
DATE: Tuesday, October 28, 1997             TAG: 9710250044

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: THINGS TO DO 

SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   75 lines

LIVE THEATER FOR THE LITTLE ONES

THIS IS NOT BROADWAY. That's clear when the play's director and producer steps onstage before the performance and shares some vital information.

``Hi,'' says Frankie Little Hardin. ``It's time to make my traditional potty-break announcement.''

Nope. This isn't Broadway. And that's exactly why I feel so comfortable here in my jeans, sandwiched between two almost-5-year-olds on a Saturday morning, waiting for the curtain to go up at the Generic Theater in Norfolk.

ChildsPlay, live theater for family audiences, is tailor-made for the elbow-high and wiggly set. At this, the last performance of the season's first play, we blended right in with a nearly full house of other grown-ups and children.

From October through May they offer eight shows: timeless folk tales, myths or stories from different cultures featuring the area's premier professional actors and guest artists and some original scripts. Shows last about an hour.

From outside, the building has an unassuming facade. It looks like once upon a time it might have been a warehouse. But inside, you buy your tickets, go around the corner and scramble up several tiers of 100 upholstered, red theater seats.

``Uh, oh,'' said Emma, warily eyeballing her seat - ``flip-flop'' chairs. The victim of a few fold-up mishaps, she gingerly perched all 36 pounds of herself on the edge.

Meanwhile, Drew agonized over the plot.

``Will there be a princess?'' he whispered, making a face. Then he was struck by another horrifying possibility. ``Will there be kissing?''

With a title like ``The Mouse Bride,'' I was sure there was potential for both. Drew sank into the flip-flop seat, resigned that he was about to be totally grossed out.

The beauty of these productions is the simple story line, the use of props that children adore - like the mouse puppet in this play - and the guarantee that audience members will be called upon to participate in the action and fill out the company. This performance required a host of mouse helpers, dancers and three grownups who reappeared in full costume, wigs and all.

I made a mental note to arrive a little earlier next time to claim seats closer to the stage. That way, participating would be easier and we'd have a clearer view of the action that happens at stage-front.

The set for this production, although minimalist, was complete with furniture and pretend food. We loved the colorful, period costumes, complete down to a magnificent red gown for the puppet mouse-turned-princess. Happily, Drew survived her transformation. (There was no kissing.) But 2-year-old Fiona Harper Winder from Goochland did not.

Thrilled at the mouse each time the puppet spoke from her tree nest, Fiona wailed inconsolably when the rodent fell into a pond and re-emerged in a puff of smoke as a human at the story's end.

But the players at this theater know kids and have a heart. As the audience filed out, the mouse came back out for a curtain call so little Fiona and anyone else who wanted to could meet the hairy actress.

There are seven more plays on 14 more Saturdays. And remember, the potty is off the lobby. ILLUSTRATION: CHILDSPLAY

``Rappin' Rapunzel,'' a ChildsPlay original show, returns in

January.

IF YOU GO

What: ChildsPlay at the Generic Theater

Where: The Generic Theater, 912 W. 21st St., Norfolk

When: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. two Saturdays each month; ``Song of the

Sun'' will be next, Nov. 8 and 15.

Tickets: $4 for everyone, general admission

Call: 461-2060 for reservations and information

Local's tip: ChildsPlay is available for on-site performances at

Hampton Roads schools.