Bearing the Weight of Justice

Spilled porridge, broken furniture--when you think about it, it’s hardly surprising to find little Goldilocks on trial for vandalism. The verdict? That’s up to the audience in Imagination Station’s comic twist on “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” at the newly restored Miles Memorial Playhouse in Santa Monica.

The reprise, which was a delight at the company’s former digs at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, has smiles to offer, but it’s not as smoothly staged this time, and sight lines are a problem.

The ensemble cast hasn’t found the key to making the show an entirely comfortable fit on the much smaller playhouse stage, which has the added disadvantage of one-level seating on folding chairs. Any time the actors lie down or sit, only the front rows can see much of what’s happening.

The story is still a kick, however. Mama, Papa and Baby Bear (Sarah Bell, John Bigham and Shari Getz) take off into the woods to frighten hikers into dropping their snack-stuffed backpacks. They hook up with pals Hair E. Bear (Jake Eberle) and Grizzle (Dwight R. Williams) for some picnic games and cool dancing, too.

The bears’ frolic is interspersed with what’s going on back at home: Goldilocks enters the bears’ house with the usual results. Brandt does a nice job of miming all the action, although different staging would give a better sense of movement and changing space.

When the bears return, they’re alarmed at the signs of a break-in--”I feel so, so violated,” Mama Bear says--and when they find the perpetrator asleep in Baby Bear’s bed, they have her arrested. After Goldilocks is picked out of a police lineup, in a zany sight gag with other cast members all in identical Goldilocks garb, the action shifts to the courtroom.

Eberle plays lawyers Merry Pason and Sylvester Fox, shifting between the defense and the prosecution as Goldilocks and the Bear family give their conflicting accounts of what happened, reenacted for the audience.

In Papa Bear’s version, Goldilocks is a chain-saw-, jackhammer-wielding maniacal destroyer; when Goldilocks tells it, she’s just a sweet little girl, lost and hungry.

The cast is fine, although longtime ensemble member Jon Reed is missed--he’s taking a hiatus to pursue other performance ventures. The timing isn’t as crisp and tight this time, however, a sign that the company hasn’t come to terms with the very different space, and the youngest audience members get restless during the talkier second half of the show.

* “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” Miles Memorial Playhouse, Reed Park, Lincoln at Wilshire boulevards, Santa Monica, Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m.; dark March 13. Ends March 28. $6-$8. (310) 854-4196. Running time: 1 hour.

Symphonic Savvy: Pasadena Symphony’s family-friendly day Saturday begins at 9 a.m. at Pasadena Civic Auditorium with its free interactive “Musical Circus” for children ages 12 and under.

Attendees will be able to toot a flute and a trumpet and try out violins, cellos and clarinets, and they’ll hear an introduction to the instruments by junior and senior high school music students.

Featured soprano Anita Protch and pianist Paul Romero will then perform with members of the symphony, and audience volunteers will be selected to dress up like divas and pianists and see what being on stage feels like.

Participants may return to the auditorium that evening to hear 16-year-old violinist Karen Gomyo, one of the youngest artists to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions (at age 15). She’ll make her West Coast debut with the symphony in an all-Russian concert conducted by Jorge Mester. It’s not as pricey as you might think: The symphony has a new, low-cost ticketing policy for children: $3 for ages 5 to 12, $7.50 for ages 13 through high school.

* “Musical Circus,” Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Saturday, 9 a.m., free; reservations not required. (626) 793-7172. Concert, Saturday, 8 p.m., $18-$60 per adult; $3 to $7.50 per child. (626) 584-8833.