Holiday shows take center stage
This December there are plenty of theatrical productions playing in and around Chicago geared specifically for younger audiences. Many shows are inventive adaptations of celebrated children's books, while others are tied specifically to the holidays. Many also have matinee performances on weekends and weekdays when school lets out for season break.
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Don't be surprised if you catch yourself saying, “They made a stage show out of that?” when looking at some of the productions derived from children's literature around town. There are popular Broadway musicals in the mix, plus plenty of local premieres and revivals.
It wouldn't seem possible to generate much stage material from Margaret Wise Brown's beloved 1947 bedtime story “Goodnight Moon.” But Chicago Children's Theatre has done just that with the local premiere of Chad Henry's zany musical adaptation at Chicago's Victory Gardens Biograph Theater.
Unlike the obedient sleepy bunny in the book, the one onstage in “Goodnight Moon The Musical” does whatever he can to stay awake. And who could blame him when he has so many fun and imaginative distractions in his bedroom set inspired by Clement Hurd's famous illustrations?
Another imaginative tot is at the center of the action in Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's spruced-up revival of its 2010 creation “Harold and the Purple Crayon: A Dance Adventure.” This show is co-presented by Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance and offers up a modern-dance alternative to the season's numerous “Nutcrackers.” As performed by members of Hubbard Street 2, expect plenty of youthful energy in this hourlong adaptation of Crockett Johnson's 1955 book.
“Seussical The Musical” is a 2000 Broadway musical written by the award-winning songwriting team of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (“Ragtime,” “Once on This Island”). Taking characters and storylines from multiple children's books by Dr. Seuss, “Seussical” should be an all-ages crowd pleaser for fans of the work of Dr. Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss' real name). Catch “Seussical” in Lincolnshire via the Marriott Theatre for Young Audiences.
Frances Hodgson Burnett's much beloved 1911 novel “The Secret Garden” became an award-winning Broadway musical in 1991 thanks to a creative team made up mostly of women including Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Marsha Norman and composer Lucy Simon. Light Opera Works presents this musical about the power of nature to help with healing for eight performances at Northwestern University's Cahn Auditorium in Evanston.
Emerald City Theatre is certainly on a roll right now. Its summer revival of the musical “Pinkalicious” (based upon Victoria and Elizabeth Kann's book) kept on extending and extending at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place in Chicago (its closing date is now Saturday, Jan. 7). Of course it helps that American Girl Place is just around the corner to supply a steady stream of girls who enjoy all things pink.
Also on Emerald City's spate of plays is “If You Give a Cat a Cupcake” (based upon Laura Numeroff's sequel to “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”) and “Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” (based upon the book series by Barbara Park).
Seasonal stories
It's a given that most any production of “A Christmas Carol” or “The Nutcracker” are safe bets for families with kids. But there are two productions of each Christmas chestnut that garners some extra attention.
If you have kids who are growing out of the sugary sweetness of most “Nutcracker” ballets, then consider the House Theatre of Chicago's critically acclaimed Americanized revisionist take on E.T.A. Hoffmann's “The Nutcracker” at Chicago's Chopin Theatre.
This musical collaboration by Phillip Kapperich, Jake Minton and Kevin O'Donnell looks at Clara's grieving family in light of her adventures with a Nutcracker who she thinks is her recently deceased military brother, Fritz, who was killed in combat. Note that there are some special effects (like a multi-headed Rat King) that might frighten smaller children.
If you're looking for a reasonably priced “A Christmas Carol” with an early start time, then consider Drury Lane Theatre for Young Adults' production. Most performances start at 10 a.m. in Oakbrook Terrace, while there is also an extra “Breakfast Buffet with Santa” option on Saturdays.
If you want to interest kids in the local history of the Great Lakes, then you can't go wrong with John Reeger and Julie Shannon's locally written musical “The Christmas Schooner.” Once an annually staged tradition at the former Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, “The Christmas Schooner” is now back in Chicago courtesy of a new staging by L. Walter Stearns at the Mercury Theater. Find out how evergreen trees from Michigan's Upper Peninsula were shipped across sometimes treacherous waters so that Chicago-area families could celebrate Christmas in the late 19th century in this family musical.
For those parents who want to expose their kids to opera, they shouldn't miss Chamber Opera Chicago's revival of Gian Carlo Menotti's 1951 opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors” at Chicago's Harold Washington Library Center. Chicago Folks Operetta is also producing Victor Herbert's operetta “Babes in Toyland” in Oak Park (a non-operatic version of the Mother Goose character-filled show plays for young audiences of Theatre at the Center in Munster, Ind.).
In an interesting move, Chicago Kids Company Theatre for Children is producing the same show simultaneously at two different Chicago locations. You can see “Mrs. Claus! A Holiday Musical” not only at St. Patrick High School's Stahl Family Theater, but also at the Beverly Arts Center on the South Side. Find out if Mrs. Claus and a cadre of elves can find Santa's missing Christmas List in this show written specifically for Chicago Kids Company.
For families looking for a more interactive holiday show, be sure to check out the musical “Santa's Silver and Gold Grove” as part of a “Sing-Along With Santa” show at Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles. The jolly red-suited big man also will be on hand to hear wish lists and pose for family photos.