Friends, Fun and Tamales All Around

Despite puppet pandemonium, a little girl who yields to temptation and grown-ups with a few bones to pick, the spirit of the season warmly prevails in Bilingual Foundation of the Arts’ good-natured celebration of family, “Too Many Tamales.”

Indeed, with comic puppetry, children singing carols, a pin~ata and a candlelit posada on the comfy living-room set, this stage show by Margarita Galban and Lina Montalvo, based on Gary Soto’s children’s book, feels as much like a friendly community Christmas pageant as it does theatrical storytelling.

Directed by Alejandra Flores, the show revolves around a Latino family’s Christmas get-together and little Maria (Karina Barrero), who can’t resist trying on the sparkling engagement ring her mom (Angelines Santana) has taken off while making tamales for the family’s Christmas dinner.

Maria has help in her transgression, wittily set to the tune of “Jingle Bells,” raucous puppets and stuffed animal toys encouraging her, overshadowing concerned angel dolls and decorations who counsel otherwise. Then, when Maria loses the ring, one mischievous puppet says it ended up in the tamales, so Maria and her cousins surreptitiously eat the whole batch trying to find it.

There’s lots more puppet mischief and musical interludes, too: The child actors (Barrero, Jorge De Leon, Kristian Sanchez and Laura Barrero) sing a charming, melodic rendition of “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Meanwhile, Mom, Dad (Jaime Arze), Tia Rosa (Monica Guzman) and Tio Mike (Edward Padilla) are gamely coping with two unexpected and unwelcome guests: Dad’s opinionated mom, Angie (Tina D’Marco), and Mike’s non-Hispanic dad, Mr. McCormick (Don Potter), who’s known for not liking Spanish food, the language or the culture.

The mood remains sunny, however, despite a blessedly brief moment of puppet speechifying about the meaning of prejudice. In no time at all, it’s clear that Grandma and Mr. McCormick are (a) going to turn out to be a couple of sweeties, and (b) are going to hit it off, even before Mr. McCormick leads everybody in a conga line. (The appealing simplicity of Rudy Tronto’s choreography fits the show’s tone, as does musical director Marie Marsico’s light touch.)

In the end, the family celebration onstage opens up to include audience members, many of whom wind up dancing with the actors to “Feliz Navidad”--and there are free tamales afterward in the lobby.

Estela Scarlata designed the homey, lived-in set; Carlos Brown’s wardrobe design is holiday festive, and Helga Santiago’s lights complement the mood.

* “Too Many Tamales,” Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, 421 N. Avenue 19, Los Angeles. In Spanish: today, 5:30 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1, 3:30 and 6 p.m. In English: today, 7 p.m.; Dec. 26-27, 1, 3:30 and 6 p.m. Ends Dec. 27. $10 adults; $7 children. (323) 225-4044. Running time: 1 hour.

Toys and More Toys: “I Love Christmas,” a video for ages 2 to 6, offers charmingly filmed visions of toy trains and toys galore, plus holiday music and stories, including a just-right reading of “The Night Before Christmas,” illustrated on-screen by painted tree ornaments.

“Toys of the Past” is a video for anyone interested in a fascinating look at old wind-up toys, dolls, planes and trains. Six floors of the Victorian Kentucky home of university professor William Furnish and his wife are filled with them. Furnish speaks of them as works of art and about the way they reflect the culture of their times.

* I Love Christmas. TM Books/Video. 35 minutes. $9.95; Toys of the Past, 55 minutes. $19.95. (800) 892-2822.