THEATER'S CIRCLE OF LIFE HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOUR CHILD IS READY FOR THE CURTAIN TO RISE.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

`The Lion King'' is back in town.

Your 7-year-old knows the DVD of the animated movie front to back, and now she's pestering you to take her to the live version.

But is she ready for a 2 1/2-hour performance? And at a cost of $80 per ticket, are you, as a parent, ready to brave the experiment? And to potentially swallow the cost of the ticket and your own enjoyment if she gets scared or squirmy?

As any producer of theater for young audiences will tell you, there are no sure-fire formulas to determine how old a child must be in order to get maximum enjoyment out of a live experience.

There are factors to consider, certainly. Girls may be theater-ready earlier than boys, and school-age children accustomed to the structure of a daily, nap-free routine may be more inclined to sit still for a story that lasts longer than an hour.

Particularly one with music, dance and technical wonderment.

Still, every child is different. And even the most mature attention span can quickly be tossed into the nearest trash receptacle if a young viewer isn't enjoying the product.

Engaging a child's imagination

``I liken the process of watching a kid watch a theatrical performance to watching a kid read,'' says Diane Namm, whose hourlong play ``Red Chief!'' is playing at Santa Monica's Promenade Playhouse. ``The child has to be engaged and will use his imagination. They bring their imagination, and they respond to characters in a way that's very similar to reading.''

Angelenos enjoy a myriad of live entertainment options for children of all ages -- from regular children's theater programming at the Falcon Theatre and Theatre West's Storybook Theatre, all the way up to Center Theatre Group's Performance for Los Angeles Youth (P.L.A.Y.), which produces plays appropriate for elementary-school audiences and teens alike.

Companies like the Actors' Gang, the Geffen Playhouse, Open at the Top and the Santa Monica Playhouse routinely produce children's theater, many times on the same set as their mainstage offering, and venues like the Kodak Theatre and Staples Center bring in kid-friendly touring shows, often with ``... Live! or ``... On Ice!'' at the end of the title and based on a popular TV show or animated film.

At many of these offerings, children squealing, talking back, even occasionally roaming around the audience is expected and won't be disruptive to the actors on stage or to fellow audience members.

After all, their kids are probably doing the same thing.

By the time a child reaches the age of 7 or 8, however, parents who are theatergoers are often ready to start experimenting with more-sophisticated fare. With longer shows, audience expectations change, and ticket prices tend to climb.

The pickings are especially plentiful this time of year. In addition to ``The Lion King,'' which arrives this weekend at the Pantages Theatre, the Southland will get Matthew Bourne's ballet version of ``Edward Scissorhands,'' ``Slava's Snowshow'' from former Cirque du Soleil clown Slava Polunin and a new dance piece from director/choreographer Debbie Allen. And of course, with the chillier weather comes a ``Christmas Carol'' or a ``Nutcracker'' on every corner.

Which is most fitting? How much of it can your child -- or, for that matter, your pocketbook -- reasonably handle?

``There are some parents who will take their kids to almost anything at almost any age because they feel their children will absorb what is there for them to absorb and ignore what isn't,'' says Corey Madden, producing director for CTG's P.L.A.Y. program.

``I have a friend who takes her daughter just to the first act,'' she adds. ``Even my children, who are 10 and 15, sometimes just make it through the first act of plays. ... The best thing for parents to do is to try to see what their attention span is like.''

Open at the Top Productions at the NoHo Arts Center, is currently producing a two-hour, family-friendly version of Gilbert and Sullivan's ``The Pirates of Penzance'' set on Coney Island. Younger audiences have taken to it, according to artistic director James Mellon. And the upcoming children's show ``Yo Ho Ho, a Pirates Christmas'' -- performed on the same set -- will skew younger. ``Children will tell you what scares them if you listen,'' says Mellon.

Know the scare quotient early

``As a parent, you don't want to be sitting in the middle of something, and all of a sudden realize something is inappropriate. Then it's too late,''

says Mellon, who with partner Kevin Bailey introduced their twins, Will and Nora, to children's theater productions at the age of 2. The twins saw ``Beauty and the Beast'' at 5, and ``The Lion King'' at 7. Their fathers were pleased to realize that the hyenas that had terrified them in the animated movie weren't as frightening on stage.

``Nora was able to talk to me, to tell me they weren't scary in person, that you can tell they were actors,'' says Mellon. ``They loved `The Lion King,' so we took them to see `Tarzan,' and again they were not scared. I always try to see something first to decide if something is going to have too much excitement or too much stimuli.''

That progression -- from ``Beauty'' to ``Lion King'' and, if they're engaged, on to ``Tarzan'' and ``Mary Poppins'' -- is precisely the sequence through which Disney's theatrical branch hopes to break in new generations of theatergoers.

