***** There is something very special about attending theater with a child. As you know, since my grandkids have sort of “aged out”, I have had to seek the minds of other people’s kids so that I can tell you about the productions that I am seeing, BUT, from a child’s viewpoint. Over the past few years I have enjoyed having several young people handle this job, and recently, through my son and daughter-in-law, I found Anna. Today, this youngster ( with a stage presence of her own) came with her mom to witness “Manual Cinema’s The Magic City” at Chicago Children’s Theatre.For those who do not know about Manual Cinema, it is a company that produces plays that are done with special shadow puppetry along with live actors and a narrator. In this case, the narrator ( deftly handled by Alicia Walter) is also a piano player and singer. The theater is set up in a fashion that allows us to see the performers doing their thing and with a large screen, see how it looks. I always try to get a seat that allows me to watch the combination, allowing me to see what the little ones are seeing and understanding just how they project this. It is an amazing procedure and a fabulous result.
The Magic City is a place where Philomena ( Ellie Duffy is adorable and is also one of the puppeteers)and her big sister , Helen Julia Miller/also a puppeteer), love to build miniature cities. They use junk to do this. Empty cartons, books, toys, broken items, dishes and almost anything that can be found. When Helen meets, and falls in love with Brandon (Brandon Boler, who also plays “grandma”), all of this changes. Brandon has a son, Lucas ( whose name is spelled “t-r-o-u-b-l-e played by the whimsical Jeffrey Paschel) and when the lovebirds get married and go off on their honeymoon, Philomena is asked to be nice to him and make friends.
In her new home, Brandon’s house, she finds herself with new junk and builds a new city, but is somehow trapped in it. How can she get out? What can she do? Lucas, becomes her savior and then her playmate as they learn how to build bridges and tear down walls. I suppose that is the message Edith Nesbit intended to pass on in her 1910 novel of the same name. This show was first presented in this same theater back in 2017 and 8 years later is still a wonderful 55 minutes of theater.
This particular version of the story is devised by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, Ben Kauffman and Julia Miller. Dir and Fornace did the storyboards and the art direction and puppets were by Dir. Music, lyrics and sound design were by Ben Kauffman. The ensemble of this theater company works very hard to build a show that will keep youngsters glued to the action and I must tell you, it works. This production is geared for 6 and up, yet the young man sitting in front of me Emil, age 3 made it through 48 of the 55 minutes without a squirm.
Here are Anna’s thoughts: ( through her mom)Anna and I were so excited to see the opening performance of Magic City and it did not disappoint! We enjoyed that we could see the screen, and “behind the scenes” of the actors acting out the play in real time. The mix of puppets, props and real people acting kept things very interesting and engaging for young audiences. The narrator/musician/singer was so talented and it added to the charm of the show that it was narrated by a single person rather than the actors themselves.
Anna laughed at many points through the show, and enjoyed the message of the story. When it was over, she announced that she would like to see it again! Although she said she enjoyed the entire thing and didn’t have singular favorite part, she said one part that was very entertaining was Philomena-zilla.
We enjoyed the activity of creating our own shadow puppets while we waited for the play to begin. It sparked Anna’s imagination because when we
got home, she created her own shadow puppet play.I have already recommended this play to other first grade parents and would happily see it again myself!
Saturdays:9:30am & 11:30am
Sundays:9:30am & 11:30am
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Come a little before curtain time and make your own puppet and preview it on the wall.
There is free parking in the lot and also meters on the street.
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Manuel Cinema’s The Magic City”.
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