By Celia Wren
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Economic news making you hyperventilate? You can relocate to a far less frightening reality by visiting "Busytown," the genial, mild-mannered children's musical that has opened Imagination Stage's 2008-09 season. A cheery valentine to the quotidian and adapted from the work of iconic author and illustrator Richard Scarry, "Busytown" conjures up a world where a really serious crisis is the delayed arrival of a birthday card, or the brazen theft of a bunch of bananas.

Billed as suitable for kids as young as 2 -- the first time Imagination Stage has aimed at such a half-pint-size audience -- "Busytown" boasts a meringue-light book by Kevin Kling and tuneful oompah-oompah music by Michael Koerner (who collaborated with Kling on the lyrics). Krissie Marty's benignly humorous direction gives a nod to vaudeville, silent-film comedy and other sarsaparilla-flavored entertainment, adding a hint of slapstick zaniness to the story line's blithe banality.

After all, Scarry's "What Do People Do All Day?" -- the picture book on which the musical is based -- is a guidebook to the commonplace, for the pajamas-with-feet set: Happy animals, standing in for humans, demonstrate what policemen do, where bread comes from and how airports work. Kling has woven strands of this edifying material into a story centered on the curious young cat Huckle (Matthew A. Anderson), who tries to bake a cake for a party thrown by his pal Betsy Bear (Emily Levey). Meanwhile, Huckle's best friend, Lowly Worm (a puppet), acts as a letter courier, traveling by boat in the company of the cuddly pirate Captain Salty (Don Kenneth Mason).

Scenic designer Tom Donahue, properties designer Andrea "Dre" Moore and costumer Yvette M. Ryan have, sensibly, streamlined the hectic Scarry visual aesthetic. Busytown here is a simple tuft of slanting buildings, whose cozy domesticity seems to suit the characters' colorful retro garb -- like the pink 1950s frock worn by Mom Cat (Sara Brunow, in cat glasses) or the baroquely beflowered hat favored by Grandma (Tiernan Madorno). Furry ears and tails (and, in the case of some diligent construction-worker pigs, snouts) provide token signs of species.

Low-key bits of theatrical wizardry illustrate Busytown's bustling activity. Stalks of corn rear up magically from the ground under the ministrations of Farmer Alfalfa (Michael John Casey). And in one scene, quirky automobiles, including a pickle car, whiz down what might be a Scarryfied version of the Beltway. (Designer Donahue, playing with scale, makes some of the vehicles doll-size.)

But it's the actors, each of whom shoulders multiple roles, who generate most of the show's cruise-controlled momentum. Radiating enthusiasm and puzzlement by turns, Anderson makes Huckle an endearing rapscallion. Mason packs wit and zest into Sergeant Murphy (who zips around on a tricycle) and the world-traveled Captain Salty ("I've had jam in Siam/Tea in Tripoli/Cherries in Buenos Aires/Cheese in Belize . . .").

Other acting highlights include Casey's twitchy post office staffer and Madorno's feisty-though-doddering Grandma. The performers bring calm enthusiasm to the vaudevillian and Chaplinesque stage business that director Marty has devised: When firemen show up to douse a not-very-scary blaze, two of them try to carry a hose in opposite directions. The onstage presence of music director and accompanist Keith Tittermary, sitting at a piano and wearing a bowler hat, has a similar old-fashioned charm.

Because the narrative is so unsophisticated and the suspense quotient so low, "Busytown" is probably best suited to younger children. Parents will be equipped to know whether their 2-year-old belongs in the fledgling audience Imagination Stage has envisaged; children older than 6 might well be bored.

Busytown, adapted by Kevin Kling from Richard Scarry's "What Do People Do All Day?" Music by Michael Koerner; lyrics by Kling and Koerner. Directed by Krissie Marty; lighting, Jason Arnold; assistant choreographer, Don Kenneth Mason. Through Nov. 2 at Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda. Call 301-280-1660 or visit http://www.imaginationstage.org.