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Vital Theatre Company takes a new approach to the problem of the school bully when Lenny, the nerd, and Steve, the bully, get stranded at the wrong school and they both get picked on for being the new kids in The Bully (July 6-August 2), set to play at the Bleecker Street Theatre. In the play, the boys have to work together to get back to their school and begin to learn that they might not be so different after all. Literally Alive has a message of sharing and community this month as well with Stone Soup (July 12-August 16), a version of the Grimm Brothers' fable about two lost soldiers who stumble upon the perfect village while searching for food and shelter. The villagers are not so willing to share until the soldiers begin to make their favorite dish, stone soup. Literally Alive's one hour musical will be accompanied by a pre-show discussion and workshop of the story and its themes and how the arts bring literature to life.

Theaterworks USA has a dose of hilarious with the world premiere musical, Click, Clack, Moo (July 21-August 28), an hour long comedy playing at the Lucille Lortel Theatre about the importance of compromise. When the cows take to protesting their working conditions, Farmer Brown has to find a way to appease their needs. TADA! Youth Theater is set to mount an adaptation of Eleanor Clymer's The Tiny Little House, titled The Little House of Cookies (July 10-August 1). The play follows some neighborhood kids when they decide to use an abandoned house as a "boys-only" clubhouse. When they try to enter, the door becomes too small for them, but Jane and Alice have no problem turning the house into a homemade cookie shop until the old landlord arrives to collect rent. At the Hudson Guild Theater, Journey Through the Rainbow (July 26) involves two families picnicking in the park after watching the Gay Pride Parade. Enjoy this Fresh Fruit Festival production full of colorful puppets who explore acceptance and joy.

If you managed to miss the City Center production, catch the Harlem Repertory Theatre rendition of The Wiz (July 24-September), the all-black adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, told from an African-American perspective. The New York Public Library's Children's Center will have a free musical treat for anyone who likes the Beatles with Recess Monkey (July 11), an afternoon of Beatles-influenced sing-alongs about friends, animals, and sleepovers with plenty of opportunities for dancing. Finally, think about stopping over at Town Hall for All Singin' - All Dancin' (July 27), an extravaganza of song and dance featuring classic dances from the Astaires, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Gower Champion, Bob Fosse, and Jerome Robbins.