Alexander may be having a lousy day, but it was a great morning for about 100 kids attending the season opener for Hope Summer Repertory’s Children’s Performance Troupe in Holland.

Based on Judith Viorst’s 1972 children’s book, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” is a spunky little musical that parents will find just as entertaining as their youngsters will.

Recent Hope College graduate Bradley Hamilton leads the seven-member ensemble in the title role. A downtrodden, Charlie Brown sort of character, Alexander wakes up to find chewing gum in his hair. He drops his sweater in the sink while the water is running, fails to find a toy in his box of breakfast cereal and his teacher thinks his drawing of an invisible castle requires too much imagination. The day continues with one such tragedy after another.

Although these real-life problems surely struck a note with the largely elementary-age audience, it was the play’s unrealistic moments that garnered the biggest laughs. For instance, one of the ensemble members held a door knob and an idiotic expression to play the role of the bathroom door. The kids roared. Another ensemble member wore a cap with a faucet on the brim and a knob over each ear for hot and cold to portray the sink. It was a delightful addition, but evidently frightened a young tot seated on his mother’s lap near me. He squealed in terror for a few minutes.

Director Daina Robins makes the most of these non-human roles, which included contrary elevator doors and an alluring copy machine. In each case, costume and actor’s interpretation were very creative. The young adult ensemble – including Aleksandr Krapivkin, Theo Zucker, Ellie Campbell and Evan Adams – did an excellent job of wide-eyed child-like expressions and exaggerated childhood mannerisms to portray Alexander’s brothers and his first grade classmates.

Shannon Huneryager does double duty as the patient mother and the quirky teacher. Joshua Kumler wears many moods as the distracted Dad, enthusiastic dentist and vaudevillian shoe salesman. He leads the ensemble in singing “Shoes,” a jazzy finger-snapping tune, that’s the musical highpoint of the show. Alexander is often threatening to run away to Australia, so at one point Down Under comes to him in the form of an ensemble song featuring a parade of Australian creatures including a kangaroo, a crocodile and a koala bear. The animal costumes were quick-change hooded sweatshirts that worked well. (Costume designer: Kaitlyn Pitcher).

The hour-long play was presented in the Dewitt Center’s black box studio, which was set up with audience on all four sides and the stage in the center. The opening number, “If I Were in Charge of the World,” is presented on a blank stage with just a few benches. As the show continues, the benches become a breakfast nook, classroom, shoe store. Other furniture pieces including Alexander’s bed and the dentist’s chair are wheeled in as needed.  (Scenic designer: Ana Maria Aburto)

Several times during the production, Alexander turns to the audience and asks them to help him repeat his lament: It’s a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. They repeated their lines so enthusiastically that it didn’t seem terrible at all.

To its credit, the script doesn’t offer any miracle cure for bad days, just the cuddly warmth of a supportive family and the wisdom that tomorrow is another day.