Borrowing from the comic books that boast superheroes and nasty villains and coinciding with Earth Month and environmental concerns, 'Ohia Productions has teamed up with Starbucks Coffee to present a child-friendly, family-oriented "Peril in Paradise" production that aims to raise awareness about invasive species threatening Hawai'i's native plants and animals.

It opened last weekend and repeats today and next weekend.

It explores a serious topic treated with whimsy and fantasy — and offers plenty of real-life implications ... like protect the environment before the nasties wipe everything out.

Creator Lisa Matsumoto, with her musical collaborator Roslyn Catracchia, has mounted a tidy 55-minute show that employs the might of Raymond Rainforest and Captain Ranger in the plight of the Hannah Hapu'u Fern. "Peril" signals — with entertaining and tuneful turns — the threats posed by villains such as Count Mosquitola, Randy Rat, Mona Mongoose and wicked weeds such as Mr. Shade and Miss Poka. Even sock puppets get into the act.

"It was fun to work the superhero theme," said Matsumoto, who is widely known in the Islands for staging fractured fairy tales with a Hawai'i spin. "When I first met with the groups doing research on invasive species, I wondered, oh, how do I make this serious topic not so scary? We had to be entertaining, yet empowering, to show children and families and the community that we all can do something to prevent invasive species from taking over."

"Peril in Paradise" premiered in Hawai'i schools in 2003. Its restaging at the zoo's meadow stage, with nocturnal weekend shows for the general public and four selected weekday shows for bussed-in schoolchildren, is a zoo newbie for Matsumoto's 'Ohia Productions. "There's a tented area for the school performances," she said. "But if folks are visiting the zoo (daytime), they can watch."

The prolific playwright has tackled other serious subjects, too.

Matsumoto's earlier musical, "On Dragonfly Wings," attempted to raise consciousness about life's challenges and changes — mirroring the real-life saga of Alana Dung, who died of leukemia at age 3. "Dragonfly" earlier this year was selected for the 12th annual ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop; it's one of four projects undergoing scrutiny by a panel that included Stephen Schwartz, creator of Broadway musicals such as "Pippin," "Godspell" and the current "Wicked."

"It was fantastic, the feedback," Matsumoto said. "(The panelists) were supportive and encouraging about the music, the characters' appeal, and they they had practical advice in terms of further development. We need to submit another draft and then see what opportunities are available.

"It was an experience of a lifetime. We were so blessed to be selected. A lot of our 'ohana ('Ohia Productions) flew up to be there for our presentation.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.