'Treasure Island' is a hit with young audiences

This Tuesday's episode of American Idol had the hopefuls singing songs from their respective birth years, giving the shaky Kristy Lee Cook the chance to redeem herself. Cook shrewdly chose Lee Greenwood's God Bless The U.S.A., a song that on a show called American Idol is virtually critic-proof.

Theatre Exchange's production of Treasure Island, currently playing on the Thalian Hall, goes down like a swig of Kristy Lee Cook. Although the show doesn't pander to the audience as some will say Cook did, Treasure Island, too, is certainly critic-proof.

Robert Louis Stevenson's tale of adventure on the high seas is a classic, of course. While 90-minute theatrical or cinematic adaptations can fully embody the gravity of one of our worldly classics, the intention behind the effort of Theatre Exchange is plainly appealing.

Treasure Island is a show for children. The success of such an endeavor is, then, based on a child's reaction. As anyone with a child knows, children don't applaud when they approve. They stand to get a better look.

On opening night, there was a lot of standing. Ten minutes before the show began, one tri-corner, hatted lil' buccaneer attempted to rouse the audience with his self-composed tune, "When are the pirates going to be here?" When they arrived, he stood.

Children stood for the pirates and a parrot. Children stood for the swashbuckling sword fights. One hopes, too, that children stood at the idea that maybe in a few years they would be standing onstage in a pirate costume.

Stevenson's treasured tale is one of the earliest coming-of-age stories, the story of a young serving-boy named Jim Hawkins (Garrett Thompson) who falls into the opportunity to become a pirate. He joins the gang of Long John Silver (Peter Jurasik) on the quest to the booty and buried bounty of Treasure Island.

The messages of Treasure Island run amok, and while some children are certainly reading more than before the era of Harry Potter, a trip to the theater this weekend may well be worth it just to incite the notion that Professor Snape wasn't the first morally ambiguous character ever written.

The sets by Scenic Asylum and Terry Collins are constructed with the whimsy of a children's playground.

If parental glee isn't enough to keep the adults smiling, there are also the nuanced performances of a peg-legged Jurasik; Justin Smith as the rough-and-tumble pirate Morgan; Steve Vernon as the bat-blind pirate Pew; and feathered friend Tessa Jarden as the parrot Captain Flint.

And parents, be warned. Toys are not so inconspicuously for sale in the lobby. Bring your wallets.