Mom Theatre Blogger: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show: Review by Sai Malena Jimenez-Fogarty
In Jonathan Rockefeller’s new critically acclaimed production of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, young viewers get to enjoy author Eric Carle’s bright and colorful characters brought to life at the 47th Street Theatre until March 27, 2016.
Once the show begins, the children are captivated by the familiar characters portrayed by 75 large scale puppets. The show focuses on four of Eric Carle’s classic stories, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, Mister Seahorse, The Very Lonely Firefly and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Each story is approximately fifteen minutes long and individually narrated while being performed by the puppets.
The show starts with The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse and depicts the artist with a white canvas. Once he finishes the painting, a puppet version of his artwork parades around the stage. Next is Mister Seahorse and his dazzling undersea journey carrying Mrs. Seahorse’s eggs until they are ready to hatch. In the heartwarming tale of The Very Lonely Firefly, the small creature keeps searching for a place to belong until he’s finally reconnected with other fireflies. Lastly is The Very Hungry Caterpillar which details the eating habits of a tiny insect before the magical transformation to becoming a beautiful butterfly. At that point, the children gasp in awe of the sheer magnificence of the butterfly which spans over ten feet across the stage and looks just like the one in the book.
The vivid images of the stories were brought to life in a brilliant manner. The cast consists of four actors who are the puppeteers and also narrate the stories. They are dressed in white overalls and blend into the background, allowing the lovable puppets to be the stars of the show. The puppets were handcrafted by the Puppet Kitchen. The music, composed by Nate Edmondson, blends well with the performance and helps draw you into each story.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show is a great family event, ideally for children ages 2 – 6, but there were kids younger and older in the audience. It’s a visually stunning production with familiar stories that are nicely paced for preschoolers. It is an excellent show to introduce kids to live children’s theatre while spending quality family time.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show by Rockefeller Productions opened on January 30 and runs through March 27 at the 47th Street Theatre at 304 West 47th Street, New York, NY 10036. Tickets are available online or by calling 212-279-4200. The show has a running time of 60 minutes with no intermission. It’s a small theatre with limited space so strollers are not recommended.
More information is available http://www.hungrycaterpillarshow.com/
Tags: family show, kids theatre, live family entertainment, off broadway, the Very Hungry Caterpillar
