Wednesday, May 18, 2011

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

It has been a little busy and crazy at my house (and my job) lately. This weekend, we were able to make a some time to go out and enjoy a show.

We have a local theater that caters to "young audiences and families" called the Magical Theater Company. They do productions both at a local theater and also have a traveling group that takes their shows into local schools. At their theater, they do shows that are intended for school groups, as well as public shows. The theater is the perfect size, with maybe 150 seats at most - they say, "an intimate seating space where drama can happen within arm's reach".

I had never been to one of their shows, but from time to time would see information about one or another of their productions and had always wanted to go. When we received a flyer about their most recent production: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, I decided that the time was right for us to finally see a show.

The show is of course based on the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. Having read this book, and many others by her, I was familiar with the story, but not really sure how they would turn this tale into a production. When I first told my son about the show, he assumed it was going to be a movie and had some reservations when I told him that it was a play.

I have to say that they did an excellent job. The set on the stage was all super-sized, so that the two adults playing the Boy and the Mouse would look child size and mouse size. The kitchen gave the Boy his scale and the props gave the Mouse his scale. When they brought out the crayons for the Mouse to color, they were probably 3' long. The production was probably about 50 minutes in length.

After the show, they came out on stage and allowed the kids to come down and get autographs and posed for pictures with the kids.

Both of the kids really enjoyed the show, even my son who didn't think he would like a play. It was a really great experience and a fun way to introduce children to live theater.

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