| Elephant
and Piggie’s “We Are in a Play”
“Elephant and Piggie’s “We
Are in a Play”
Script and lyrics by Mo Willems, author of the Elephant and Piggie
series. Deborah Wicks La Puma, music.
New Victory Theatre, 209 W. 42 St., NYC.
Jan. 25-Feb. 3, 2017. Sat. at 11 AM, 3 and 7 PM; Sun. 11 AM and 3
PM
Wednesdays & Thursdays at 8pm; Saturdays at 3pm &
8pm;
For tickets and information: call 646-223-3010 or visit the box office
or http://www.newvictory.org/box office.
by Glenda Frank
“Elephant and Piggie’s “We Are in
a Play,” has come to the New Victory Theatre from the Kennedy
Center. The five-person show is based on the award-winning New York
Times best-selling series by Mo Willems. The live music ( 4 musicians
in animal-eared fedoras) was written by composer Deborah Wicks La
Puma, who specializes in music for children.
 |
| (L-R) Evan Casey as Elephant Gerald and Lauren
Williams as Piggie (Credit: Teresa Wood) |
On a minimal set with minimal costumes, Gerald the Elephant (the slim
Evan Casey) and Piggie (the slim Lauren Williams) enact several skits
about being friends: sharing ice cream, what do you do when a friend
breaks your new toy, and going to a party together. The various events
are based on eight of the two dozen books in the series. The main
characters of Piggie complement each other. Elephant Gerald is a worrier,
sure that disaster is around the next corner while Piggie is all sunshine,
encouraging her friend to take chances and hope for the best.
One of the happiest segments in the one-hour presentation is when
Piggie is invited to her first party by the three Squirrelles (Jamie
Eacker, who doubles as a funny Delivery Dog, Justine “Icy”
Moral, and Jennie Lutz, who doubles as the Ice Cream Penguin). Elephant
and Piggie pile layer on layer for a general party (Piggie in a long
pink tutu), a formal party (Gerald’s top hat and cane), and
a beach party (Gerald adds a swimming tube around his waist).
The songs and dances throughout, but especially at the party, are
lively and fun. As a matter of fact all the performances are exceptional.
The actors are always in the moment, in character, and very endearing.
Their energy and musical theatre skills are just right for the audience
and the script.
My problem is primarily with the script. I have not read Mo Willems’
series although I probably know his work from “Sesame Street,”
for which he won six Emmy Awards as a writer and animator. He has
also worked for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network as head writer for
Codename: Kids Next Door. I found the script too abstract, too demanding
of the imaginations of 4-7 year olds.
 |
| (L-R) Lauren Williams, Evan Casey, Brittany Baratz,
Deborah Lubega and Ashleigh King (Credit: Teresa Wood) |
The opening was pure comedy. Elephant, who can be identified only
by an all gray outfit, comes on stage looking for his friend Piggie.
He exits and Piggie, all in pink, comes on stage looking for Elephant.
Eventually they are both on stage , back to back at times, looking
for their friend, surprised and happy when they bump into each other.
Then the script goes cerebral. Kids love villains, who turn out to
be good guys, something lost or hidden that the protagonist has to
find, or a problem that needs solving. There was a little of this,
but as we say in adult theatre, the show had no through line, just
disconnected skits.
In the first, Elephant and Piggie are bored so they decide to skip,
something kids love. But they want something new, so they add playing
ping pong to skipping. (How many kids in the audience know what ping
pong is? The gestures on stage would not make it clear.) Okay. And
then they decided to add funny hats -- invisible funny hats. Here
were wonderful, missed opportunities for comedy.
A second problematic skit is about ice cream. I bet a lot of parents
in the audience have advised their children not to lick a friend’s
ice cream although sharing chips, gummy bears and grapes is fine.
But here was a double skit, one involving green (pistachio) ice cream.
The other ended happily, with both of them licking a chocolate cone.
One of my grandsons thought the finest line was when Evan Casey (who
played Gerald) ad-libbed that he would have to do this all over again
at 11 (AM). I don’t know why he found that hilarious and I almost
spoiled his fun by explaining that there was another show at 11 the
next morning. He ignored me; he wanted to keep enjoying the best joke
of the show.
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