CHILDREN’S THEATER / CORINNE FLOCKEN : Grab Slate of Family Programs by the Tale

You may not care if your kids take over the bathroom or your wardrobe (“Dad! Don’t you have any bigger pants?”), but this year, tell ‘em to keep their mitts off your filofax.

It’s for their own good, really, because there are several family shows coming up that look like they’re worth penciling into your calendar. Most groups are sticking with adaptations of folk tales and children’s classics, so it’s not what you’d call an eclectic lineup, but there are a few new works or works-in-progress that look intriguing. And if your child and checkbook balance are so inclined, many companies offer classes and workshops throughout the year.

Take ye note . . .

Irvine, Laguna, Mission Viejo Something old and something new-ish are coming up at the Laguna Playhouse Youth Theatre ((714) 494-0743 or 497-5900, Ext. 207). From Feb. 11 through 20, there’ll be R.N. Sandburg’s “Anne of Green Gables,” which follows the exploits of a spirited girl and her adoptive family in rural, turn-of-the-century Canada. April 22 through May 1, the company will present Norton Juster’s comic fantasy “The Phantom Tollbooth.” (Note: Children under 4 will not be admitted to Youth Theatre productions.)

On April 28, the Youth Theatre’s advanced acting group, the Repertory, will present a fund-raising performance of “Lost Children,” a work-in-progress by Repertory students that features monologues and vignettes based on true stories of Los Angeles street children.

Classes for ages 4 to 17 will continue, as will an in-school program for children with disabilities.

At the Irvine Barclay Theatre ((714) 854-4646), national and international touring acts providing family entertainment this year will include the Swiss mask-mime troupe Mummenschanz (March 12), Avner the Eccentric with his silent one-man show (April 9), the Pickle Family Circus (May 27-29) and the comic juggling/theater/improv group the Flying Karamazov Brothers (Oct. 23).

Limited seating may be available for the National Theater for Children’s “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” (April 18 and 19) and “The Wizard of Oz” (May 16 and 17). And watch for a summer or early fall production at the Barclay from the innovative Theatrefaire for Children of Irvine.

Concerts by singer/songwriter/puppeteer Norman Foote don’t strictly qualify as theater, but they are hugely entertaining and packed with improvisational humor that plays well to kids and adults. He’ll be at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo ((714) 582-4656) Jan. 23.

Costa Mesa, HuntingtonBeach, Westminster In Costa Mesa, South Coast Repertory’s Young Conservatory Players ((714) 957-4033 or 957-2602) has “Rags, Sticks & Ropes: The Fables of Aesop” April 28 and 29 in the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Founders Hall. Tickets for these shows, part of the countywide Imagination Celebration, will cost half the usual YCP admission price. After these performances, the show will tour.

SCR’s 1994 Educational Touring Production, “Finding Home,” a revival of a 1984 musical that views immigration and cross-cultural understanding from a young person’s perspective, will visit area schools from February through May. Free public performances will be given Feb. 8 at SCR and May 1 in Founders Hall.

YCP will close its season with “One Thousand Cranes” June 11 through 19 on the SCR Second Stage.

(Local playwrights, take note: YCP director Diane Doyle says she would consider opening the ‘94-95 season with a play that addresses Jewish traditions and holidays, if the right script could be found.)

SCR’s 20-year-old Young Conservatory actors’ training program will continue throughout the year, as will the Neighborhood Conservatory, an outreach program targeted to low-income youths.

Even in tough times, Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa ((714) 432-5880) seems to have the scratch to book plenty of family entertainment. Up next: the Potato People, a Canadian company that mixes masks and animation in a comic sketch titled “Survive the Great Outdoors!” It will be here Jan. 23.

Keep an eye on the Huntington Beach Library ((714) 842-4481), which is scheduled to unveil its massive new children’s wing Saturday. The wing will include a performance space and storytime theater in which the Huntington Beach Playhouse and others will present kid-friendly shows. Also in Huntington Beach, little literati may want to stop by Golden West College ((714) 895-8378) on March 9 for “All the World’s a Stage,” a sort of greatest hits collection of Shakespeare monologues.

The Orange County Children’s Theatre in Westminster ((714) 502-2244) will present an adaptation of “Little Women” by director Larry Blake April 15 through 24; another show in August, and “Rumpelstiltskin” Dec. 2 through 11. OCCT also has periodic one-day workshops for children age 7 to 18.

La Habra, Fullerton,Garden Grove, Orange Family shows at the La Habra Depot Theatre ((310) 905-9708) include “Oliver!” through Jan. 22, “How to Eat Like a Child” (Jan. 28 through Feb. 26) and “Aladdin” (July 15 through Aug. 13).

The Fullerton Civic Light Opera’s ‘93-94 season includes classic kid-pleaser “Annie” May 13 through 29 ((714) 879-1732 or 526-3832), and Cal State Fullerton’s Kaleidoscope Players will present “The Trouble With Nick,” an original children’s play, Feb. 11 through 13 ((714) 733-3371).

Broadway on Tour ((714) 385-1555) will be performing at The City shopping center in Orange nearly every Saturday and Sunday afternoon for the next several months. “Sleeping Beauty” will run Jan. 15 through March 6, “Velveteen Rabbit” March 12 through April 17 and “Sound of Music” is tentatively scheduled for April 22 through May 8. Plans for a summer musical are in the works. And classes are being offered.

No word yet whether the Gem Theatre in Garden Grove will be able to revive the GroveShakespeare-sponsored family series that managed to put up a few noteworthy shows before it went under last year. Here’s hoping . . .

On the O.C. Fringeand Beyond The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts will present a touring production of “The Wizard of Oz” Feb. 4 through 6 ((800) 300-4345); the Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts ((310) 544-0403) in Palos Verdes will have “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie . . . “ on Feb. 6, and New York’s Theatreworks/USA checks into the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts with “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” Feb. 28 and “Charlotte’s Web” April 26. The La Mirada shows are heavily booked by school groups, but single tickets may be available by calling (800) 497-5007.

In Long Beach, MYART artistic director Dana Hanstein, the Cecil B. DeMille of children’s theater, plans several large-cast musicals this year. MYART shows typically feature at least 100 youngsters from Orange and L.A. counties, and the company offers a range of classes. The season includes “Oliver!” Jan. 14 through 23, “Sound of Music” April 28 through May 8 and “Little Shop of Horrors” Aug. 13 through 28.