‘Figaro--Pigaro!’ Puts the Oink in Opera

Garry Marshall’s Falcon Theatre in Burbank is among only a handful of adult theaters that regularly schedule children’s shows as part of their seasons. And the Falcon mounts them with stage and screen professionals and evident enthusiasm.

Yet while the shows have had their moments, none has yet lived up to the promise of Falcon executive producer Meryl Friedman’s 1999 production of “Anastasia Krupnik.” That entertaining, sure-footed play for young audiences, based on the Lois Lowry book, had the effect of raising the bar for everything that followed.

The Falcon’s latest original family show, “Figaro--Pigaro! A Barnyard Musical,” based on a book called “Peter’s Song” by Carol P. Saul, nearly gets there. Handsomely mounted, sporting amusing musical numbers and some lively performances, the show is as shiny and sweet--but at times as saggy--as warm taffy.

Written and directed by Friedman, who also wrote the music and lyrics, the show revolves around little Polly Pig (Candace Lifson), who, dissatisfied with life in the pen, finds her passion upon hearing an opera snippet on the farmer’s radio. Not knowing that Old Jack the Horse (Michael A. Shepperd) is pulling her leg by telling her that the singer is a local frog named the Great Tomaso, Polly decides to be an opera star too.

Jack, Ethel the Chicken (Colleen Kane) and Maureen the Cow (Toni Morrell) can’t bring themselves to tell Polly that she has a terrible voice, so they pretend that extra farm work keeps them too busy to listen to her. Polly learns the truth, runs away to find Tomaso, and the repentant animal pals devise a plan--involving frog disguises--to get their little friend to come home.

The show looks quite spiffy. In country garb, musical director Dave Ossmann sits onstage and supplies rousing piano accompaniment. Alan Ceccarelli’s suspended set pieces--hayloft, barn windows, picket fence and clouds--and a movable chicken coop and berry bushes are a pleasure, expertly conceived and executed. So are Denise Ervin’s droll costumes: pink overalls and blue ribbons for Polly, stiffly layered, short white petticoats and feathered straw hats for the hens (in dual roles, Morrell and Shepperd play old biddies too), and a charming, 18th century-style white-and-black-spotted pannier skirt and pink lacy pantaloons for Maureen the Cow.

Indeed, this is no cut-rate effort. Friedman’s songs and music are polished too (and so are Eric Lane Barnes’ arrangements), but the show still wears long, suffering from both an unevenly realized, repetitive plot line and a performance that hasn’t progressed far enough beyond a rote reading.

As Polly, 12-year-old Lifson, who has film and TV credits, is game and word-perfect. But, perhaps still feeling her way in the role, the young actress stays outside of it, unable to match the professional energy of her three adult co-stars. That contrast helps pulls the rhythm of the piece out of whack, despite Friedman’s crisp direction.

In any event, the recurring set-up--Polly tries singing her song to each of her friends; each reacts with horror and sends her off to the next friend--goes on too long, and with Lifson’s lack of spark, such repetition verges on tediousness.

The adults, however, have fun with their vivid characters. Kane has some comical chicken moves and Morrell is an amusingly elegant bovine grande dame of languorous dignity. But if the show belongs to anyone, it’s Shepperd. A powerful singer and a warm, assured presence, he gives full value and then some in his roles as the blues-singing, kind-hearted old horse; a gossipy, petticoated old hen; and a masquerading operatic frog.

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* “Figaro--Pigaro!, A Barnyard Musical,” Falcon Theatre, 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. Saturdays at 1 and 3 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m.; through April 1. $10. (818) 955-8101. Running time: 1 hour, 5 minutes.