Arthur lives!

Young Chang

Arthur Read may be an aardvark, but he’s an aardvark who doesn’t like

wearing eyeglasses.

He suffers through hist first days of school, fears his teacher Mr.

Ratburn, tries to train his new puppy and has a younger sister named D.W.

with an imaginary friend who follows her everywhere.

So yeah, Arthur’s an aardvark. But overlooking that, he’s like any

other kid.

This is what makes the children’s book and television character

endearing enough to make children want to read more about him, said Anita

Mann, director of the musical “Arthur -- A Live Adventure,” which will

openTuesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

“There’s all sorts of things that Arthur deals with every day in his

life,” she said. “And the relationships are very defined . . . [the

characters] really have a real impact on each other that’s more like a

family unit.”

The live stage production of writer Marc Brown’s 1976 bedtime story

collection includes a cast of 17 actors and a show full of singing and

dancing. The television program has garnered Emmys, while books about the

lovable aardvark have sold almost 40 million copies.

“What we did was we took the show and the book and we read it as

though we were visualizing it,” Mann said. “We put it on stage as if they

were real people putting on a Broadway show.”

In one scene, Arthur and his friends learn about music. They go

through almost 100 years of music, dancing tap routines to ‘30s tunes,

“The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” ’40s hits, “The Twist,” ’60s pop and so

on.

“It’s a real fun kind of show,” Mann said.

Jeffrey Scudder, a Costa Mesa cast member who plays Mr. Ratburn, the

teacher, said he is drawn to the educational value of “Arthur.”

“It’s not just one of those shows that have no morals for the kids,”

he said.

Mann, an Emmy-award winning choreographer whose credits include the

“Miss America Pageant” and “Muppets Go Hollywood,” added that she tried

to stay true to Brown’s original characters.

“Because they’re so lovable,” she said. “The way they respond to

situations in a real way is so endearing.”

When Arthur and D.W. made an appearance at Borders Books, Music & Cafe

in Costa Mesa this week, it was the children who responded endearingly to

what they considered a celebrity visit.

They awaited the duo’s arrival and cheered and shrieked when the

costumed siblings finally arrived.

Becki Spatola, who visited Borders with 3-year-old son Kyle to meet

the characters, said she appreciates the different media Arthur comes in.

Sometimes Kyle will sit in front of the television with his Arthur

storybooks and compare the book with the episode, Spatola said.

Parent Suzy Griffen agreed that the characters and their real-life

situations help her child, Charlie, to read.

“There’s usually a good lesson in the stories, something the children

could learn from,” she said.

FYI

WHAT: “Arthur -- A Live Adventure”

WHEN: Tuesday through March 4. Show times will be 7 p.m. Tuesday to

Friday; 10:30 a.m., and 2 and 6 p.m. March 3; and 2 p.m. March 4

WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive,

Costa Mesa

COST: $16.50-$29.50. Discounts available.

CALL: (714) 740-7878