Not happily ever after but a hoot for an hour

The new NoHo Arts Center in North Hollywood opened in October with a decidedly adult musical based on Oscar Wilde’s “The Portrait of Dorian Gray.” Now family audiences are getting equal time.

The second offering at the venue, “Fractured Fairy Tales From the East,” is a zesty charmer for young children and their adult companions. A Southern California premiere, produced by Open at the Top and written and directed by Richard Kuhlman, it features comic adaptations of 10 folk tales from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.

It could be tighter -- eight stories would be ample -- but the exotic tale-spinning is well-fueled with sly humor, varied, multilevel staging and skilled performances by an adult cast. These capable actors, in multiple, often gender-bending roles, play people, animals, trees, the sun, the wind, the clouds -- even a wooden floor -- with just a few masks and headdresses and minimal props.

Take Cinderella, Asian style. Poor little Tam (Melissa Wong) loses her mother and becomes maid-of-all-work for her wicked stepmother (Janae Burris), vain half-sister (Deb Hiett) and oblivious father (Tim Molfino). When Tam marries her king, thanks to a helpful goddess and a magical fish, it’s not the happily-ever-after ending but only the end of a chapter. More dire tribulations are on the way.

“This ain’t the Brothers Grimm,” Stepmother snarls at the audience in comic defiance.

Indeed, Tam’s post-wedding blues involve dying (twice) and her reincarnation as a nightingale and as a tree that bears “seven colored flowers.” When Stepmother and her daughter are finally dealt their fatal comeuppance, it’s thanks to this very un-Disney-like Cinderella, who can be pushed only so far.

Ruffy Landayan romps through “The Three-Legged Dog,” about why dogs have four legs, and why at certain times they stand on three. This comic (and quite inoffensive) short story is, predictably, an audience favorite, particularly among the younger set.

In “The Rat and His Wife,” a well-paced shaggy dog-style saga, a pair of rodents (Carlos L. Cortez and Burris) see their daughter’s marriageability as an opportunity for social advancement, going to the ends of the Earth and beyond to find a powerful husband for their daughter.

The Sun (channeling Brando’s “Godfather”) and the hilariously lugubrious Rain, both played by Hiett with deft comic timing, are among the suitors deemed not marriage-worthy.

The cast, including Molfino in a supporting role as a doting, rather Celtic-flavored mother, scores in one of the show’s best stories, about a woodsman (Wong) who marries a lovely Maiden of Heaven (Burris) through trickery. The fateful consequences involve a magical flying horse and a misstep by Mom. Hiett earns laughs as the woodsman’s magical deer advisor.

Kuhlman varies the pacing by mixing long pieces with short. “First Baby of Asia” and “The Worst Person to Invite to a Baby’s Christening” (goofily played by a nerdy Landayan) are among the latter.

A tale about a struggling scholar (Burris) who rises to power is less successful. Running long, it loses definition, lessening the surprise ending’s effect.

Kuhlman might also consider either deleting or seriously trimming a story about a stingy boss, disgruntled workers and a magic thread. It has moments, primarily in Cortez’s brief, wicked turn as the boss’ long-suffering (and mustache-plucking) wife, but is too loosely knit.

One last quibble: The limited design elements work well, yet it would be nice to see more use made of such puppets as the colorful dragon heads that appear in the “Baby” tale; it’s a disappointment, too, that the delightful giant dragon and fish characters that flank the stage are used only as set decor.

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Lynne Heffley can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

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‘Fractured Fairy Tales From the East’

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Where: NoHo Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood

When: 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturdays; 1 p.m. Sundays, except dark Jan. 30, Feb. 20

Ends: Feb. 26

Price: $10

Info: (818) 508-7101, Ext. 5

Running time: 1 hour