THEATER REVIEW:

What’s the difference between boogers and broccoli? Kids don’t like broccoli.

If the youthful playgoers take away anything from “Imagine,” South Coast Repertory’s latest Theater for Young Audiences production, it probably will be that juvenile joke. It’s certainly retold enough during the show’s brief running time.

While there, however, kids will learn a valuable lesson in friendship — real and imaginary — from Doug Cooney’s entertaining, if occasionally inaccessible, story, amplified by director Stefan Novinski’s colorful presentation.

“Imagine” focuses on a boy (James Michael Lambert) who discards his imaginary friend (Brett Ryback) only to find himself discarded — in a box of crayons. The faux friend, meanwhile, attaches himself to another kid (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) for a series of out-of-this-world adventures.

There are three other actresses who do double, triple and quadruple duty in a variety of supporting roles, the most impressive being Jamey Hood, at her best as an effervescent purple crayon. Meaghan Boeing and Diana Burbano complete the cast, primarily as a pair of predatory princesses.

Cooney delves into a youngster’s private world as he details the problems of introverted children and an imaginary friend who, at least for staging purposes, appears more real than either of them.

Ryback excels as the mythical T-Rex, delivering a three-dimensional, emotional performance, miffed at being sidelined by Lambert’s character but excited at the prospect at sharing new adventures with Gardner.

Of course, the two real kids, each in need of a living, breathing friend, are bound to connect.

Against a splendidly colorful series of backdrops by Donna Marquet and some eye-catching costumes by Angela Balogh Calin, the show sparkles visually even if some of its aspects lack clarity. The segment involving the “princesses,” for instance, could easily have been discarded for a tighter production.

Musical director and arranger Deborah Wicks La Puma, working with composer David O’s bouncy score, keeps the atmosphere light and airy, assisted nicely in that regard by Sara Wilbur’s choreography. The performers — Ryback and Hood in particular — bring an infectious comical presence.

SCR’s Theater for Young Audiences program is designed to pique youngsters’ imaginations, and “Imagine” will accomplish this goal with a flourish.

 IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Imagine”

WHERE: South Coast Repertory, Julianne Argyros Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

WHEN: 2, 4:40 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday through June 15 (with one Friday performance at 7 p.m. June 13)

COST: $20 to $27

CALL: (714) 708-5555

A seaworthy “Anything Goes” at NTAC

Start naming musicals born in the 1930s that still are revived regularly today, and you stop at two — George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” and Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes.”

The latter, in particular, has been treated to a plethora of local revivals, and for good reason. While the plot is creaky at best, the Porter score is a musical all-star game, borrowing numbers from the composer’s other hit shows.

The latest producing group to take playgoers on a voyage back to the 1930s is the Newport Theater Arts Center, where “Anything Goes” is showing its age in a most delightful fashion. Director Larry Watts and musical director Mike Walker have collaborated on a glittering piece of cotton candy topped by some superior tap choreography from Nancy Isbell.

This particular voyage braves some choppy waters in the early going as its performers gather their sea legs and accustom themselves to the stylings of the period, but once under way, it’s smooth sailing both musically and comically.

Heading the cast is Cate Conroy’s delicious performance as the showgirl/evangelist Reno Sweeney. Conroy glows in the moody “I Get a Kick Out of You” solo and heads up a rousing first-act closing rendition of the title number with all hands — and tapping feet — on deck. Times are tough, though — she only has three Angels (Sherissa Garr, Katie Scott and Jessica Mayorga) rather than the prescribed four.

Christopher Peduzzi as the jilted Billy Crocker pursuing his engaged dream girl, Sara Grandpre, turns in an earnest and imaginative performance. Grandpre displays a splendid set of vocal cords, particularly in “All Through the Night.”

As usual, the comedy leads commit grand larceny, stealing the show with alacrity. Kyle Myers as the machine gun-toting Moonface Martin wreaks comic vengeance along with bludgeoning the English language, while Adriana Sanchez provides excellent support as his sexy sidekick with a voice you want to hear more of.

Cutting a particularly comic caper is Wade Wooldridge as the titled Englishman temporarily attached to Grandpre’s character. Dawn Vasco is splendid as his prospective mother-in-law, while Stefan Berglund does a credible Mr. Magoo interpretation as he stumbles drunkenly around the ship in search of his glasses.

The cutest performer in the cast is Peaches Greene, a lovable canine owned by James Greene, who plays the hoodwinked bishop, and squired around the ship by Vasco. Twin fifth-graders Caroline and Christina Quigg elicit chuckles as the bishop’s card-playing Chinese converts.

The theater’s front lobby has been greatly expanded, and one might believe the stage has also, judging by Bill Cole’s elaborate settings. Watts and Tom Phillips have created some splendid period costumes, while Mitch Atkins handles the tricky lighting chores.

“Anything Goes” takes its audiences on a particularly long voyage — back to 1934 and the heyday of Cole Porter, the most prolific composer of his period. It’s a seaworthy voyage at the Newport Theater Arts Center.

IF YOU GO:

WHAT: “Anything Goes”

WHERE: Newport Theater Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., 2 p.m. Sundays at 2 p.m. until April 27

COST: $20

CALL: (949) 631-0288

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews appear Thursdays.