THEATER 


 In addition to the company’s splendid performances, NYGASP Maestro Albert Bergeret (with on-stage piano accompaniment) hosted Cella, a fan of “The Mikado,” and other young Savoyards at his diverting and informative 45-minute “Family Overture series,” that  incorporated G & S history, story plots and musical appreciation.


The Mikado
Albert Bergeret’s
New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players  
New York’s City Center
W. 55th St. – betw. 6th & 7th Aves
(212) 581-1212
Final Performance Jan. 16
For NYGASP’s Touring Schedule
Click here: New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players :: Current Season :: On Tour
By Cella Kove (8) Grandniece of Aaron and Lee Berger.
I loved the production of The Mikado. It was so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing. My two favorite characters were Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner and Pooh-Bah, the Lord High Everything. The story was all about The Mikado’s son who didn’t want to marry this ugly woman (Katisha)  that the Mikado said to his son to marry. So Nanki-poo,  he disguised himself like a wandering minstrel to his love Yum Yum.  My favorite part of the story was when they were singing Here’s a Pretty How de do. What I liked about Here’s a Pretty How de Do was when Ko-Ko came out with his big ax on the first, second and third part of the song. The first part of the song  Ko-Ko came out with the ax and the ax was on a skate. Then the ax was on a scooter, then he came out with a shovel.

   
Daniel Henri Luttway as Noah Gelman and Teisha Duncan as Caroline Thibodeaux in The Gallery Players’ production of “Caroline, or Change.”
Photo by Bella Muccari.

Caroline, or Change
Gallery Players
199 14th Street
Brooklyn, NY 
718-595-0547
By Subway: F to 4th Ave; R to 9th St. By car: BQE to Hamilton Ave., then to 14th St.
Through Feb. 21th
I remember the buzz when Caroline, Or Change was work-shopped at New York’s Public Theater in 1999.  To the surprise of many of us, Tony Kushner of Angels in America fame did the book and lyrics for a musical, a milieu with which he was rarely, if ever identified. When I  saw Kushner’s semi-autobiographical treatment in 2004 after it  transferred to Broadway, I tried mightily to divorce myself from this often enlightened writer’s disingenuous  positions on the state of Israel. The title character was played by Tonya Pinkins, as a housemaid and single mother of four in a Jewish household in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1963. The other pivotal role is that of young Noah Gellman who spends as much time as possible with Caroline in the basement laundry room, building a fragile, yet beautiful friendship since the death of his mother. Harrison Chad as Noah was outstanding in the original production, and I expect nothing less from 12 year-old Daniel Henri Luttway when I view the play on Feb. 13. (Disclosure: I’ve known Daniel’s parents for years and his loving grandparents for many more.)

(Clockwise from left) Michelle Cornelius as Dot, Karina Lucas as Flora, Kate Nelson as Mab, Beverley Klein as The Book of Fate. Photos: Catherine Ashmore.

(Foreground) Simon Wilding as Pig, Susan Boyd, (who alternates with Karina Lucas) as Flora.

The Enchanted Pig
From London’s The Opera Group:
ROH2 at the Royal Opera House & Young Vic
The New Victory Theater
209 W. 42nd St.
646-223-3010
www.newvictory.org
Through Feb.  21
I’ve long maintained that the Young Vic does a consistently laudable job in presenting children’s theater. After a four-year hiatus, it is certainly good to have them back – this time in the London company’s Opera Group. The Enchanted Pig takes the best bits from much-loved fairytales and melds them into a witty, gritty modern olio of music, theater and fantasy. Here, beauty meets the beast once again when Princess Flora, the youngest of three gangly, gum-chewing sisters, learns her betrothed is a boar. Swept off to the north, she discovers that her porcine hubby is hexed and only she can break the spell.  Follow Flora – along with your grandkids - from palace to pigsty in this twisty tale of mud and marriage. The production features a six-piece band and a cast of 10 performers.  It arrives in New York for its only stop in the U.S. before going back to further tour the UK.  Ages 7+. 120 minutes.

 

Paper Mill Playhouse Children’s Theater  
In Association with Four Meritorious Production Companies.
22 Brookside Drive
Millburn, NJ
973-376-4343
Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m.
www.papermill.org.

A Year with Frog & Toad
Produced by Worklight Productions
March 20, 21
My grandchildren and I had the joy of seeing Frog and Toad back in 2002 at the New Victory Theater in Manhattan and played the CD of its music relentlessly. After stellar reviews and a sold-out run, the show transferred to Broadway, where it re-opened at the Cort Theater.  Based on the Arnold Lobel books,  the musical follows the exploits of two great friends, the cheerful and popular Frog and the cantankerous yet endearing Toad, through the four seasons of the year.  Waking from hibernation in the spring, they proceed in turn to plant gardens, swim, rake leaves and go sledding.  Ages 5 to 11.

Goodnight Moon & The Runaway Bunny
Produced by Mermaid Theater of Nova Scotia.
May 1, 2
 Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia (the company behind the black light puppet production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar) returns with its adaptation of Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd's bedtime classics. Whimsical puppetry, dreamlike imagery, and original music bring a new sense of appreciation to these stories that have delighted generations. Goodnight Moon is a celebration of familiar nighttime rituals, while The Runaway Bunny’s tale of leaving home evokes reassuring responses from his loving mum.  Both stories feature appealing rabbit characters and the soothing rhythms of bunny banter and dream-like imagery.  Ages 5 to 10.

Are You My Mother?
Produced by ArtsPower National Touring Theater.
May 8, 9
At long last, Baby Bird emerges from her shell and expects to be greeted by her mother’s song, but her mother is not there.  With the help of Dog, Cat, and Hen, Baby Bird sets out in search of Mother Bird in this colorful musical adventure based on P.D. Eastman’s whimsical and well-loved picture book. Ages 5 to 7.

Charlotte’s Web
Produced by TheatreworksUSA.
May 15, 16
Based on E.B. White’s loving story of the friendship between a pig named Wilbur and a little gray spider named Charlotte, this treasured tale, featuring mad-cap and endearing farm animals, explores bravery, selfless love, and the true meaning of friendship. Ages 5 to 10