A PLAY-FULL SUMMER : Multiple Productions Set the Stage for a Season of Family-Style Fun

It isn’t often that Orange County theatergoers are presented with a family-style feast. But this month offers an impressive number of productions both featuring and geared to children.

Most are even reasonably priced (in the $5 to $10 range), making it possible to sample several shows.

Some details on a few, just to whet your appetite:

OPENING THIS WEEKEND

The La Habra Depot Young Actors Theatre is into the boot-scootin’, happily-ever-after thing with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Musical,” a two-hour retelling of the classic tale that combines familiar characters with a whiz-bang assortment of musical and dance styles, ranging from country to rumba. There are also three evil queens, a quintet of kindergarten-aged birdies and, of course, sweet Snow herself.

Adapted for the stage by Tim Kelly with music and lyrics by Bill Francoeur, the mostly comic show is for all ages.

“The children will enjoy it, but the adults will really get some good belly laughs too,” director Diane Christensen promises.

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Musical” at the La Habra Depot Theatre, 311 S. Euclid St., La Habra. Friday through Aug. 12. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m. $10 for adults; $8 for youths under 18, students with I.D. and seniors. (310) 905-9708 or (310) 905-9626.

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Even tender-hearted youngsters can max out on romance, so Broadway on Tour director Dan Halkyard has brought in a double handful of fun-loving mice to jazz up his staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella.”

“We haven’t really changed the show, because it works fine on its own merits,” Halkyard explained. “But the mice let audiences look at the story from a different perspective. It helps the little ones [in the audience] relate better to the story.”

The show, which features 42 youngsters ages 6 to 17, is the second production they’ve tackled since taking over as the resident children’s theater at the Grove Theatre Center.

“Cinderella” at the Gem Theatre in the Grove Theater Center, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove. Friday through July 30. Performances are Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. $10 for adults; $8 for children under 12 and seniors. (714) 741-9550 or (714) 741-9557.

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Casting kids in adult roles can be dicey, but the 12-year-old Fullerton Children’s Repertory Theater usually pulls it off. The troupe’s next show, “The Sound of Music,” features a cast of 48 young actors and a production crew made up of FCRT graduates. It’s directed by Alberta Strey and Vicki Schindele and is a mostly by-the-book production with one exception: Instead of seven children, Captain von Trapp has eight. No wonder this guy has trouble finding a nanny.

Right after the show closes, FCRT performers, who have toured Japan, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia, pack their dirndls and lederhosen and head to tour a Broadway revue through Germany and Austria, including a show on the Salzburg stage where the real von Trapps performed before fleeing into the Alps.

“The Sound of Music” at the Fullerton High School Little Theater, Chapman Avenue and Lemon Street behind Plummer Auditorium, Fullerton. Friday through July 29. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday matinees at 1:30 p.m. on July 22 and 29 only. $6 all ages. (714) 671-1084.

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Stuart Little may be as tiny as a mouse--OK, he is a mouse--but he thinks big. The title character in E. B. White’s children’s book, “The Adventures of Stuart Little,” young Stu firmly believes that “size has nothing to do with anything. . . . It’s temperament and ability that count.”

In Orange Coast College’s staging of Joseph Robinette’s adaptation of the book, director Alex Golson says preschool- and elementary school-age viewers will carry away positive messages about self-esteem and self-confidence.

“Stuart Little” will be presented using minimal sets and props (keep an eye out for that giant Ping-Pong ball, though). The 45-minute show is recommended for ages 3 and up.

“The Adventures of Stuart Little” at OCC’s Robert B. Moore Theatre, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Friday through July 22. Performances are tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Continues Wednesday through Friday, July 19-21, at 10 a.m., and July 22 at 2 and 7 p.m. $5 to $6 for adults; $4 to $5 for children under 12 and seniors. (714) 432-5880.

COMING SOON

The folks at Children’s Theatre Experience sure know how to move great gobs of kids across a stage. CTE typically casts up to 200 youngsters and adults in a show, and it’s not uncommon to see all of them on the stage at the same time. The group produced a more than adequate “Peter Pan” with their masses in December.

You can catch them later this month, when they open their “Music Man” at the Irvine Barclay after a 12-week rehearsal and training period.

“Music Man” at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine. Performances are July 20 at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.; July 21 at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Evening performances are $12 for adults; $10 for ages 12 and under. Matinees are $5 all ages. (714) 854-4646.

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Saddleback College has shows based on two of the world’s best-known fairy tales running in repertory this summer. The first, “Rumpelstiltskin,” is an outdoor staging by director Joe Lauderdale that allows audience members to play a major part in the action, right up to becoming human campfires (just pretend, Mom; don’t sweat it) to “thaw out” some of the teen-age performers.

In the school’s Studio Theatre, director Terry Christopher presents “Rapunzel and the Witch,” a suspenseful fairy tale of good, evil and the value of strong hair follicles. Both shows are presented by the Saddleback Civic Light Opera’s Just for Kids program.

“Rumpelstiltskin” and “Rapunzel and the Witch” at Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. “Rumpelstiltskin” runs July 20 through Aug. 6 in the college’s Outdoor Kids Theatre. Performances Thursday through Sunday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. “Rapunzel” runs July 27 through Aug. 13 at the school’s Studio Theatre. Performances Thursday through Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. $6 all ages. (714) 582-4656.

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In “Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz,” the Wizard’s a bit of a goof, and Glinda the Good Witch would rather tend to her garden than manage Dorothy’s little crises, but eventually, everyone does get to live happily ever after.

South County’s Paper Bag Players stage the bite-sized comic version with their usual pre-show twist. Audience members are invited to bring their lunch and spend the half-hour before curtain noshing and kvetching with the cast as they put on their makeup for the show. Eat hearty; audience participation is big with this company, so you’ll be needing your strength to help out the show.

“Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz” at Rancho Canada School, 21801 Winding Way, Lake Forest. Runs Aug. 5 through 20. Performances are Saturday and Sunday at 12:30 p.m.; house opens at noon. $5 all ages. (714) 581-5402.