EDMONTON — If there’s a secret subtext to Ann Hodges’ children’s version of The Barber of Seville it’s that pies make everything better.

Who can say she’s wrong? The Klondike gold rushers making their way to northerly Barrhead with literal dollar signs in their eyes at the very beginning of the hour-long production wouldn’t disagree. Pies are what keep young Rosie (Dionne Sellinger) in bondage to the scurrilous and jealous hotel owner Bart (Joel Klein) but they’re also what ultimately save her.

History hasn’t recorded what Rossini, the composer of the Barber of Seville, might have said about pies as a plot device, though it’s hard to believe he’d object. Fans of the original from which the Barber of Barrhead has been extracted might be horrified at the liberties taken by Hodges and her performers in this speed opera, but anyone with a sense of humour will get a kick from it. The mostly adult (with a few kids dotted throughout) crowd certainly did. Not just because of the streak of broad comedy running through it, but also the ingeniously witty way in which whole musical sections are cut, through interruption both physical and verbal.

This doesn’t mean that the vocal performances are treated similarly; the famous arias are still there in cleverly rewritten form. John Conlon is excellent as the boisterous, scheming jack-of-all-trades Figaro, Rob Clark as the lovestruck miner Al and Sellinger as the pie-making dynamo Rosie. Klein is appropriately dastardly, as well as clueless, in his role as the scheming owner of the Barrhead Inn. All four are opera pros and while their performance is geared to keeping the interest of younger ones the art isn’t lost in the process. The libretto has been changed to English, of course, and pop culture in jokes abound as the four make their way around a set made up of unadorned Christmas pines and a hotel front. It’s especially hilarious to hear such rising young talent dutifully sing the directions to a recipe for pie (Klein) or intone a deathless phrase like “what a load of poppycock!” (Clark)

It’s a fast-moving, cartoonish production that doesn’t stint in piling on the Klondike clichés. There’s a great deal of physicality, a few Three Stooges moments, enough action to make sure that the little ones won’t be bored. Special mention has to made of pianist Shannon Hiebert, who not only had to keep the soundtrack constantly going as the only musician, but also looked to be thoroughly enjoying herself in the process.

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Review

The Barber of Barrhead

Next plays this Friday, and Friday the 25th at 7 p.m., this Saturday, Sunday and Saturday the 26th at 2 p.m.

Where: TransAlta Arts Barns’ Westbury Theatre, 10330 84th Ave.

Tickets are $12.50 to $18 plus taxes, available at the Fringe Theatre Box Office, (780) 409 1910 or www.fringetheatre.ca.