Actually, the initiation can start even earlier for preschoolers who attend the touring ``Disney Live'' shows or via one of the 20- to 30-minute productions at one of the theme parks.

For a ``transition'' experience like ``Beauty'' or ``Lion King,'' parents are urged to use the ``6 and over'' warning as a guideline, gauge their own child's patience and fright capacity, and act accordingly.

``The length of one of our Broadway shows is 2 1/2 hours to 2 hours and 45 minutes,'' says David Schrader, managing director of Walt Disney Theatricals. ``When I'm in one of our theaters and I see a parent struggling with his kid who really needs to go the restroom or loses focus in the middle of the second act, I feel bad for them.

``There's no rating system for live theater,'' Schrader adds, ``but any of our shows would be what people would expect to come from the Walt Disney Co. It's more about being focused and being kind to yourself and to the people around you.''

In addition to season-long children's programing, the Falcon Theatre typically offers one or two full-length productions per season that kids and adults might both enjoy.

As the theater's administrator of children's theater development, Joseph Leo Bwarie writes or directs many of the fairy tales.

As an actor and member of the Troubadour Theatre Company -- the clowning troupe in residence at the Falcon -- Bwarie participates in potential ``transition'' shows as well.

``It seems like once they get a couple of one-hour, no-intermission kids' shows under their belts, kids are hip to what they're going to,'' Bwarie says. ``They understand that they can participate and at the same time be witnesses to what's happening.

``Then at 8, 9, 10 at the latest, they're completely ready to sit there quietly, have the intermission and then come back. I see it all the time with the Troubadour shows.''

``What you want to try to do is empower that part of young people to feel they are legitimately a partner in the live performing experience,'' adds Madden. ``They get really hooked in when they feel like they're part of it.''

Evan Henerson, [phone]

[e-mail]

Family-friendly fare

A selection of upcoming theater and dance productions, family suitable, but not for all ages:

Play: ``The Lion King''

Best for ages: 6 and older

Where: Pantages Theatre

Dates: Nov. 18-Jan. 7

Tickets: $15 to $87; [phone], www.ticketmaster.com

What it's about: Julie Taymor directs the live adaptation of the 1994 musical about Simba, Scar, Nala and Mufasa and the battle for the pridelands.

Play: ``Edward Scissorhands''

Best for ages: 6 and older

Where: Ahmanson Theatre

Dates: Dec. 12-31

Tickets: $30 to $90; [phone], www.taperahmanson.com

What it's about: Director/choreographer Matthew Bourne (``Swan Lake,'' ``The Play Without Words'') adapts the Tim Burton film about a boy, stuck in suburbia. with shears where his digits should be.

Play: ``Slava's Snowshoe''

Best for ages: 8 and up

Where: Royce Hall, UCLA campus

Dates: Dec. 12-Jan. 7

Tickets: $42 to $68; [phone], www.ticketmaster.com, www.uclalive.org

What it's about: Music, clowning and plenty of the white fluffy stuff, starring Slava Polunin, who toured with Cirque du Soleil's ``Alegria.''

Play: ``The Bayou Legend''

Best for ages: 10 and older

Where: UCLA's Kaufman Hall

Dates: Dec. 13-21

Tickets: $15 to $38.50; [phone], www.debbieallendance

academy.com

What it's about: Debbie Allen choreographs and directs this adaptation of Ibsen's ``Peer Gynt,'' set in a magical world of trolls, alligators and creatures of the bayou.

Play: ``JACKson Frost: A Holiday Fable With Music by Jacksons A-Z''

Best for ages: 8 and older

Where: Troubadour Theatre Comapany, Falcon Theatre

Dates: Dec. 8-30

Tickets: $25 to $37.50; [phone], www.falcontheatre.com

What it's about: The story of Jack Frost told with music from every conceivable Jackson (Michael and brothers, Jackson Browne, you name it).

Play: ``The Pirates of Penzance''

Best for ages: 8 and older

Where: Open at the Top Productions, NoHo Arts Center

Dates: Now through Dec. 10.

Tickets: $15 to $35; [phone], www.thenohoartscenter.com

What it's about: Gilbert and Sullivan operetta about a Pirate King, a ward and a Modern Major General is set on Coney Island in the 1930s.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Kids' theater soars

Choosing age-appropriate shows for the younger set

(2 -- 4 -- color) Children look at a ``Peter and the Wolf'' poster before a performance at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank. The familiar story has been translated into a stage production. Disney's ``The Lion King,'' left, returns to the Pantages, and ``Edward Scissorhands,'' below left, comes to the Ahmanson's stage as a ballet choreographed by Matthew Bourne.

Matthew Simmons/Special to the Daily News

(5 -- color) Debbie Allen's ``The Bayou Legend,'' set in a magical world of trolls, alligators and creatures of the bayou, is recommended for ages 10 and up.

Box:

Family-friendly fare (see text)