Heedless of admonishments from elderly neighbors Miss Spink and Miss Forcible - not to mention warnings from the mice trained by Crazy Old Man Upstairs - Coraline steps through the bricked-up drawing room door into Other World, a seemingly idyllic version of her real home where toys fly through the air, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible perform a never-ending cabaret, and her absentee parents are attentive and loving. But Other World's sinister underbelly soon reveals itself, forcing Coraline into a battle to save her real parents and the ghost children who fell prey generations earlier.

 
Coraline - the dark children’s fantasy from pop culture icon Neil Gaiman - gets gorgeous treatment from SF Playhouse, a local theater gem. Menacing yet whimsical, Gaiman’s spooky fairy tale features music and lyrics from Spin- and Rolling Stone-lauded Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, stage adaptation by local actor/playwright David Greenspan, and choreography by the talented Erika Chong Shuch. And there are puppets.
 
Through January 15. 533 Sutter Street. Tickets are $30-50 at 415-677-9596 or sfplayhouse.org.