KIDS WILL ENJOY `HANSEL AND GRETEL'S' JOURNEY.

Byline: David Mermelstein Correspondent

With the weather unseasonably warm, it really did feel like Christmas in July last week when the Los Angeles Opera opened its new production of Engelbert Humperdinck's ``Hansel and Gretel,'' directed by Douglas Fitch.

Sung in English rather than the original German, the production is clearly hoping to appeal to kids -- or at least to their parents.

Yet there's plenty in Fitch's approach to capture the interest of the child in us all. Moving decidedly away from the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale that inspired Humperdinck's densely orchestrated score -- here led by the rising young conductor Alan Gilbert -- Fitch's staging offers everything from luminescent toadstools to forest creatures that dwell only in the imagination to a witch who appears to be masquerading as Bette Davis in ``Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?''

The fun far outweighs the scares in this production, but parents should know that the opera runs to more than 2 hours, including a generous intermission.

For the most part, audiences won't have trouble understanding the sung English, but there are supertitles just in case. In any event, Richard Sparks' translation (commissioned expressly for this production) of the German libretto couldn't be easier to understand. Example: ``Being poor is far from funny/Life is lousy without money.''

As for Fitch's designs, heightened by Mark Jonathan's evocative lighting, they are an amalgam of the straightforward (the witch's gingerbread house, though cleverly constructed, is conventional looking) and the richly personal (his forest creatures are hybrid animals, a little bit ``E.T.,'' a little bit ``H.R. Pufnstuf'').

Fitch also employs some unexpected touches, like projecting close-up images of Hansel and Gretel's angry mother (soprano Luana DeVol) on the wall of their cottage before her arrival on stage. Not everyone will approve of the temporary amplification of DeVol's voice to accompany the images. The ``enhancement'' ends with the singer's actual entrance, but the effect is impressive -- for what child doesn't regard a cross parent as standing 10 feet tall and possessing a voice of doom?

Much of this production's success must be attributed to the cast, especially mezzo-soprano Lucy Schaufer as Hansel and soprano Maria Kanyova, making her company debut, as Gretel. Both disarmingly embody their characters, with Schaufer getting extra points for playing a boy. Their singing, too, is faultless, Kanyova positively glittering at times. Perhaps most impressively, their diction is consistently crisp, which is especially important given the intended audience.

Baritone Donnie Ray Albert, hale and resonant as the children's father, must also be commended for excellent diction. DeVol also acquits herself well, albeit in a less sympathetic role. In the small role of the Sandman, soprano Christine Brandes provides apt sparkle, and as the Witch, tenor Graham Clark is more bumbling and amusing than fearsome.

Having Gilbert in the pit is certainly a plus, because for all the antics on stage, this gifted conductor takes the playing utterly seriously. Lovers of the score will hear Gilbert gently acknowledge its indebtedness to Wagner, yet without ever calling attention to himself or in any way overshadowing the singers.

HANSEL AND GRETEL - Three stars

What: L.A. Opera presents Douglas Fitch's new production of Humperdinck's opera for children of all ages.

Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 2 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 9 and 17; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Dec. 2, 6 and 14.

Tickets: $30 to $220. [phone]. www.laopera.com.

In a nutshell: A new English translation and Fitch's imaginative, kid-friendly staging make this an ideal production for introducing children to opera.