Ruffled Feathers on the Way to Swanhood.

Too sophisticated for its intended audience and too shrill for the grown-ups in tow, ''Lucky Duck'' is a rare miscalculation for the New Victory Theater. This raucous reboot of ''The Ugly Duckling'' fable ends up nestling uneasily between bratty and brainy. It's neither fish nor waterfowl. The composer, Henry Krieger, is also responsible for ''Dreamgirls'' and (along with his ''Lucky Duck'' lyricist, Bill Russell) ''Side Show,'' which both feature babes in the dark woods of show business, buoyed by predatory men and their false promises. The same holds true here -- and much of the ''Lucky Duck'' score is equally strong -- but this time the woods are real, and the pawing is done by actual paws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]