Fantasies Take Wing on the Air

“Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear . . . “ That’s how the radio announcer introduced millions of kids to the Lone Ranger when youngsters listened to his adventures while they did their homework.

Their minds made up what the characters looked like, the costumes, the scenery and the settings. It was magical. Kids used their imaginations.

That was Steve DeNaut’s idea when he conceived “Radio Follies” for South Coast Repertory’s Youth Theatre, an actor training program for first- through sixth-graders.

DeNaut, 63, is the group’s instructor. He remembers those radio days well, and thought it would be a good stretch for his youthful actors.

Radio, said DeNaut, “was fascinating, because the whole theater took place in your mind, rather than you being planted in front of a TV screen. I could do other things while I listened.”

The play revolves around a group of 10 young actors playing kids who decide to put on an old-fashioned radio show. Each kid has what DeNaut calls a “core character their own age,” based on the personalities of the actors, a wise guy, a flirt, a con man, a thinker, etc. But each actor is also doing five or six other characters as part of the broadcast.

“They’re just kind of changing their attitudes and changing their voices,” DeNaut said. “And they’re remarkable.”

And, as actors or themselves, they’re also learning something about the imagination and what they can create in their minds.

* “Radio Follies,” South Coast Repertory Second Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Saturday-Sunday, 1 and 3 p.m. $5. (714) 708-5555.

Also at:

* Bowers Kidseum, 2002 North Main St., Santa Ana. April 29, 1:30 p.m. Free. (714) 480-1520.

* Borders Books and Music, South Coast Plaza Crate and Barrel wing, 3333 Bear Street, Costa Mesa. May 6, 1:30 p.m. Free. (714) 432-7854.

* Huntington Beach Library Theatre, 7111 Talbert Ave. May 13, 11 a.m. $3. (714) 375-4481.