CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : Some Loose Ends Trip Up a Lively ‘Geek’ : GroveShakespeare’s Tale of Grade-Schooler’s Travails Plays Like a String of Catchy Tunes

He’s been nailed by a kickball, flattened by a geography quiz and snubbed by classmates who make the Secret Service seem personable. And it’s not even lunchtime yet.

Such are the trials of “The Geek,” the title character in Karen Schmitt’s children’s musical. Produced by GroveShakespeare and recommended for children ages 5 and up, this snack-sized, 45-minute musical closes today at the Gem Theatre.

Billed as a tale of “a really dreadful first day at school,” “The Geek” brims with such musical witticisms as: “Science class teaches us a bunch/’cuz you get to do experiments on stuff you had for lunch.” Most of director Donald Hayes’ cast of 7- to 12-year-olds deliver those lyrics with sass and physical humor and manage some pretty fair pantomime to boot.

The problem, for grown-ups at least, is that behind the slickness are a whole lot of annoying loose ends. The story, what there is of it, goes like this: Grade-schooler X (none of the characters have names) transfers into a new school and is met by his classmates with an unwelcoming mix of cold shoulders, jeers and militant indifference. During a day that makes Charlie Brown’s agenda look carefree, the geek, as his new pals dub him, takes a kickball to the head, spends a dismal lunch hour and gets laughed out of science class for dyeing his celery stalk, like, green.

But this geek doesn’t give up easily. Even though he’s aching to go home, he toughs it out and actually confronts his hecklers, winning their begrudging respect and salvaging his own wounded self-esteem, at least for today. Unfortunately, all of this tension-resolution stuff--and hence all the drama--takes place in about the last three minutes of the show.

Ultimately, “The Geek” is less a children’s opera (as it is billed) than a string of catchy tunes extolling the thrills and chills of the grade-school fast lane. Many of Schmitt’s songs have a playfulness that makes them seem as though they were written by an extremely clever fourth-grader, from the hypnotic monotony of “Film Strip” to the befuddlement of “Where Is Morocco?” (sung to the tune of “The Toreador Song” from the opera “Carmen”). Songs such as “I Want to Go Home” and “I’m Something Special” attempt to mine deeper feelings with less success.

Mark Cole played the title role in the show’s May 8 performance and will recreate that role today (Laura McNab appeared in the May 1 opener). Beanpole slim, Cole has a gutsy voice that belies his somewhat bookish appearance. The rest of the ensemble did fine, although Hayes could have assisted them with a broader repertoire of physical expressions. No grade-schooler can be expected to scrunch up his face or stick out his tongue that much without spraining something.

Choreographer Dan Collins kept the movement simple but mostly snappy, with especially good results in the puckish “Science Class Samba.” Schmitt, a Whittier resident, lent a hand as the show’s musical director.

“The Geek” is presented as part of GroveShakespeare’s Family Theatre Series, which, with the exception of last spring’s premiere of “William of Stratford” by Greg Atkins, has consisted largely of shows imported from a Los Angeles children’s company. The series continues in October with a GroveShakespeare-produced staging of “The Fisherman and the Magic Koi.”

“The Geek,” Gem Theatre, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove. Last performance: Saturday at 11 a.m. $6. (714) 636-7213. Running time: 45 minutes .

A GroveShakespeare production. Music and libretto by Karen Schmitt. Directed by Donald Hayes. Choreographed by Dan Collins. Musical direction by Karen Schmitt. Lights by David M. Darwin.