SM Playhouse Offers Original Musical Comedy

Santa Monica Playhouse will present “Actually Hansel and Gretel and Other Awesome Tales” beginning on Saturday, May 11 at 3 p.m. at the playhouse, 1211 Fourth Street.
Chris DeCarlo and Evelyn Rudie’s Actors’ Repertory Theatre unveils the real versions of three favorite stories in this world premiere musical comedy based on “Hansel & Gretel,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Kamikakushi” (a classic Japanese folktale), presented in Santa Monica Playhouse’s signature commedia-circus style.
The production is suitable for anyone between the ages of two and 102, and the audience becomes part of the adventure.
The show answers questions from favorite stories, such as what actually happened with Hansel and Gretel in that candy house, what really took place between the Little Mermaid and the handsome prince under the sea, and what “Kamikakushi” really means.
Directors DeCarlo and Serena Dolinsky collaborate to take audiences on a true theatrical journey, rooted in traditional storytelling and exploding into a multimedia event of epic proportions, as the troupe of seven actors portray dozens of separate characters and physically create a panoply of spaces and places, including a candy house good enough to eat, an oceanscape with mermaids and fishies aplenty and a mountain with gypsies, gentle dragons and a giant, talking peach.
No frightening witches or evil monsters are to be found, just a wonderfully heartwarming and hilarious array of zany, lovable heroes, heroines, adventurers and magic-makers who prove that although the grass may be greener on the other side of the fence, the ocean bluer on the other side of the gulf stream, and the air clearer on the other side of the mountain, home is always where the heart is.
“Actually Hansel and Gretel” runs Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Sundays at 12:30 p.m. through June 23. For tickets ($10.50 for children under 12, $12.50 for adults), call (310) 394-9779 ext. 2. There will be photo opportunities with the actors after each show.