Polished Musical Numbers, Fun in Broadway-Style ‘Big Tush’

Kids do indeed say the darndest things, but when they do, their more memorable outbursts usually just end up as cute stories to share with Grandma or Aunt Betty.

LeeAn and Jeff Lantos took it a mite further. When their then-5-year-old daughter complained that she’d had a near-dunk in the commode due to her small “tush,” the Lantoses first wrote a book about it, then, along with composer Robyn Hutter, turned the book into a Broadway-style mini-musical in the early 1990s.

Surprise. Their “Big Tush, Little Tush,” so audaciously based on something so insignificant, was such a hit with family audiences when it opened in 1993 at the Groundling Theatre that it played there for more than a year.

It’s no surprise then, that it seems just as popular with audiences this time around, in the show’s new, long-term run at the Secret Rose Theatre in North Hollywood.

The main draw are the casting of stage and film pros, and the polished musical numbers that rise above the slight story and give the show something of a legit feel, even in its modest staging at the small, black box Secret Rose space.

First, about that story: 5-year-old Molly (Caitlyn Lauren) figures that if she had a bigger “tush,” life would be a whole lot easier: Bathroom visits would be less risky, she could dispense with kid car seats, and she never again would have to suffer the indignity of sitting in the baby-seat of the shopping carts at the store. (Lauren, an experienced young child actor who knows her way around a stage and a song, is older than 5, but she’s appropriately petite. Another sprite, Avery Rice, alternates in the role.)

Molly envies Mom (Andrea Walters Ganzel, a Broadway and TV veteran), who has quite a bit extra to sit on. Ganzel is actually slender; her unusual rear view, a continuing sight gag, is thanks to padding.

During the 50-minute show, Molly learns to “Be Happy With What You’ve Got”--the show’s bouncy theme song--thanks to an offbeat plot line involving overworked Dad (Mark Towner), a persnickety boss (Robert Sampson) with an unusual appetite for avocados, and a black-light adventure inside a food cupboard where boxes of cereal, cookies and pasta come to life, led by the razzle-dazzle King of the Cupboard (Lee Magnuson).

It’d be nice to see more color and substance to the set. A couple of rather battered, large wooden blocks, a few chairs and some small painted backdrops give the show a makeshift look. But lighting designer Robert Mellette’s spotlights for the actors’ solos lend a comical touch, and stage-savvy director and choreographer Murphy Cross has orchestrated some physical funny business--both Towner, a musical theater professional and Ringling Bros.-trained clown, and TV and film actor Magnuson do that especially well. (Digby Adams and Don Oscar Smith alternate as Ted and Mr. Wilson; Towner plays the King of the Cupboard in some performances.)

The show’s penchant for preciousness is undeniable and unavoidable, with all those “tush” jokes. Its effervescent charm and sense of fun, though, give it unexpected appeal.

* “Big Tush, Little Tush,” Secret Rose Theatre, Saturdays at 2 p.m. through next Friday; beginning in April, Saturdays 1 and 3 p.m. Runs indefinitely. Running time: 50 minutes. $10 adults; $7 children; $5 for more than two children. (818) 766-3691, Ext. 5.