If you are age 9 and up and want to write a blog about your experience with BACT, email nina@bactheatre.org.
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My Interview of Benjamin Hanna
By Genevieve, Age 10
I have always enjoyed the Ivy and Bean books and wished that
I could watch it live, as a movie or play. Well, my wish recently came true,
because the current Bay Area Children’s Theatre (BACT) production is Ivy and Bean…The Musical! This play was
one-of-a-kind and silly.
BACT worked with the Ivy and Bean series author, Annie
Barrows, to develop a musical that stayed close to the original books and its
characters. They added in some theatrical pieces, like throwing confetti, which
I enjoyed. When people had two parts and they had to go change into their other
outfits, they did it in highly incredible ways. You wouldn’t even notice that
they had left; there was so much creativity in it. It had practically the exact
same art in the scenery as was in the books, which showed they put time and
thought into ways to remind the audience of the book series. The actors were
just like all the kids I know--getting in trouble, dressing up, annoying
siblings…all just on one Saturday morning. It was super realistic, and if you
go to see it, you’ll agree with me—it was a wonderful play.
This time I interviewed Benjamin Hanna, the director of the
play. He was interesting and talkative and fun to interview. Ben also acts.
When he was a child, he thought he wanted to be an actor, which he did enjoy
doing, but in college he also took directing and decided that that was his real
heart’s desire. He still finds time for acting as well. He worked with BACT for
nine months to make this play wonderful.
What exactly does a director do? I’ve always wondered this,
and that’s one of the reasons I was excited to interview Ben. Ben believes that
the director’s main job is to tell the story in an accurate and fun way. A
director brings together a group of artists, such as the actors and the
technicians, and discusses their thoughts about the production. Led by the
director, the group works together to create the places actors go, the things
people wear, the sounds you hear, the dances actors do, and the things
people use onstage in a super realistic way. The director helps actors put
meaning into their words to make everything real to you. “I love directing
because I get to work with the most interesting and creative people and I learn
something new every day!” Ben smiles, “Directors do a lot of things!”
While directing the production, Ben thinks back to when he
was young to make the show as kid-friendly as possible. He also has a seven-year-old
cousin whom he read the books to. Ben has younger siblings, as well. He thinks
he is most like Nancy, because he was the oldest and would always baby-sit his
sisters and brothers. But he acted more like Ivy on a Saturday morning, sitting
on the front porch reading. He got
some of his ideas for directing the play from fun, exciting experiences in his
own childhood and he tried to make the musical as fun as it could be. He wanted
the play to be realistic to children so they could really relate to their own
neighborhood experiences. I definitely
think he achieved his goal!
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| Ivy + Bean, the Musical director Benjamin Hanna. |
As I was finishing our interview, I had the opportunity to
meet the actress who played Ivy, Megan Putnam. She started acting when she was
eight years old and this was her first BACT production. Megan says she didn’t
know any of the other people making the play when she started, but by the end
they were all like family. She read all of the Ivy and Bean books and
definitely agrees that Ivy was the part for her. “I don’t know what I would be
if I didn’t get the part of Ivy! She’s perfect for me,” Megan says. She told me
that her dream play to be part of is Wicked; she would love to play Glenda.
I am really impressed by this great play, and I would love
to thank everyone who put time and thought into it. It turned out wonderful.
Go, Ivy and Bean!!!
