A simple coming-of-age tale built on the novelty that this story is about a teenage Black fly girl in Brooklyn, 1994’s “Alma’s Rainbow” earns a 4K restoration and re-release

Writer-director Ayoka Chenzira launched her career with this debut feature. Almost 30 years later, “Rainbow” plays as quaint, cute, theatrical and colorful. Its best ingredients — a raucous, estrogen and Caribbean-charged African American beauty parlor, a sibling struggle for control of the dreams of the teen title character, and florid and poetic life lessons from the women who know her – are good enough that they make you wish there was a lot more of that and less of the everything else.

Alma (Kim Weston-Moran) runs Alma Gold’s Flamingo Parlour out of her brownstone, a single mom providing room and board for daughter Rainbow (Victoria Gabrielle Platt) and a gathering place for the local ladies — a few of them, like her fellow hairdresser Babs (Jennifer Copeland) from the Caribbean.

“Betta ta’be da batsman dan a bowler any day’a the week!”

Rainbow’s a Catholic schoolgirl with dreams of fly girl fame. She and a couple of boys named Sea Breeze and Pepper have a crew, “8 Traxx.” That’s why she’s always hiding her bike shorts underneath her school uniform. Some days, she doesn’t bother with school at all.

Not that the ladies of the salon and her Mom aren’t impressing on her the need to stay in school and make something of herself that way.

“Keep your pants up and your dress down!”

Then Alma’s diva sister Ruby (Mizan Kirby) shows up, and all bets are off.

Whatever Mom’s tentative thoughts of getting back into the dating pool might be — the handyman Blue (Lee Dobson) sets the ladies hearts and other parts aflutter — Ruby is “out there,” all woman, with exotic underwear and song and dance ambitions and a lot of other opinions about what make a woman’s life to share with her niece.

“Don’t take let nobody see you rehearse. Don’t take second best from NOBODY. And ALWAYS claim your space!”

The stagey, demonstrative cast and the “memory play” reveries are what make “Rainbow””theatrical,” in a “Life is one big memory, ain’t it, Sugar?” way. I was reminded of several plays from the African American theater watching it and more importantly, hearing it.

The “coming of age” scenes are mere tropes, but every scene that has Rainbow getting unsolicited advice — about life, “boys,” getting her first period — from the ladies of the salon has a richness that makes up for that.

Rating: unrated, nudity, sexuality, profanity

Cast: Victoria Gabrielle Platt, Kim Weston-Moran, Mizan Kirby and Lee Dobson

Credits: Scripted and directed by Ayoka Chenzira. A Kino Lorber re-release.

Running time: 1:25

Rating: unrated, nudity, sexuality, profanity

Cast: Victoria Gabrielle Platt, Kim Weston-Moran, Mizan Kirby and Lee Dobson

Credits: Scripted and directed by Ayoka Chenzira. A Kino Lorber re-release.

Running time: 1:25