This is a big year for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." After Peter Jackson found critical acclaim and massive commercial success with his film adaptations of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy in 2001-2003, the call went up for a live-action interpretation of its literary prequel, "The Hobbit." Legal issues and creative disputes bogged the project down, but the first part of Jackson's "Hobbit" film will finally open in December 2012.

That makes Rochester Children's Theatre's current stage adaptation of the 1937 work incredibly timely - and also incredibly ambitious. "The Hobbit" is high fantasy, a story involving dwarves, wizards, trolls, goblins, and dragons. To pull it off requires guts and lots of creativity. To make the somewhat complicated tale kid-friendly is an even bigger challenge.

RCT's current production at Nazareth College Arts Center has no shortage of guts, and certainly no lack of creativity. A talented cast and crew does a good job bringing Tolkien's world to life through puppetry, inventive costumes, shadow play, and stage magic.

"The Hobbit" tells the tale of meek Bilbo Baggins, unceremoniously dragged into the company of a troupe of dwarves looking to reclaim their mountain home - and fortune - from a vicious dragon. Initially led by the wizard Gandalf, the band of would-be conquerors encounters all manner of fantastical foes, and in one important side story, Bilbo finds himself in possession of a particular ring that leads Middle Earth into big trouble. It all sounds like silly Dungeons & Dragons fantasy, but the conclusion of the tale includes some strong messages about the power of cooperation, the need to consider the greater good, and even the dangers of racism and classism.

Jeff Siuda plays Bilbo in the RCT production. Siuda has that essential mix of wanderlust and worry that defines Bilbo, and he's a solid touchstone for the audience even when things on the stage get a bit jumbled. Joining him is Fred Nuernberg as Gandalf. Having seen Nuernberg in many local stage productions, including as the lead in Blackfriars' "Shipwrecked" and the fairy king Oberon in "Shakespeare in Hollywood," I had high hopes for Nuernberg as the wizened wizard. His Gandalf is imperious and intimidating, yet warm and protective - exactly how Gandalf should be. Unfortunately he is on the stage too briefly.

Director Danny Hoskins has employed a number of clever ways to fill out the rest of the sizable cast, with all of the roles - including the 12 dwarves, multiple goblins, an army of humans, and a gigantic dragon - played by fewer than 10 actors. The solutions Hoskins came up with for the agile, scampering Gollum (played, at least in part, by Mark Scott Almekinder) and the dragon Smaug (voiced effectively by Andy DeRado) are seriously smart. Big praise as well to costume designer Lana Momano and whoever else was involved with the concept and execution for the dwarf costumes, which address the height issue and add cartoony visual interest to keep the kids engaged. (It was also a hilarious decision to have all the dwarfs speak heavily accented versions of different foreign languages.)

I do question how successfully the story has been retold here from a child's point of view. I think doing "The Hobbit" for an all-ages audience is brilliant - the ending includes several important life lessons. And kids love stories featuring dragons and swords and all that good stuff. The version staged of the story by Rochester Children's Theatre takes out large chunks of the story to accommodate run-time issues and probably to ease production strain (the troll scene would be difficult to bring to life, I suppose). In their stead there are additional kid-friendly physical gags, particularly with the dwarves and the goblins, which generally work well.

But there are long stretches of dialogue that I imagine would be difficult for the under-10 set to grasp (RCT recommends the show for ages 7 and up), and certain key plot points - like Bilbo's invisibility ring - that are introduced unclearly. I wondered, looking around at the large audience at the show I attended, how many of the kids were able to follow what was happening.

There is also the issue of age appropriateness. Some of the kids sitting near me got visibly (and audibly) frightened whenever a pack of goblins came running down the aisles on to the stage (I think part of this stemmed from sound issues - the goblins were mic'd so loudly that even I was unsettled). There seemed to be less fear when the creepy but very cool Smaug creation took the stage, but even still, interested parents should probably warn their littlest hobbits of potential scary monsters.

"The Hobbit" continues its run at Nazareth College Arts Center (4245 East Ave.) on Saturday and Sunday, February 18-19, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $11-$17. For more information call 389-2170 or visit the website.