It loses some luster, but ‘Snowy Day’ musical still preserves winter wonderland

You might as well store an icicle on a lighted gas burner as try to find a musical-theater equivalent for the beloved picture book “The Snowy Day.” The 1962 children’s tale by Ezra Jack Keats tells of hushed awe and solitude: Celebrating a recent snowfall, the book’s young protagonist, Peter, wanders alone through a nearly deserted winter landscape, making snow angels, sliding down a slope and engaging in other simple pleasures. Obvious song-and-dance material, this is not.

So it’s no surprise that the musical “The Snowy Day,” making its world premiere at Adventure Theatre, turns out to be a different creature from Keats’s Caldecott Medal-winning creation. Writer David Emerson Toney and composer/lyricist Darius Smith ratchet up Peter’s boist­erousness quotient and pair him with some quirky acquaintances, including a snow pirate (move over, Jack Sparrow!), an anxious snowman and an acrophobic bird who’s fond of succotash. With these eccentric companions, the boy plunges into a few mild adventures and a Caribbean-flavored dream. It’s a story line that might strike adult ticket holders as somewhat arbitrarily plotted, but younger audiences will find the production — given perky momentum by director Jessica Burgess — both funny and enthralling. (Adventure recommends the show for all ages.)

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Widely recognized as the first picture book to feature a black child as the central character, Keats’s classic featured eye-catching gouache-and-collage illustrations. Echoes of its art show up in the musical, which is the second installment in Adventure’s “African American Adventure Series” of world premieres. Timothy J. Jones’s cityscape set, complete with rich-toned trapezoidal buildings and a lonely streetlight, pays homage to the book’s sty­lized images. And costume designer Deb Sivigny supplies a nifty version of the red hooded snowsuit that made the page-bound Peter look like an adorable elf.

Filling the snowsuit here is actor Alan Wiggins, whose face and body language radiate childish ebullience — a suitable trait for a character who calls himself “Peter the Great,” as this young fellow does. Encouraged by his mother (a buoyant Giselle Le­Beau-Gant), Peter hits the wintry streets, where he befriends a snowman named Harold (Calvin McCullough) and a garrulous bird named Roberta (a lively Lauren Dupree), who is walking south for the winter because she’s afraid of heights. Appearing with a ship, just in time to save Harold from melting, is the growly but amiable Snow Pirate (LeBeau-Gant) who wears a shiny white coat and tricorn hat.

Another significant character is, of course, the snow, which is more hinted at than depicted. There’s a pile of white stuff on the stage, and lighting designer Jason Aufdem-Brinke supplies some graceful blizzard effects. And we hear the snow now and then: Smith’s pleasingly jazzy score includes chiming sounds that evoke crisp cold. Toney(who’s a distinguished local actor as well as a playwright) has also written some lines for talking snowflakes.

The snowflake dialogue is a tad goofy, but the script does contain some gentle wit: “The North Pole or the end of the block — whichever comes first!” cries Peter, who has an explorer’s soul but obeys his mother. All in all, the play’s humor and tunefulness are less satisfying than the picture book’s mood of quiet wonder — but the book will always be there for re-reading.

Wren is a freelance writer.

The Snowy Day

based on the book by Ezra Jack Keats; book by David Emerson Toney; music and lyrics, Darius Smith. Directed by Jessica Burgess; choreography, Kurt Boehm; orchestrations, John Cornelius; assistant lighting designer, Sean Forsythe; sound, Kenny Neal; properties, Andrea “Dre” Moore; puppet design, Lisi Stoessel. One hour. Through Feb. 12 at Adventure Theatre, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo. Call 301-634-2270 or visit www.adventuretheatre.org.