“Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus the Musical”

[rating=5]Are your kids “theater patrons”? When is the best time to start bringing your kids to the theater? I say as soon as they are ready! Children today seem t be more “in” to live entertainment than in my day. This morning I attended the opening performance of The Young People’s Theatre of Chicago’s “Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus! the Musical.”, an adorable adaptation of Mo Willems bestselling book of the same name. This version is filled with music and puppetry and is geared for those who are familiar wiht the book, but easily adaptable for all audience members.

My grandkids have “aged out” of  children’s theater productions, so when faced with an opportunity to find a kid, I do. Today, I was fortunate that my seat was next to that of a lovely kindergarten student from  La Grange Park, Illinois. Her name is Aaran Findlay. She was joined by mom ( I always get the parents involved) Tanya. Aaran told me that the story followed the book with the addition of songs, and from time to time, I gazed over to watch her reactions to things going on. She was truly into the action on the stage as we watched the plight of Pigeon ( Brade Bradshaw was amazing with his vocal range and his puppetry) trying t do things that a Pigeon just doesn’t do.

The music that has been added to this story is by Deborah Wicks La Puma and lyrics by Willems. The additional material was written by Willems and Mr. Warburton. The show is directed by Randy White on a wonderful set designed by Jackie Penrod with lighting by  Kevin Rechner and sound by Kurt Ottinger. The props by Saskia Bakker were perfect. The costumes (Cindy Moon) are delicious and made for quick change as the ensemble members change costumes and characters many times. The ensemble is composed of Chamaya Moody, Marcus Jackson, Marquis Bundy and Tamsen Glaser who not only plays people, but does engines and puppies as well. These four dance and sing as well as handle many role ( and all well done).

The key playes of course are Bradshaw as Pigeon and the bus driver ( the adorable Katie Serrato ). The story evolves around Pigeon being told to “fly off” and stay out of everyone’s way. He just wants to do what others do and to find a purpose. He never gets to do anything. When he meets the bus driver, he is in awe of her position and importance in getting people where they need to get, on time! Why can’t he do that? When the bus breaks down, Pigeon is called to the rescue- his job is to fly from bust stop to bus stop and tell the people the bus is on its way. He never learned how to fly, so with the help of the Bus Driver, he flaps his wings, does his thing and becomes “somebody”- a hero.

But th eplay is not over and the story not done as there is a new airport nearby and Pigeon sees a plane and thinks Can I fly a plane- the audience filled with kids who were truly into the story all yelled- “NO!!!!”. Curtain! Aaran felt that kids in pre-school would enjoy the actors, the puppets, the story and all in all have a good time. I loved the special effects and the choreography (Matthew Weidenbener) and of course watching the reactions on the faces of those sitting around me. The more we bring them to theater, the more they will become theater buffs- thank you Young People’s Theatre of Chicago for making the upstairs theater at The Greenhouse a new starting point.

“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus ! the Musical” will continue at The Greenhouse Theatre Center located at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago thru February 26th with performances as follows:

Saturdays  10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Sundays  1 p.m.   February 26th there is an added 10 a.m.

There may be some ticket availability but I have a feeling they are going fast so 773-404-7336 or online www.yptchi.org

Tickets are $25 for adults and $19 for ages 12 and under.

To see what others are saying visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Children’s Shows and click at “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! the Musical”.

Try not to miss this. Maybe they will add extra performances- they should!