FAMILY : Serendipity’s Heartfelt ‘Velveteen Rabbit’

It doesn’t have a fancy set, special effects or perfect timing, but Serendipity Theatre Company’s modest new stage adaptation of “The Velveteen Rabbit” at the Burbank Little Theatre does have a quality that sets it apart from many children’s theater experiences: a rare and welcome sweetness.

The tale of a toy rabbit made real through a child’s love is both entertaining and genuinely moving, thanks to Scott Davidson’s uncloying, graceful adaptation of Margery Williams’ poignant children’s classic, and to a fine adult professional cast.

The actors, most of whom play multiple roles, also serve as narrators and a spoken-word chorus to advance the plot--a nice touch--and although director Caroline Fremont’s staging could be more assured, she keeps things moving, with the only major bobble a clumsy and unnecessary slow-motion “tidying up” sequence.

Among the cast, Erick Weiss, despite displaying legs a bit hairier than one might expect to find in a nursery, is a believable Boy. Mary Coleston, while appropriately brisk as Nanny, is delightful as a snobbish toy train, turning its nose up at lesser toys. Diane Benedict gives the wise old Skin Horse appropriate weightiness and Patricia Ayame Thomson is winsome as a snooty wind-up mouse.

As Rabbit, Annie Preis, the only child in the cast, is self-conscious, endearing and word-perfect, spending much of the hourlong play being toted about, cuddled and kissed. She submits to these actions with an inadvertently amusing air of long-suffering as she does her best to remain in character. A half-mask might make her task, and believability, easier.

Preis sparkles during livelier moments, however, particularly when the Velveteen Rabbit reacts to teasing by real rabbits (Benedict and Thomson), and in the touching finale, after Nursery Magic (Thomson again) has turned the toy into a flesh-and-blood bunny.

Heart is the keyword here.

* “The Velveteen Rabbit,” Burbank Little Theatre, George Izay Park, near Olive Avenue and Victory Boulevard, Saturdays, 2 p.m., Sundays, 1 and 4 p.m. through April 30. For ages 5 and up. $6-$12. (310) 836-8002. Running time: under 1 hour.