Peculiar Friendships in Children's Literature

We at BACT are a buzz about our musical adaptation of Fly Guy, but it has us yearning for other great stories about peculiar friendships.

Buzz and Liz LOVE their pet flies

If you're in the mood for a book or two about unusual friendships, here's the reading list for you!

If you love the classics:

Curious George: Who knew a man in a yellow hat and a monkey could be pals?  Curious George stands the test of time.

Charlotte's Web: Always a tear jerker, your kid will spend the rest of their life searching for a relationship as meaningful as Wilbur and Charlotte's. 

Winnie the Pooh:  The hundred acre wood is full of unusual friendships.  Bears who love pigs, a boy who love bears, and a tigger that might love himself the most.  

Stories from BACT season's past:

Where are Jame's friends when he needs them?

James and the Giant Peach: The musical was composed by this year's Oscar winners, Pasek and Paul, but the book is a Dahl staple, perfect for those who aren't scared of the creepy and crawly.  Not for those who have a fear of their own family. 

Elephant and Piggy: Like many animal tales, this series reminds us that there's nothing strange about the bond between a cautious elephant and care-free pig.

Ivy and Bean: Ivy is a little Berkeley, Bean is a tomboy at heart.  They couldn't be more different, but that doesn't stop these girls from a world of adventures.  The perfect way remind your child to not judge their neighbor by their quirkiness.  

For poetry lovers:

The Giving Tree: This beloved tale from kid-favorite Shel Silverstein has spent over half a century teaching the beauty of the life cycle, while reminding us all to go outside and hug a tree.

Less talked about friendships:

Archy and Mehitabel: Because cockroaches and cats can be friends, especially when the cat's on her ninth life, and the roach is Cleopatra's latest reincarnation.  About as old as most cockroaches, this story has been around since 1916!

Flora and Ulysses: The unlikely friendship of a girl and a supercharged squirrel she rescued from a vacuum.  One of the quirkier tales from Kate DiCamillo.  What's not to love?

Hopefully these tales will get you pumped for the best of unusual friends of all--a kid and their pet fly!  So get your tickets for Fly Guy before they fly away!

 

The Bay Area Children’s Theatre to Perform in Shanghai

The BACT cast of James and the Giant Peach

We have GIANT news to share: Bay Area Children's Theatre is going international! Actors, artists and educators from BACT will be traveling to China this summer to perform our production of James and the Giant Peach! 

Many of you saw our presentation of Pasek & Paul's musical James and the Giant Peach in its California debut this past winter. The executive director of Shanghai Children’s Art Theatre also attended one of our performances and enjoyed the show so much, she has invited us to her theatre as part of a cross-cultural exchange!

Shanghai Children's Art Theatre performance venue.
Photo: Charles Xia

The Shanghai Children’s Art Theatre is a dynamic performing arts organization that is bringing cutting edge children’s programming to the families of Shanghai. It's that city's largest theater dedicated to professional productions for young audiences. BACT will debut James and the Giant Peach in Shanghai with four performances on August 1 and 2.

We are so honored to be included in the theatre’s roster of international visitors for 2015. Our cast and design team are very excited about taking our work abroad for the first time and introducing a vibrant new play in the great tradition of American musical theatre!

Special Rehearsal Pulls Out All the Stops

By Vivian Auslander

Our James team with composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

At the beginning of James and the Giant Peach—BACT’s ebullient holiday musical—the mysterious narrator, Ladahlord, invites the audience to “Come with me to see something strange unfold. Hear the weirdest tale that was ever told.”

I got a peek into how our BACT artists were creating this tale at a rehearsal where the cast had the rare chance to work with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Tony Award-nominated songwriters who wrote the music for the show. That’s like having a young Rodgers and Hammerstein walk in the door to give a master class!

Based on the story by Roald Dahl, James and the Giant Peach recounts how James, who is orphaned when his parents are eaten by an angry rhino, escapes from his mean aunts with a bevy of charming if wacky insects inside an enormous, enchanted peach.

The cast had met three times to prepare a few of the songs from the show before Benj and Justin flew in from New York. Everyone was nervous but very eager to hear the composers’ thoughts.

When I arrived at the studio, Benj and Justin were watching the antics of Michelle Navarrete and Caroline Schneider, who play Spiker and Sponge, James’s awful (but funny) aunts. Justin moved to the keyboard to accompany the song the aunts sing when they discover that James is about to become their “property.”  As his fingers flew and his foot pounded out the beat, the air began to pulse with a passionate energy that became the hallmark of the evening.

For each song the cast had prepared, Benj and Justin explained what ideas and emotions they wanted to convey with the music and the lyrics, and then focused in like laser beams as the actors sang.

“Use a hushed intensity,” Justin suggested to Sean Fenton, as Sean tackled Lahdahlord’s opening song.

For Derek Collard, who plays Green Grasshopper, Justin jumped up to demonstrate how to use the rhythms of the tune, “Floating Along,” to give his friends courage as the Giant Peach takes them out to sea.

Introducing the tender melody the insects sing to comfort James, Justin asked Betsy Picart (Ladybug) and Derek to treat the song as a quiet conversation. To help everyone understand the poignancy of having such a conversation with a little boy, Director Nina Meehan stood up, put her arm around 7-year-old Grady Walsh, and led him to the center of the floor, where they sat down together.  We all held our breath as Betsy and Derek sang to Grady.  (Grady’s mom is Dialect Coach Heather Robison.)

Benj Pasek (far left) and Justin Paul (far right) observe as Nina Meehan and 7-year-old Grady enjoy the song of Ladybug (Picart) and Grasshopper (Collard).

At the break, I asked Michelle how it felt to be working directly with the show’s creators. “It’s an amazing experience,” she said. “I feel so lucky. You can develop the layers in your character so much more with this coaching.”

Music Director Kevin Roland added, “Their music is phenomenal.  It pays homage to the great musical theatre teams that have come before them, yet it blends styles and rhythms—everything from Caribbean to American standards--in a way that is fresh and unique. Their versatility tells the story brilliantly and keeps you interested throughout the show.”

For three hours, the cast sent harmonies soaring, while Benj and Justin pulled out all the stops, pouring their hearts into helping BACT prepare their show. Then, suddenly, the musical fireworks were over. It was time for hugs all around, and good-byes.

Nina ushered the songwriters off to catch their flights home, then turned to the cast members, beaming.  “You rocked it!” she shouted.  “Those two guys brought such a level of energy to this room! Justin was stomping the floor so hard I was sure there’d be a hole!  Now what we have to do is trust their words, trust their rhythms, and bring that energy to the show!”

And, when you see the show, I think you’ll agree that they have!

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Vivian Auslander is a BACT Board Member.