'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie' at Seattle Children's Theater is a sweet romp

Theater review |

Preschoolers can be a tough crowd, given their propensity for squirming, making noise and wandering off.

But Seattle Children's Theater has long had a way to keep their attention: Dramatize a popular storybook. Stage it with colorful sets. Hire performers and directors who know what it takes to captivate those tots.

The formula works like a charm once again in "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," a jolly show adapted by Jody Davidson from a children's book written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond.

Rather like a "Cat in the Hat" for rodents, the plot of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" couldn't be simpler: while his mother is away, Boy (MJ Sieber) offers a hungry mouse (Don Darryl Rivera) a yummy cookie.

Mistake! As Boy quickly learns, this is "not your run-of-the-mill, fuzzy little mouse." Yup — he's an ingenious, hammy, hyperactive one — a champion mess-maker Boy can't get rid of.

To squeals and delighted laughter from the audience, adept director Rita Giomi and her cast uncork one slapstick gag after another on Jennifer Zyl's sunny, well-stocked set. Mouse devises much creative mischief with such mundane objects as pots, sponges (turned into skates), mustard and ketchup (which become art supplies), and, in a stroke of playtime daring and genius, a swinging light fixture.

He, and the anxious Boy, both get into some sticky jams — literally sticky, as in being glued to the floor.

There's no big lesson embedded in this mirthful mayhem — except that creativity can be a lot of fun, and wildly chaotic. And some mice have hidden talents.

Stieber and Rivera have their Abbott-and-Costello, straight man/buffoon rapport down. And many of the gags they and Giomi pull off have a lot of funny bits — though at an hour and 15 minutes (with intermission), the show is a mite long.

One of its best attributes is as a showcase for Rivera.

Shaped like a fireplug, garbed in loose clothing (by designer Heidi Ganser) and surrounded by super-size props (to make him look even shorter than he is), Rivera is an adorable whirlwind who meshes naughty with nice most appealingly.

And he pulls off some balletic shtick with panache.

In the past, Rivera (who is also a musician) has impressed in SCT's production of "High School Musical" and "The Wizard of Oz" (he was a great Mayor of Munchkin Land). Later in SCT's season he'll appear in a show that seems tailor-made for his comedic and musical gifts: "The Brementown Musicians."

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com