CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : Mall’s the Stage for ‘Jack and Beanstalk’

So there you are: Saturday afternoon at the mall with three kids. At least it was three, until the oldest ducked out “for just a minute, honest” to see some friends.

Knowing it will be a good hour before she surfaces, you search for ways to entertain the younger two who, judging by the steam rising from their heads, are preparing for full-throttle runs toward opposite ends of the mall.

Well, if the mall you’re in happens to be The City shopping center in Orange, you do have one interesting option: live theater.

For about the price of a dozen Mrs. Fields’ cookies, you and your kids can see “Jack and the Beanstalk,” a whimsical jaunt led by members of the Broadway on Tour children’s theater company. Earlier this month, the 5-year-old nonprofit troupe took up residence at the mall in what used to be a Lerner clothing shop.

Directed by company founder Dan Halkyard, “Jack” is the first of what organizers hope to be weekly family productions in the 200-seat theater (BOT opens “The Wizard of Oz” Aug. 5).

Spare, fast-paced and for the most part well-executed, this “Jack” is a good choice for beginning theatergoers. Its show-within-a-show format gives first-timers an inside, albeit simplified peek at the process of staging live theater and even offers them a chance to get in on the action. The look is bright and homey; the junior high school-age actors are amiable, and at just about an hour long, the show lets you catch up with your oldest before she’s spent her college fund.

“Jack’s” action begins almost as soon as you take your seat. On the stage and in the aisles, a corps of pratfalling clowns--supposedly the warm-up act for the “real” artists--bonks, bungles and otherwise hams it up with the viewers.

The big guns never show, however, so the yucksters stage their own version of the classic story, punching it up with some clownish shtick, topical humor and a little song and dance.

Most of the time it works, especially for the largely under-8 set that crowded the show’s opening performance two weeks ago. Although individual performances were uneven, at least two actors, Josh Cuevas as Musculo the Magnificent/Giant and Erin Birenbaum as Doxy/Bessie the Cow, are especially gifted in goofball comedy, and Halkyard has wisely given them a loose rein, much to the delight of the audience.

The pace slowed considerably during two of the show’s three musical numbers, however. Fortunately, Halkyard has since pulled both of them, leaving only the more upbeat, audience participation number “Beautiful You” to close the show.

Purists may argue that one song and dance does not a musical make, but in this case, we’re all better off. Deanna Durazzo’s (Ruffina/Giant’s Wife) belt-’em-out singing provides a needed anchor for the ensemble’s vocals.

Although the cast’s dancing wasn’t razor-sharp, Ivan Janer’s choreography is lively and fun to watch, particularly the mini-hoedown that celebrates the latest egg from the giant’s golden hen (one of four roles played by Ryan Buttes, who gives one of the most hilariously deadpan portrayals of a chicken by an adolescent boy that I’ve seen in a long time). Laurie Holden’s costumes, a mishmash of wild colors and fashion risks, have a nice just-out-of-the-grab-bag look that could encourage young viewers to stage their own back-yard follies.

*”Jack and the Beanstalk,” The City shopping center, 20 City Blvd. East, Orange. Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through Aug. 1. $5. (714) 385-1555. Loren Wilish Boffo/Con man

Deanna Durazzo: Ruffina/Giant’s wife

Erik Koehler: Scrappy/Jack

Ryan Buttes: Mustard/Farmer Brown/Golden hen/Narrator

Erin Birenbaum: Doxy/Bessie the cow

Shelly Wayne: Moxy/Jack’s mother

Josh Cuevas: Musculo the Magnificent/Giant

Diana Smith: Trinket/Con man’s assistant

A Broadway on Tour Production, directed by Dan Halkyard. Vocal and movement direction by Ivan Janer. Costumes by Laurie Holden. Sets and lights by Dan Halkyard.