CHILDREN’S THEATER REVIEW : A Stellar Fantasy With Spanish Accents : SCR’s Youth Conservatory Captures Message of Hope in ‘Marisol’s Christmas’

COSTA MESA —  What do a beach ball, a little girl, a stranded comet, Fernando Valenzuela and Jose Canseco have in common? They’re winning ingredients in one of the most enjoyable--and least insular--productions that South Coast Repertory’s Young Conservatory Players have done to date.

In “Marisol’s Christmas,” written by the SCR’s literary associate Jose Cruz Gonzalez, a homeless girl from Mexico waits with her father in an inner-city park for her mother to arrive. It’s Christmas Eve and Marisol (Michelle Caravia) is unhappy in the cold and dirty surroundings. “I don’t like it here, Papi,” she says.

To soothe her, Papi (David Franco) spins a fantasy about a Cometa (Akemi Royer) who falls to Earth and feels lost and lonely. An unusual assortment of cosmic characters help send Cometa back into orbit. Through Cometa’s plight, Marisol learns that there’s hope even in the most difficult of circumstances.

The sun is Old Viejo Sol (Justin Walvoord), a Don Quixote figure. The planet Saturn (Michelle Ary) is a vain beauty contestant in the Miss Universe pageant. There’s Globo (Justin Carmack), a surfboarding beach ball and Gravity (Coletta Garrett), who dances to a rap beat.

Senorita Tierra (Maria P. Figueroa), the Earth, sings a haunting song, and a lost Christmas Package (Justin Lo) turns into Fernando Valenzuela at Dodger Stadium pitching the comet to Oakland A’s slugger Jose Canseco (this is after all, a fantasy) so that he can send it hurtling into space.

Youth Conservatory productions, performed by children age 10 to 17 and sometimes, as here, by a few adult professionals, are generally well-staged and professionally designed. The young actors are well-trained in stage basics; that they are amateurs is evident, however, in the surface readings given in what are usually adaptations of classics from literature such as “Charlotte’s Web,” “Tom Sawyer” and “Cinderella.”

This production, directed by Diane Doyle, is a departure in many ways, not least in the cast’s ethnic and racial diversity and the inner-city Los Angeles setting that brings a frisson of reality to the theater’s upscale clientele. Rather than alienating the audience, however, the play draws viewers in with central characters that are easily identified with, lively humor and warming bursts of Spanish that punctuate the English dialogue.

Engaging performances, particularly by Franco, Caravia and Royer, are another strength. Caravia, a tiny, dark-haired sprite, slips into Marisol’s skin with unusual conviction in one so young. Finally, the play’s depiction of familial love and the message of hope in the face of current economic woes--that anyone willing to struggle for the American dream will find it--makes this a heartwarming holiday treat, indeed.

* “Marisol’s Christmas” runs through Sunday at South Coast Repertory, Second Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Performances Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 4 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 and 4 p.m. (714) 957-4033; $8 to $10. Running time: 45 minutes.