A Mouse Makes Exuberant Leap to Stage

Lilly, the self-proclaimed “Queen of Everything,” favors cowboy boots and covers nonexistent bumps and bruises with lots of adhesive strips because it makes her look brave--and “when I look brave, then I feel brave.”

Lilly, the little mouse heroine in Kevin Henkes’ popular children’s books, is making an exuberant leap from the page to the stage in “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse,” a downright adorable production from the Kennedy Center’s Imagination on Tour company.

It winds up its run today at the Fred Kavli Theatre in Thousand Oaks, Friday at the James Armstrong Theatre in Torrance and Saturday at the Haugh Performing Arts Center in Glendora.

In Kevin Kling’s comic and heart-filled adaptation, Lilly, kindred spirit to 5- and 6-year-olds everywhere, isn’t so sunny when she realizes that her new baby brother, Julius, is going to be around permanently. Sent for a timeout in the “Uncooperative Chair,” she even daydreams that Julius has an unfortunate encounter with a cat--and she’s not sorry.

Things are rosier on her first day at school with adored new teacher Mr. Slinger, and when Grandma buys her a purple plastic purse that comes with glamorous red sunglasses, three shiny quarters and plays music. But then she disrupts class and Mr. Slinger takes it away.

Storm clouds gather, but with a morning-after air-clearing and a surprise appreciation for big sister duty, Lilly is her old self.

Catching up with the show at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theatre, the staging is simple, with Ayun Fedorcha’s candy-colored lighting effects and set designer Tony Cisek’s mobile set pieces and a large framed screen for shadow play. Rock ‘n’ roll and classical music selections are cleverly used to comic effect by composer and sound designer Tony Angelini. Christopher Marlowe Roche did the whimsical choreography and Howard Vincent Kurtz designed the lighthearted costumes.

Gentle humor is layered to appeal to both children and adults, and what’s happening as Lilly goes through her ups and downs is deeper than you’d expect.

Like Lilly’s mom (Lynn Blackburn Lush) and dad (Scott Hampton Cooke), parents with kindergartners will recognize Lilly’s big emotions as she bubbles over with joy, puffs up with indignation, gets angry, droops with dejection and bounces back again.

Mr. Slinger, meanwhile, has a great tip for home: a special corner with drawing materials where children can vent on paper.

Directed by Jerry Manning, and staged for the tour by Elizabeth Pringle, the show’s strong cast makes it lively fun, led by Silinea Hilliard, who inhabits Lilly’s red, tasseled cowboy boots and her world of endless possibilities with charm and conviction.

“Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse,” today at 10 a.m. and noon, Fred Kavli Theatre, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, $10, (805) 388-4411; Friday at 7:30 p.m., James Armstrong Theatre, 3330 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, $11; groups of five or more, $8.50 a ticket. (310) 781-7171. Saturday at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m., Haugh Performing Arts Center, Citrus College, 1000 W. Foothill Blvd., Glendora, $5. (626) 963-9411. Running time: One hour.