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From a director's standpoint, the hardest part of pulling off children's theater has little to do with the youngsters in the audience.

"The real challenge is finding stuff that can entertain the parents," says 25-year directing veteran Joe Banno.

Adventure Theatre's production of "Spot's Birthday Party" provided him with just that challenge. The show, which runs on weekends through Nov. 2 in the Glen Echo park theater, is based on Eric Hill's popular children's book series, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary. British children's author David Wood adapted the story of the yellow puppy's birthday party for the stage; he also wrote the score.

Banno began directing plays in the metropolitan area in the early 1980s and also reviews opera for The Washington Post. He and AT's Artistic Director Michael Bobbitt met in February at the premiere of Bobbitt's version of Scott Joplin's opera "Treemonisha" at D.C.'s Atlas Performing Arts Center.

"He mentioned that he had a project in mind and told me to call," Banno recalls, adding that despite having directed children's theater earlier in his career, the proposition surprised him.

Bobbitt acknowledges Banno is "known for doing very sort of aggressive in-your-face, avant-garde, sometimes shocking, possibly offensive theater."

Yet there was method to his apparent madness in choosing Banno to direct a show for preschoolers.

"One of our dirty little secrets is that we know we need to entertain the parents because if they're not entertained, they don't come back," he says. "I knew that someone like Joe would find every bit of humor that would keep the parents entertained."

July marked Bobbitt's fourth year at AT and during that time, he says he has sought to feature more productions for ages 5 and younger.

"They're the demographic that doesn't get the chance to see theater a lot," he says. "I think both because the parents think they're too young to see if it's not The Wiggles or something like that, and there aren't that many plays out there for them."

Always looking for age-appropriate material, Bobbitt jumped at the opportunity to produce "Spot's Birthday Party." He heard about it during an August 2009 workshop Wood led as part of an American Alliance for Theater and Education conference.

"I said to him then and there, ‘I'll do it, but only if I can be the U.S. premiere; no one else can do it the year I do it,'" Bobbitt remembers.

To acquire the rights, Bobbitt worked with Wood and both the British and U.S. branches of the Penguin Group, the series publisher. Initially, they expected to use the same sets, costumes and script as the 2000 production in London, but Bobbitt made changes that resulted in a play markedly different from the original.

Cutting the play to 50 minutes was among the first modifications.

"I guess kids in England are just really well-behaved for long periods of time because the original script is about a two hour-long play with an intermission," Banno says.

Dialogue had to be tweaked because of differences between British and American vocabulary. A game of "Freeze" the cast plays with the audience was called "Statue" in London and "presents" replaced the British term "parcels."

The music required adjustment as well. According to Banno, Wood's score was simple in its composition and only had a piano for accompaniment. To liven up the score, Bobbitt called on composer Aaron Broderick.

With the caveat that he remain true to the basic melodies and feel of the original songs, Broderick created arrangements that not only layered the music, but also gave each song a distinct sound.

"He transformed the score," says Banno. "Each song is now a stylistic parody: Jerry Lee Lewis, gospel tunes, a big band number. He orchestrated it all with electronic keyboards and samples."

Considering the popularity and integrity of the "Spot" series brand, the publishers and Wood had to approve everything from the costume redesigns to the score changes. Banno says this collaboration ensured the American version of the play would have a look and feel that is consistent with the books' imagery.

"Anybody who's read the ‘Spot' books will instantly recognize all the iconography on the stage," he says.

Changes aside, the play is intended to represent the spirit of any young child's birthday party. According to John Robert Keena, the 22-year-old actor who plays Spot, this means that it also is not linear.

"Every present leads to some little game, and then after that, we play some more games, cut the cake, everybody goes home and I go to bed," Keena says.

More unusual elements include interactive games with the audience and magic tricks like levitation by Marco the Magician, played by Danny Pushkin. The cast also puts on a play within a play when Spot receives a "Cinderella" storybook.

Keena is a Catholic University student who says he grew up on "Spot." Since 1997, he has performed at area venues including the Keegan Theatre and the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. The "Spot" experience has been a refreshing change from his roles in adult productions such as John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" and Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest."

"I really enjoy children's theater," says Keena. "It's always a nice little break from the uber-serious dramas I always end up doing."

Still, Keena recognizes the role requires a higher level of energy that must be maintained through the performance.

"Everything has to be exceptionally joyful and ecstatic no matter what happens – even if there are mistakes or if things suddenly get off-kilter or we have to improvise. Everything has to maintain that level of innocent joyousness," he says.

Because unrelenting enthusiasm might put off some adult audience members, Banno and his crew have tried to offer them other sources of amusement.

"It's like the old ‘Looney Tunes' cartoons," says Banno, "where there'll be a little word play or pop culture reference or just fun stuff for the adults to get and the kids will get it on an entirely different, more innocent level."

Something for everyone, indeed.

tforhecz@gazette.net

See "Spot's Birthday Party" at the Adventure Theatre, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, through Nov. 2. Tickets are $15. Call 301-634-2270 or visit www.adventuretheatre.org for show times and tickets.