The original story centers on a mistreated donkey, dog, cat and rooster who band together after leaving their masters. Looking for shelter, they take over a house full of robbers, who mistake them for a monster when they climb upon one another's backs and "sing."

The story transports easily to the Big Island of Hawai'i.

Cynthia See plays a donkey grown too old and tired from carrying bags of coffee beans down from the mountain. Daryl Bonilla is a hunting dog, banished for siding with the pigs instead of the hunter. Stephanie Kuroda is a rooster that can't stop its loud crowing. And Elizabeth Wolfe is a standoffish cat that just won't cuddle.

Ultimately, they foil a pie thief and are rewarded with jobs on the Kona police force.

Hermen "Junior" Tesoro plays all the humans, including a simultaneous double role as the cop and the robber in a vaudevillian chase scene.

So the production is based on a charming concept and is made colorful by Mike Harada's cut-out set and Sandra Payne's animal costumes. Unfortunately, it sags.

Despite all its antecedents and a promising idea, the show doesn't play well, as a result of a meandering story line and a hodgepodge of musical numbers.

Cambern's songs are a mishmash of musical styles including calypso, country, jazz and Hawaiian. The songs don't work strongly to develop character or advance the plot and some fizzle when they should sizzle.

The HTY cast members are not trained singers, and a couple of them simply can't carry a tune. The voices and the choreography don't rescue the music, and the story line also fails to move things along.