FAMILY : Despite Holiday Spirit, Goldilocks Gets a Bit Lost

Ever wonder what happens to fairy-tale characters after the last page is turned?

Take Goldilocks. Here’s a kid who barges into a home, destroys the family’s furniture and slurps their breakfast. Then, when caught, she doesn’t even have the decency to apologize before skipping into the woods.

That’s it ? Does this flaxen-haired felon get off scot-free? Does Goldi get sent up the river for breaking and entering? Do the bears decide the forest is full of wackos and move to a gated community?

Eleanor Harder has her thoughts on it.

“Goldilocks and the Christmas Bears,” a one-act musical, will be presented through Dec. 18 by the Orange-based Broadway on Tour children’s theater.

Wrapped in a 1950s setting, the play finds Goldilocks returning to the forest at Christmastime to make up with the bears but ends up involving all the woodland creatures in her holiday spirit.

It’s an admirable premise played out by likable characters but, like Goldilocks herself, it tends to wander.

Harder has a hard time determining who the primary characters in this play are, and the ‘50s jargon is initially entertaining, but ultimately wears thin. Director Dan Halkyard’s addition of ‘50s and Christmas pop standards to Harder’s score is carried off well by the cast, but at times the segues are awkward and slow the pace.

Not that any of this bothered the kids at Saturday’s show. The crowd, which looked to be mostly preschoolers through second- or third-graders, stayed tuned in from the first doo-wop to the curtain call--aided by the show’s frequent audience-participation bits and humor.

Halkyard leads the cast nicely as Papa Bear. A veteran community theater actor, Halkyard supports his 6- to 15-year-old cast with obvious ease, playing it large when it’s right and stepping back when it’s not. The bear family works well as a unit, rounded out by Kim Cohen’s fuss-budget Mama Bear and Ashlee Gillespie’s bull-headed Baby Bear. Their pre-hibernation rendition of “Good Night, Sweetheart” is one of the show’s high points.

Halkyard has put together a strong ensemble to play the bears’ neighbors, each bringing something distinct to the mix.

Crystal Dancer plays Southern belle Rock’n Robin with a languid petulance, a fine foil for the industrious Ms. Squirrel, played with squinty-eyed comic fervor by Wendy Holden. Loren Wildish’s Fonzie J. Fox is as cool as they come, and Nicholas McKim (who was a smashing Mr. Smee in Broadway on Tour’s “Peter Pan” earlier this year) is a wonderfully neurotic Mr. Wolf.

In fact, the supporting roles in this play get so much attention, Goldilocks’ part seems almost an afterthought by the time she arrives late in the show. Bedecked in bobbing ringlets and a wide-eyed expression, Kelly Hanenberg is a relentlessly cheery repentant, determined to give the bears their holiday due whether they like it or not.

Though adequately danced by the cast, the musical numbers don’t always work; many seem to be shoe-horned in for the sake of the ‘50s theme. Although meant to be cozy, a slow-paced delivery of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was an unnecessary drag near the show’s end.

Marsha Gillespie’s costumes were delightful, especially the bears’ teddy-bearish heads and feet and Robin’s feathery crimson topknot.

Ed Huber’s single set was colorful and workable; the bears’ individually sized wall peepholes were an endearing touch. Practical, too. With a kid like Goldilocks on the prowl, it’s smart to have a good surveillance system.

* “Goldilocks and the Christmas Bears,” Broadway on Tour children’s theater, 20 City Blvd. East, No. 138, The City Shopping Center, Orange. Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through Dec. 18. (714) 385-1555. $5. Running time: One hour, 10 minutes. Kelly Hanenberg: Goldilocks Daniel Halkyard: Papa Bear Kim Cohen: Mama Bear Ashlee Gillespie: Baby Bear Wendy Holden: Ms. Squirrel Crystal Dancer: Rock’n Robin Loren Wildish: Fonzie J. Fox Nicholas McKim: Mr. Wolf

Presented by Broadway on Tour children’s theater. Book, lyrics and music by Eleanor Harder. Produced by Sharon Hanenberg. Directed by Daniel Halkyard. Vocal direction: Laurie Hancock and Daniel Halkyard. Movement direction: Sandy Costelo. Set: Ed Huber. Costumes: Marsha Gillespie. Lights: Scott Buttes.