I don’t get to see TYA as much as I’d like to these days, now that I’m no longer teaching, and my daughter is no longer in the target audience. I had almost forgotten how magical these shows can be.
Sheila McCarthy’s production is pure joy; the new adaptation by Neil Bartram is a largely smart and funny musical; there are a few songs/scenes that I personally think could face the chopping block…but on the whole it is quite strong. The show moves at a formidable pace , and kept the room full of youngsters on a Saturday afternoon engaged. It is always a good sign to me when a young audience vocalize their engagement in a script, responding out loud to the things happening on stage — which happened in this show. Particularly fun were the conniving Fox and Cat, played beautifully by Joel Cumber and Arinea Hermans.
Julie Tomaino’s choreography deserves a special shout-out — it was high energy, and created beautiful movement to enliven the many locales that the story is told from.
The sets and costumes were the real stars here. Joanna Yu’s whimsical design had many moments of pure awe — from early scenes carving Pinocchio, to Pinocchio’s nose, to later scenes to create water and the inside of the whale. You could feel the sense of wonder that this inspired in the young audience (and honestly, in me too).
Finally, the Saturday performance I attended included a short talkback from the cast, which included them asking questions of the audience — a great way to begin a talkback and help engage the young audience who had just sat so quiet and engaged for 75 minutes!
I definitely recommend taking the young people in your life to see this magical show.
