’ productions, never more so than this time around. The band also includes bassist Jim Landsman, percussionist Mitchel Velasquez, and Renee Martinez on vocals and synthesizer.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“Winnie the Pooh” concludes this weekend at Libbey Bowl in Libbey Park in Ojai. Performances are at 4 p.m. Saturday and at 2 and 4 p.m. Sunday; the last show only will be signed for the hearing-impaired by Deby Tygell. Tickets, available at the door, are $6.50 general admission; $4 for seniors and children. Group rates are available. For reservations or information, call 646-3533 or 646-6387.