"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" was a hit with the audience Wednesday, June 27, during the matinee performance.

In this production, the classic tale of Tom Sawyer comes to life through song and dance, with company numbers that pull the audience right into the excitement.

The Lyceum Theater itself, with its "old-time" charm and looks, is the perfect setting for such a tell. It is quite easy to picture young Tom Sawyer running amok the streets of Arrow Rock, creating mischief with the townspeople.

John Kinney brings to the stage a highly believable performance as Tom Sawyer. With his boyish looks, Kinney held the audience in the palm of his hands. From his first solo number "Here's My Plan," Kinney made the audience fall in love with him, especially the women.

Also pulling off the boyish role was Gregory Schmerber, as Huckleberry Finn. Schmerber looked the part and put a smile on everyone's face with his duet "I Can Read."

The Widow Douglas, played by April Woodall, joined in on the song, and together the two brightened the stage with one of the most crowd-pleasing moments. The scene featured Widow Douglas attempting to teach Huck how to read. When he finally sounds out the word "smart," he feels just that and breaks into song.

Angie Perez brought to life Tom's love interest, Becky Thatcher. Perez filled the role with innocence, making it believable that Tom would instantly fall in love with her.

When Tom decides to impress her by taking his friends' Bible tickets in church to win a competition of "memorizing" the most Bible verses, he leads the cast in the most memorable song of the show, "It's In The Bible."

As Tom sings of the Bible stories he knows, he mentions characters such as David and Goliath, and ... Robin Hood? Obviously Tom gets carried away with the song, the cast shouts out a few "amens" and nearly had the audience clapping along.

Also having notable performances were Tina Marie Casamento as Aunt Polly and William Broderick as Judge Thatcher. The two nearly fell for each other at first sight, and the single parents melted hearts with the song "Raising A Child By Yourself."

Tom's brother, Sid Sawyer, played by Mason Scott, had the audience laughing almost every time he was on stage with his "brotherly love" for Tom, but one can't forget John Flack, who played Muff Potter. Flack gave what was perhaps the best performance of the show. He brought the drunken Muff Potter to life and had the audience gasping in desperation for the poor old man.

The musical is an entertaining show, and although it dragged in a few spots, it moved along at a moderate pace, making it a show that audience members of all ages would enjoy.