Dinosaurs achieve harmony as kids eat it up

Those are just a few of the sillier “facts’’ emerging from “The Dinosaur Musical,’’ a joyous romp now having its New England premiere at Stoneham Theatre. This early effort (1987) by brothers Robert and Willie Reale, who also wrote “A Year With Frog and Toad,’’ is aimed squarely at young kids but manages to entertain parents, too.

The story is ridiculously complicated and covers a wide swath of topics, including a “Treaty of Meat’’ that ended violence among the dinosaurs and allowed herbivores and carnivores to live in harmony; Quincy, the wimpy young king of the Tyrannosaurus Rexes who is manipulated by his power-hungry ministers to break the treaty; a resistance movement made up of a motley crew of beasts; and a romance between a T-Rex and a parasaurolophus orchestrated by their 12-year-old daughters, who become friends.

Along the way, the Reale brothers find room for a borscht belt-style stand-up comedian (Steve Barkhimer) who runs Swifty’s Volcano Cafe, a nightclub singer dino named Carlotta (the extraordinary Mary Callanan), a moody French poet (Jenna Lea Scott), and an Italian chef named Mamma Lucrezia (Ceit McCaleb Zweil) who gets around the Treaty of Meat by inventing cooking and spaghetti.

All of this mayhem is simply an excuse for the Reales to deliver an assortment of songs in a variety of genres, including “Spaghetti,’’ the nod to Italian street songs that has Zweil encouraging everyone to sing along as she names every kind of pasta; the jazzy number “Can’t Concentrate,’’ a showcase for Callanan; and the ballad “The One Thing I’m Good At,’’ a sweet moment for the terrific Matthew John Kacergis, who plays Quincy. Willie Reale is clearly enjoying himself with lyrics that manage to rhyme “edible’’ with “incredible’’ and work in mentions of “poison snot’’ and “tyrannosaurus turd.’’ But ultimately, he’s going for a message of tolerance and not surprisingly, the peace and harmony are restored, not by the grown-ups, but by the 12-year-old dinos who reason with each other.

By trying to cover every musical theater trope, “The Dinosaur Musical’’ spreads itself a little too thin, but director Caitlin Lowans has gathered such a first-rate cast, and keeps everything moving at such a swift pace, you may forgive the weaker moments. Music director Judy Hayward makes the music sound rich and interesting even though it’s just her on piano and Mick Lewander on percussion.

No matter how appealing the cast is, the real star of this show is Stacey Stephens, whose inventive costume designs use color and simple suggestive pieces, like a wig, a hilarious head piece, or, my favorite, boots, high-top sneakers, and even high heels outfitted with clawed toes to let us know with whom we’re dealing.

For the fearsome T-Rexes, he’s included the shape and form of a dinosaur tail while dressing them in military uniforms to indicate their aggressive nature. Choreographer Ilyse Robbins uses all these opportunities in her dance moves, and the battle scene among the dinos is inspired chaos.

“The Dinosaur Musical’’ may be a little too obvious for kids over 12, but for the 5- and 6-year-olds sitting around me, it was a wild success that had them roaring their approval.