THEATER REVIEW:Kids’ play goes on tour

There’s something rotten in the state of Newport Beach’s water. This looks like a job for Detective Coral Reef.

Over the past four decades, South Coast Repertory has brought live theater to nearly 2 million elementary school students with its annual Educational Touring Production. This year, with environmental quality so prominent in the news, the repertory has revived one of its most popular projects.

“Bad Water Blues: A Coral Reef Mystery” will to the public in a special presentation at 5 p.m. Jan. 29 on the repertory’s Julianne Argyros Stage. But youngsters at Pomona Elementary School in Costa Mesa had the chance to preview the show last week.

And judging by the reaction of the second- and third-graders, the repertory once again has a hit on its hands.

This time around, the blend of entertainment and environmental preservation is mixed with popular culture. Seems the winner of the hit TV show “American Tidal” has lost her voice and Coral Reef is on the case, seeking a solution to the pollution.

With a little help from her undersea friends, Coral teaches children how they can help keep our oceans clean for future generations. It’s a “message show,” but there’s a lot of mirth in the message, updated by Richard Hellesen and Michael Silversher from their original production of six years ago.

For director John-David Keller, this is his 35th season staging the Educational Touring Production. Keller also directs the theater company’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol,” which recently finished its 27th season.

Kacie Brown channels private eyes of the past from the Late Show for her deft interpretation of Coral Reef. Sol Castillo — familiar to fans of the repertory’s “La Posada Magica,” in which he’s performed for the past seven years — is a hoot as the goofball Low Coastal Eddy, among other characters.

The jive-talking Thelonius Monkfish is snappily performed by Justin Figueroa, while Leena Lambert delights as the “Tidal” winner and a denizen of the deep called Offshore Flo. Except for Brown, all the actors take on a number of different characters. Even stage manager Martin Noyes gets into the act, while the colorful costumes are the work of the company’s resident designer Angela Balogh Calin.

Following the Jan. 29 performance, “Bad Water Blues” will be staged at 10 a.m. Feb. 15 in Phillips Hall at Santa Ana College and at 1 and 3 p.m. May 12 in South Coast Repertory’s Nicholas Studio during the Orange County Imagination Celebration.

Between now and mid-May, the repertory will take the 45-minute play to local schools as an object lesson in ecology. Booking information is available by calling (714) 708-5500.