His oomph is no act

JOHN LITHGOW had stage fright. The worst in years. No theater novice, he had finished his Tony Award-nominated run in the hit musical “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” -- and had been inducted into Broadway’s Theater Hall of Fame -- just weeks earlier.

But Lithgow knew that the audience he now faced would be merciless if he bombed.

After all, what does “celebrity” mean to a 4-year-old?

“I was terrified,” Lithgow said of the kids’ concert he did at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in March. It was a hastily arranged affair, a test-run for songs the former “3rd Rock From the Sun” star would record a few days later for his new children’s CD, “The Sunny Side of the Street.”

Would 100 preschoolers and toddlers sit still for Tin Pan Alley and Depression-Era novelty songs, heavy on wordplay and musical sophistication?

Just in case, Lithgow had an acoustic guitar at the ready.

“You know, like a fire extinguisher,” he said, speaking by phone from the set of his new NBC sitcom, “20 Good Years.” “I thought, if I have to, I’ll just sing, oh, ‘The Rooster Song.’ ”

Instead, Lithgow’s boundless enthusiasm and gift for drollery wowed the crowd. Now, with the release of his CD in August, he’s hearing reports that parents and children are singing along to “boop-boop-a-doop,” “inka dinka doo” and other retro fare.

With a gentle sweetness and a wacky, raucous Spike Jones bounce, courtesy of song arrangers J. Walter Hawkes and Doug Wieselman, “the record goes from highbrow to lowbrow, sometimes in a single measure,” said JC Hopkins, who produced “Sunny Side.”

“But why not use a string quartet on ‘Inka Dinka Doo,’ and then throw in a bass harmonica just to be sure we don’t take it too seriously?”

“I told them it should sound anarchic,” crowed Lithgow, who gave kid-friendly tweaks to lyrics in “Ya Gotta Have Pep,” “Be Human” -- songs from Betty Boop cartoons -- and other tracks.

A Flanders and Swann-style original by Lithgow is in the mix, too: “I’m a Manatee” (“I’m every bit as wrinkled as my granatee, no difference between my face and fanatee....”). It’s from Lithgow’s children’s book of the same name. Yes, Lithgow is also a bestselling children’s author.

So, does this highly successful stage, film and TV actor really need a second career as children’s entertainer? Hardly. He just can’t help himself.

“It’s so much extravagant fun,” he said. “The more I’ve done this material, the more fun it’s gotten and it’s just drawn me more and more into it.”

It began with his 1996 kids’ concert video -- just Lithgow, his guitar and highly developed sense of humor. That no-frills effort led to his first CD, “Singin’ in the Bathtub,” with the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra, in the tradition of Danny Kaye, British music hall and show tunes.

Meanwhile, Lithgow’s guide to the orchestra for kids, “The Remarkable Farkle McBride,” spawned his appearances with symphony orchestras across the country. He’s twice narrated his own version of “Carnival of the Animals” for New York City Ballet’s performance to Saint-Saens’ score -- and played the elephant too.

Branching out into nonfiction in 2004, he penned a “Lithgow Palooza” book series with creative play tips for all occasions. A TV version, “John Lithgow’s Paloozaville,” can be seen as on-demand programming on Mag Rack’s Kid’s Club, and the seemingly tireless actor recently partnered with educational software company Knowledge Adventure to create “Books by You,” a story writing activity for ages 8 and up.

Whew.

“But the No. 1 priority is delighting kids,” Lithgow said. “If they learn something between the lines, even if they’re not aware of it, that’s all to the good.”

To that end, Lithgow spices his rhyming books and lyrics with words children probably won’t know. “Kids love big words,” he said. “They love mastering them and they love asking their parents what that word means. And they love it best when their parents don’t know what it means.”

Lithgow’s interest in literacy and arts education runs deep enough that in May, he said, he surprised teachers at the 51st International Reading Assn. convention with “an enraged broadside at the No Child Left Behind legislation” and its deleterious effect on the arts.

“To me, that’s taking half of education away from kids,” Lithgow said, turning serious. “Kids’ work is play. That’s where everything starts: education, socialization and emotional development. Creative play is enormously important. I just believe that in my bones.”

With his next book, Lithgow hopes to plant an early seed about the value of higher education. Due out from Simon & Schuster in the spring, “Mahalia Mouse Goes to College” is set at Harvard, Lithgow’s alma mater.

It seems unlikely that this Renaissance man with a funny bone will run out of ideas any time soon, not with a 17-month-old granddaughter.

“She’s a little bit oblivious right now, but pretty soon she’ll become a fan. Then, predictably, she’ll get bored and mortified” -- a phase his own offspring went through, Lithgow said, laughing. As adults, “they still think I’m a little bit mad, but they appreciate what I do.”

lynne.heffley@latimes.com

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John Lithgow

Where: Safari Sam’s, 5214 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

Price: Adults $15; children younger than 12, $10

Info: (323) 666-7267