CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : Some Bunny to Love : ‘Velveteen Rabbit’ Loses Some of Its Stuffing but Still Has Plenty to Be Attached To

Margery Williams’ 1922 children’s classic, “The Velveteen Rabbit,” is filled with imagery and language as plush and soothing as the title character’s splendid velveteen coat on Christmas morn.

The story of a toy brought to life by a young boy’s love is a comfortable fit for any child who has cuddled a toy to tatters, or for an adult who recalls, or wishes he could recall, doing the same.

In a musical version now playing at the Broadway on Tour children’s theater, the “Rabbit” remains endearing, even though, in their attempts to modernize the tale, adapters William S. Kilborne Jr. and Albert T. Viola and Broadway on Tour director Daniel Halkyard sacrifice some of the original’s charm.

The show, like the book, is told from the rabbit’s perspective. A new arrival in a house already crammed with playthings, the old-fashioned stuffed bunny has some stiff competition for the boy’s attention, including a legion of slick mechanical robots and other up-to-the-minute gizmos.

He finds an ally in Skin Horse, a good-hearted character that’s been around the toy box a time or two. For the balance of the show, Skin Horse acts as the bunny’s mentor, introducing him to the joys and trials of becoming “real” at the hands of a loving child.

The show opens sweetly enough with a dance by a quartet of ballerina dolls that belong to the boy’s sister. They sway to a tinkly music-box score and are swathed in enough pink netting to satisfy the fussiest preschooler.

The fantasy setting quickly gives way to modern times with the arrival of the boy, who is decked out in camouflage and toting a plastic machine gun. Halkyard doesn’t waste any time letting us know that this youngster is “all boy.”

Soon after, Dad arrives to erase all doubt. A bumbling goofball of a male authority figure, he proudly presents his boy with suitably masculine gifts while Mom handles the birthday cake (the director fudged on the original’s Christmas setting).

All this emphasis on manliness makes the boy’s instant affection for a stuffed animal seem a tad unlikely, but at least Halkyard doesn’t muddy the waters by having the lad switch his favors to other toys later on. Once that box is opened, the boy and the bunny are inseparable.

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Meanwhile, back in the toy box, the rest of the playthings carry on a secret life behind the humans’ back. Preening robots buzz and whir under their own power, a toy soldier stands watch and rag dolls kick back in the corner.

Skin Horse presides over all, and between musical numbers gives the newcomer a primer on becoming “real,” a rank he achieved years ago with the help of the boy’s uncle.

Most of Viola’s music and Kilborne’s lyrics are adequate but unremarkable; the gooey, heavy-on-the-strings instrumentals that run between scenes are almost cloying. (At Sunday’s performance, the kids were still working the bugs out of their set changes, which meant the musical interludes lasted even longer.)

But there are occasional bright spots, like the witty lyrics in “Rabbits, Rabbits, Rabbits” and the harmonies of “You’ll Still Be Beautiful to Him,” a cozy duet between Skin Horse and the bunny. Halkyard’s 21-member cast makes the best of them, aided in the dance numbers by the simple but snappy choreography of Kimber Jacobs.

Keith Hancock, 13, is delightful as the velveteen rabbit, primarily because he can put aside the natural bravado of an adolescent boy and play the role with a disarming humility and gentleness.

It must be challenging enough for a teen-age boy to appear at ease in Laurie Holden’s cuddly cocoa-brown rabbit costume, and Keith goes well beyond that to give us a rabbit that is endearing and a tad melancholy.

He also has a mellow tenor that blends well vocally with Skin Horse, played with ease and savvy by 12-year-old Jordan Michelle Wood.

And, although it may not have been Halkyard’s best move to turn Dad into such a jokester, 13-year-old Loren Wildish is a hoot; his posturing and pontificating should get a self-conscious laugh from parents of either sex.

* “The Velveteen Rabbit,” Broadway on Tour children’s theater, 20 City Boulevard East, Suite 138, Orange. Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. through May 1. $5. (714) 385-1555. Running time: One hour. Keith Hancock Velveteen Rabbit

Jordan Wood: Skin Horse

Garret Baker: The Boy

Daina Baker: Fairy Princess

Kelly Fancher: Mom

Loren Wildish: Dad

Presented by Broadway on Tour. Adapted by William S. Kilborne Jr. and Albert T. Viola from the story by Margery Williams. Directed by Daniel Halkyard. Produced by Kathi Koehler and Debra Wildish. Vocal director: Laurie Hancock. Choreography: Kimber Jacobs. Costumes: Laurie Holden. Sets: Neil Camplin/Production House. Lighting: Daniel Halkyard.