“Milo Imagines The World”

“Milo Imagines the World” is an urban tale about a young boy , Milo ( a wonderful performance by Ian Thigpen, who is amazing in this role)who uses his imagination to prove that you can’t really know anyone’s story just by looking at them. Audiences will join Milo on a long subway ride with his big sister Adrian ( deftly handled by Brianna Buckley), where, to pass the time, he imagines the lives of the other passengers as his colorful illustrations spring to life.

The day is Sunday- the visiting day where they can take the subway and visit their mother who is incarcerated. I am not sure how most of the kids will respond to this part of the story, as I am pretty sure that the majority of the kids in today’s audience probably have little or no understanding of a situation like this. I had two youngsters with me and will share their views later. The amazing part of the story is that our hero’s imagination is amazing. Perhaps it is his way of dealing with his present life, but he sees things in a different way than we do and his imagination takes over in song and dance. The ensemble of players, although small in numbers is mighty in talent. They are  De Jah Perkins, Livia Robin, Juwon Tyrel Perry and Jake Ziman.

This book was adapted for the stage by Terry Guest and is smoothly directed by Mikael Burke with music by Christian Magby and Christian Albright, we get to hear every style imaginable: hip-hop, rap, country- it is all there and each song helps to propel this powerful story.

As always, the sets are wonderful as we spend most of the one hour and fifteen minutes on the New York subway system, both on the train and in the tunnel station. The direction is close to choreography in the way that the cast members assist in the changes that are made while the action continues. This is a joyful theatrical experience for young and old. I wonder how many questions might be thrown out on the way home from the theater- could be a very interesting ride home.

Here are the thoughts of two first graders who attended with me and Anna’s mom Fallon.

Anna and Saoirse, First Graders at Blaine Elementary School in Chicago had a wonderful time visiting the Chicago Children’s Theater to see “Milo Imagines the World”. We all loved the music, the choreography, the set, and of course, the amazing talent in the show. The girls were captivated for the entire 60 minutes. After the show, Saoirse said that she “wished that we had a time machine so she could go back in time and watch the show again.“

The show provoked a lot of good conversation on the ride home. We talked a lot about perceptions of other peoples lives, and how we really don’t know everything about someone else’s life. Without trying to give anything away, we had a good conversation about one of the characters of the show, and the circumstances of this person’s life that led to their situation in the play.

As an adult, I always enjoy taking my kids to events where I think that they will be entertained. We came out of that play feeling not only entertained by the incredible talent, but also more empathetic towards our fellow human beings. As a parent, I sympathized with Milo’s parenting situation and found myself in tears several times during the performance.

The kids enjoyed so much of Milo’s humor. I heard them laughing out loud at several points that struck a chord with the younger generation, and there was also plenty of times that drew laughter from the adults as well.

In talking to the kids after the show, they loved the music most of all. We all felt like it was the perfect blend of music and dialogue. I will be telling all of my friends with elementary age children of this show. It was a wonder experience.