Family : Wolf, ‘Hood’ Wink Wittily

From the moment man first strutted onto a stage, audiences have felt compelled to boo the bad guy. When the offender is dashed to pieces--either literally or figuratively, depending on the genre--we traditionally greet his comeuppance with cheers.

Then along comes a show like Broadway On Tour’s “Little Red Riding Hood,” and it shoots that premise all to heck.

Directed, choreographed and adapted by Jeff Teague and aided mightily by the acting talents of 16-year-old Joel South as the wolf, this “Little Red” features a villain so likable that when he gets it in the end (oops, did I give something away?), you wish the woodsman could have cut him a little slack.

Sure, he’s a ruthless carnivore, but heck, who wouldn’t love a guy who interrupts a perfectly good stalk to take a call on the cel phone from the little woman?

“Little Red Riding Hood” marks director Teague’s first alliance with Broadway On Tour. If this show is any indication, he’s as asset the troupe should hang onto for a good long time.

This 50-minute show follows the basic story line of the original fairy tale: Little girl visits home of sick Granny, where conniving wolf nearly succeeds in making her into a midday snack but is foiled by passing woodsman.

In Teague’s hands, things don’t play out quite so tidily--a boon for viewers who appreciate a clever turn of phrase or plot.

First off, there’s that wolf. A former Harvard man (kicked out for snacking on the dissection projects in biology lab), this predator has a wit as sharp or sharper than his treacherous teeth. When the situation calls for quick thinking or clever repartee, he leaves his human cohorts in the dust. In fact, if that Dudley Do-Right of a woodsman hadn’t shown up, this wolf probably would have finished off Granny, Little Red and Little Red’s mother, and sold off Granny’s cottage for a nice little profit too.

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South is a delight in the role, from the first refrains of the cheesy “Perfectly Wonderful Wolf” to his slapstick curtain call. He has a finely tuned sense of comic timing; rapid-fire quips and one-liners spin off him so easily that it’s hard to figure where the script ends and his own improvisations begin. A case in point: Just as he is wrestling an uncooperative Granny into the closet, he casts an appraising eye at the old girl’s wardrobe, cocks his furry hand and says, “Very handsome . . . Robinsons-May, is it not?”--the kind of line that can appeal to a wide variety of ages.

Granny, played by 15-year-old Melissa Eldridge, is presented as an aging fitness fanatic, and she’s all over the stage, jogging in place or dropping to the floor for sit-ups at the oddest times. It’s cute for awhile, but (unlike Granny) it gets old fast. Eldridge plays the role with a frenetic, countrified edge, and, even though she musters several laugh-out-loud moments, you can’t help feeling plum tuckered out watching her.

Nine-year-old Ashlee Gillespie is a portrait-perfect Red, all auburn curls and sparkling eyes, and she’s no disappointment as an actor. The script pretty much has her as the straight ingenue, but Gillespie throws in enough pre-adolescent petulance to counteract the character’s sugary demeanor.

Marsha Gillespie’s costumes are a pleasure, with some visual gags thrown in for punch (check out Granny’s slippers in the final scene, and the wolf’s letterman sweater). Erik Koehler’s lighting and sound are basic but serviceable, and Neil Caplin’s sets are colorful and engaging.

* “Little Red Riding Hood,” The City Shopping Center, 20 City Drive, Suite 138, Orange. Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Ends April 2. $5. (714) 385-1555. Running time: 50 minutes.

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Allegra Barragan: Blue Jay

Melissa Eldridge: Granny/Racoon

Gena Elrod: Mother/Squirrel

Ashlee Gillespie: Little Red Riding Hood

Mike Hennes: Woodsman

Joel South: Wolf

A Broadway On Tour production, adapted, directed and choreographed by Jeff Teague. Music and vocal direction: Josh Carr. Sets: Neil Caplin. Costumes: Marsha Gillespie. Lights and sound: Erik Koehler.

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“Little Red Riding Hood” and “Annie” are running concurrently during Broadway On Tour’s final weeks at The City shopping center in Orange; the shows continue Saturdays and Sundays through April 2. The company recently was named resident children’s theater of the Grove Theater Center in Garden Grove, where it will open in May with a production of “The Wizard in Wonderland.”