Theater Review : These Kids Know How to Put on a Show

In La Habra Depot Youth Theatre’s production of Rodgers and Hart’s “Babes in Arms,” campiness and innocence are sharing the spotlight, and the combination is magically successful.

“Babes in Arms” is about a bunch of talented, star-struck kids who conquer all obstacles to put on a show. Under the nurturing direction of Larry Blake, the company’s high-school and college-age performers prove that they, too, are kids who can put on a show. When the subject and the object agree so completely, problems solve themselves. Obstacles that aren’t conquered through monumental talent are charmed away with exuberance.

Blake’s production is stagy, silly entertainment--exactly what the “My uncle has a barn--let’s put on a show!” mentality of “Babes in Arms” calls for.

Larry Watts’ set design is an unabashedly phony-looking wall of painted bricks. The choreography by Jo Lindsey is inanely cute, and lighting designer Mitch Atkins pops on the pink-gelled spot at the drop of a quarter note.

Whether by design or by fortune, the sheer tackiness of the production is perfectly offset by the energy of the cast. The fun they are having is real.

Eighth-grader Carolyn Tamako is fresh and bright-eyed as Bunny, with a voice as clear and strong as a plantation dinner bell. Heather Sexton, as sexpot Terry, warms the theater every time she smiles. Her duets with Armand Cachero as Gus bubble with pizazz.

The romantic leads, Summer Smith, Summer Wybaczynsky and Kristian Merrill, sing sweetly and earnestly. As the vainglorious villain Lee Calhoun, Ray Akin is hissably nasty and laughably foolish.

The score includes the beautiful ballads “My Funny Valentine” and “Where or When,” and the rollicking “The Lady Is a Tramp,” as well as some lesser-known tunes. All are delivered with love.

Director Blake added a few more Rodgers and Hart tunes just for good measure: “Bewitched,” “I’ll Take Manhattan,” “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” among others.

Most of these numbers feel tacked on, and a couple make no story sense at all, but who cares? It’s all in good fun, and that’s what “Babes in Arms” is all about.

* “Babes in Arms,” La Habra Depot Theatre, 311 S. Euclid St., La Habra. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday matinee at 2:30 p.m. Ends Feb. 18. $7.50-$10. (310) 905-9708 or (310) 905-9625. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes. Heather Sexton: Terry

Armand Cachero: Gus

Amanda Loomer: Libby

Stephen Reifenstein: Bob

Suzanne Wachman: Ann

Frank Labrador: Peter

Kristian Merrill: Valentine White

Summer Smith: Susie Ward

Glenn Seibert: Seymore Fleming

Carolyn Tamako: Bunny

Ray Akin: Lee Calhoun

Summer Wybaczynsky: Jennifer Owen

Nancy Horenburg: Phyllis Owen

Brian Van Amber: Steve Edwards

A La Habra Depot Youth Theatre production. Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Book by George Oppenheimer. Directed by Larry Blake. Musical director: Bob Goff. Choreography: Jo Lindsey. Costumes: Lorilee Tagaloa. Set: Larry Watts. Lights: Mitch Atkins.