Resourceful ‘Boots’

Bread and Jam’s production of “Puss in Boots” at the Gene Bua Acting for Life Theatre in Burbank is pleasantly staged and well-costumed, but its most noteworthy attribute is Rachel Strutt’s delightful turn in the title role.

With her assured speech and stylish movement, Strutt commands the stage as the resourceful cat who helps a miller’s son attain a fortune and a royal bride. Brandishing her sword-cane, admonishing the rather too-dense hero Claude (Max Dell), besting an Ogre (Justin Owcar), Strutt gives the modest show its spark.

Only drolly imperious Elizabeth Ige matches Strutt’s flair, playing a shrewd queen with an eye out for a rich hubby for her daughter, Princess Annette (Bracha Jade). (Ige is the queen on Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees; Delores Nascar, not reviewed, plays the role Friday evenings and Saturday matinees.)

The rest of the cast members--this is an adult company--are either less committed or are tentative about bringing their roles to life, although Max Bush’s adaptation of Charles Perrault’s 17th century tale offers ample opportunity for them to do so.

While director Tekla Ackelson-Wright hasn’t yet managed to fully shape some performances, she keeps the action moving nicely on the small stage. After an undynamic opening, the show finds its stride when Puss begins finagling a new identity for Claude, plotting to turn him into the wealthy Marquis of Carabas and outwitting the beastly Ogre in the process.

The set, designed by Bruce Wright, is done on a shoestring, but imaginatively--the scene with a coach window and a pin~ata horse head is a hoot.

* “Puss in Boots,” Bread and Jam at Gene Bua Acting for Life Theatre, 3435 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, Fridays, 7 p.m.; Saturdays, 12:30 and 7 p.m.; Sundays, 12:30 p.m. Through June 27. $6-$10. (818) 982-1475.

Exploring Family: In conjunction with the exhibition “Fingerprints and Footsteps: Uncovering Family Stories” (Friday-Oct. 17), curated and designed by fifth-grade students from Mount Washington and Castelar elementary schools, the Autry Museum of Western Heritage is offering a series of family activities.

“Danzas Mexicanas” kicks off the series on Saturday, featuring Argelia Andrade of Grupo Folklorico in a performance geared to children and families that explores regional bailes (dances) from Mexico. On June 19, learn how to collect family information with the African American Genealogical Society.

The Southern California Chinese Folk Dancers will perform on Aug. 21, and the series concludes with taiko drummer Tom Kurai (Sept. 18).

* “Fingerprints and Footsteps” activities, Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Griffith Park, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles. “Danzas Mexicanas”: Saturday, 1:30-2:30 p.m.; “Finding Your Family Tree” (June 19, 1:30-3:30 p.m. [every half hour]); “Southern California Chinese Folk Dancers” (Aug. 21, 1:30-2:30 p.m.); “Tom Kurai and Taiko Drumming” (Sept. 18, 1:30-2:30 p.m.). All activities are in the Showcase Gallery. Free with museum admission: adults, $7.50; seniors and students with ID, $5; children ages 12 and under, $3.

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Express Yourself: Children and families can learn how to make paper feel like fabric and then create “Aboriginal Bark-Paper Wall Hangings” with artist Lynn Leatart on Sunday at Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. Free. Information: (213) 485-4474.

It’s part of the Friends of the Junior Arts Center’s “Sunday Open Sunday” arts workshops at Barnsdall and other L.A.-area sites. Other workshops: “African Wire Animals With Tai-Ling Wong” (June 27), at Barnsdall; “Instruments From the Ancient Americas With Martin Espino” (July 11), at Eagle Rock Community Cultural Center, 2225 Colorado Blvd., (323) 226-1617; and “Peruvian Drum Rattles With Francis Amazol” (July 18), at Watts Towers Arts Center, 1727 E. 107th St., (213) 847-4646. All workshops take place from 2 to 4 p.m.; for other summer workshops, call (323) 660-6268.