Theater Review

Tom Titus

Summertime is when the kids come out to play. Shows for and about

children have been featured recently at the new Trilogy Playhouse and

Orange Coast College, and the Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse conducts an

annual summer theater program for disadvantaged youngsters.

Now the children’s theater bug has spread to the Newport Theater Arts

Center, where a young people’s fantasy entitled “My Emperor’s New

Clothes” opens tonight for two weekends.

Hopefully, this will be the start of an annual children’s show at

NTAC, according to the show’s director, Terri Miller Schmidt, and theater

publicist Jack Millis, who’s taking a role in the production.

In past years, Newport has mounted kid-themed shows such as “Tom

Sawyer” and “Snoopy,” which proved so successful that the group now plans

to present children’s shows on a regular basis.

“My Emperor’s New Clothes” is a twist on the traditional fairy tale by

the late playwright Larry Shue, who wrote the riotously funny “The

Foreigner” and the sillier comedy “The Nerd.” Shue creates a fictional

kingdom of Mango Chutney, wherein reside the emperor and his daughter,

Princess Farthingale.

The princess must marry a prince because that is what princesses do.

However, she is secretly in love with a commoner. The emperor decrees

that anyone who can convince him that something is real that actually is

not will be given his daughter and half the money in Mango Chutney. Also,

if anyone can weave the emperor a comfortable suit of clothes for an

upcoming parade, that person will get the other half of the country’s

cash.

You probably can guess what happens, but the fun will be seeing it,

and Newport has drawn on some familiar faces on the local stages to put

the show together. Damien Lorton, who directed the recent “Gypsy” at the

Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse, and Adriana Sanchez, who played the title

role, head the cast as the emperor and the princess.

Millis joins Darren Buckles, John Gillies and a host of children in

the 23-member cast. Lorton also doubles as musical director, with Kerri

Vickers handling the choreography.

Performances of “My Emperor’s New Clothes” will be given at 8 p.m.

Thursday through Saturday with matinees at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

through Aug. 6 at the Newport Theater Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive,

Newport Beach.

Tickets are $8, and reservations are being taken at (949) 631-0288.

Even South Coast Repertory is getting into the children’s theater act.

SCR’s Young Conservatory Players will present “Melodrama Madness” on the

Second Stage at 1 and 4 p.m. Aug. 19 and 20.

“Melodrama Madness” is a compilation of Victorian musical acts that

recreates life in the 1890s, and conservatory director Sheila Hillinger’s

intent was to “create a show much like audiences would have enjoyed in

the days of the English music halls when a variety of acts filled the

bill at every performance.”

The program will include “Vaudeville Olios” -- side acts and sketches

by magicians, poetry readers, opera singers and other typical

entertainers of the period. Then comes an old-fashioned melodrama,

complete with an audience sing-along.

Admission is $5 for adults and children. Call SCR at (714) 708-5555

for reservations.