Pinklalicious

The original cast of Pinkalicious. Photo by Vital Theatre.

BOTTOM LINE: If you have (or know) a girl between the ages of 3 and 10, you must see Pinkalicious.

There are few sure fire entertainment bets in New York (or anywhere else for that matter), but if there is a little girl in your life, there’s a pretty good chance she’ll adore Pinkalicious, the charming, fun, and very, very pink musical now in its third year at the Bleecker Street Theatre.

Based on the children’s books of the same name by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann, Pinkalicious gives kids a primer in the idea that there can be too much of a good thing. When Pinkalicious (Bridget Riley, in a performance so perky it actually hurt to watch) eats too many pink cupcakes and turns her hair pink, she’s thrilled - its a dream come true for this color-specific enthusiast. And then she eats another, and her whole body turns pink! With the help of her brother Peter (Eric Restivo, giving a tour de force rendition of the comic second, with a heaping plateful of musical theater skill) her best friend Alison, and a plateful of green vegetables (ewww), Pink gets back to herself and on to a healthier life.

I was worried about the show, not least because I was dragging my two sons with their female cousins, but Teresa K. Pond’s staging is lightning quick, bubbling with good cheer and energy. The clever design uses the simplest of stage magic to establish the color changes, and even the Nicktoon-saturated elementary kids at the show I saw were mesmerized as if it was the coolest of 3D animation. Despite the little-kid story, I never felt condescended to, and the subtle secondary plots featuring Pink’s father and her brother’s fey love of pink was well-handled and touching.

And to top it off, I caught my 9-year old son smiling and clapping along to the bouncy score. Score one for good theater! And it's family friendly, to boot.

(Pinkalicious plays at the Bleeker Street Theater, 45 Bleecker Street at Lafayette, every Saturday and Sunday at 1pm. Tickets are $29.50 and the running time is approximately fifty minutes. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit www.pinkaliciousthemusical.com or call 212.579.0528.)