Who is Pete the Cat?

Get to know the hippest cat in town, here are a few words from leading man, Zachary Hansbany, also known as Pete the Cat!

 Hi everyone! I’m Zachary Hasbany, playing Pete in Pete the Cat. I just got back from traveling the country with BACT’s national tour of the wonderful Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site. 

BACT has become quickly another home for me, so I’m excited to share Pete the Cat with everyone starting on June 16^th.  Pete is a musician cat in the 1960’s with many philosophies, especially that “life is a really really really big adventure.” Even when he gets caught by the cat-catcher, and blunders his way into a chaotic family environment, Pete keeps a positive attitude and adventures on. Getting to play Pete is such a delightful experience, because we can all learn from his perspective.

 On the roads that we take in life, it’s important to try hard with 100% effort, but when we get derailed, we can learn, adapt, and enjoy our new path. 

When we encounter a difficult path, we can remember another “’Pete Philosophy’ – life takes courage; be brave.” Keeping that in mind, I hope to see you all at this show, so we can enjoy this “groovalicious beautiful adventure” together!

Beautiful Oops! Jr Blogger Report

Our Jr. Blogger Sophie Knipp talks all about Beautiful Oops!

Beautiful Oops! is a very creative show where six animal friends come together to make a great show! The problem is: everyone keeps making mistakes. 

The show Beautiful Oops! shows very artistic sets and colorful scenes. “Lots of fun; and a lot of scenery overload,” says Hanna McPheron who plays the Stage Manager in the show.

One example of the very artistic set was during the fishing scene when the character Bunny, played by Mary Gibboney, learns that that her friends will always be there for her, even if she makes mistakes. The back wall of the set falls down at the start of the fishing scene, revealing a sheer fabric. You can see moving lights shaped as fish behind the fabric. It looks like a lake!

The set also had 3 projection screens that dropped down from the ceiling during scene changes. The artistic projections were of animated kids talking about art. 

Another cool part of the show was when the stage went dark, and the characters danced with light up hoola-hoops and ropes. The audience also participated. We were given tea lights and an activity bucket at the start of the show. We turned on the tea lights when the stage went dark, and colored a sticker that we stuck on the back of the stage wall at the end of the show. My sister, JoJo (7) especially liked to add her art work to the set.  “I like all the ways all the art supplies work in the show,” says Anna Smith, who plays the part of Alligator. 

There is a lot of sarcasm in this show! Even adults were laughing! One character named Pig, played by Andrew Mondellow, dreams of having a car. He sings the song, “Pig in a Car” which is a hysterical rock song. He always makes the audience laugh. On the way out of the theater, I heard people saying that the show was really funny!  

The other characters in the show are very playful too! Crocodile, played by Anna Smith; Elephant, played by Kevin B. Johnson; and Penguin, played by Amanda Nguyen love to do many things together! They play, sing ,dance, and make beautiful mistakes. 

Making mistakes is beautiful! It’s OK if you make mistakes. Good friends will always forgive you. Come and make beautiful mistakes and artwork with the cast of BACT’s show, Beautiful Oops!

Wheels on the Bus: An Actor's Perspective

Here's a post from Salim Razawi a familiar face from BACT shows like Five Little Monkeys, Rickshaw Girl, and our school tour on safety, Rock the Block.  Salim is an East Bay TYA educator and director, but Wheels on the Bus is his first production for the very young. Here he is to help us understand the value of theatre for the very young. 

When I was asked to be a part of Wheels on the Bus I can honestly say I was a bit hesitant. Although I do a lot of TYA, I had no prior experience in theatre for the very young and it was a nerve-wracking gig, but it has been an absolute pleasure. 

Wheels on the Bus takes the audience on an imaginary bus for an interactive journey that examines all manners of things that go around.

 As the bus driver, I invite the kids to patriciate in the show in whatever way they seem fit and they truly take this to heart. One pivotal point in the show is when the bus breaks down, as the driver I look inside and see giant gears that have stopped working, so we bring mini versions of the gears to the kids and ask them if they could help us make them go around. There are many interactive points in the show and sometimes we invite the kids to join us on stage to be an airplane with us, or help us put some round toppings on the pizza we are making. 

During one of my favorite performances, we invited all the kids to come up and dance like airplanes with us. 

In a sold-out house of 45 patrons only one little girl came up, but she took center stage and owned her airplane. 

Having this kind of interaction does come with its challenges, sometime a child or two may wander backstage or take the prop that we are about to use, but rather than reprimanding or saying no to them we invite them and ask them questions about said props. One time a child saw our sound system with volume control knobs, so, during a very loud bus traveling sound cue, he decided he wanted to see how those knobs worked and turned the volume on blast!  Luckily, I was able to adjust the sound quickly on my handy-dandy iPod that I keep on my arm throughout the show. 

This kind of kinetic learning is a huge part of why TVYA matter. 

I believe this work is so important, has great cognitive benefits for the developing and curious minds, and is so engaging and mesmerizing for the very young. I am one happy bus driver!

Thanks Salim, for sharing your thoughts, and for driving that school bus--forty toddlers can't be easy!

There are still some seats available for our season of Theatre for the Very Young, get them before they are gone! 

Here are some other great articles on the importance of Theatre for the Very Young:

SF Chronicle: Toddler Stage: The Very Little Get in on the Improv Act

Children's Fairyland: Theatre for the Very Young

Charlette's Blog: A Holiday Interview with Fancy Nancy

Charlette caught up with Fancy Nancy star, Allison Meneley, after a performance.  Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas

Tickets and More Info: http://bactheatre.org/shows/FancyNancyChristmas

November 26-December 29 at The Osher Studio in downtown Berkeley.

I interviewed Allison Meneley who plays Nancy in Fancy Nancy's Splendiferous Christmas. Her mother inspired her to act. When she was about 8 years old her mother put her in a drama camp during summer. She liked it so much she caught the theater bug. I asked what she liked most about this play. She said she really liked her theater family. She met them a few months ago. Her theater family makes it fun to act and work for B.A.C.T. She didn't like the hair piece because it's alot of maintenance which is a fancy word for alot to take care of. It's almost like it has its own part period. She got her experience by going to the same drama camp every summer, and then she even started to teach it.  She started with singing and loved it then she did dancing and loved that too.  She went to college, and now she's getting her masters in theater education, so she can inspire kids like me.

 When she started working for B.A.C.T.  she helped out back staged for the play Edward Tulane. She was an understudy which is a fancy word for someone that knows your part and can fill in for you when your too sick or tired, for the original Fancy Nancy, Rhonda the 2 sport twins. She also did the Lady Bug Girl tour. She really likes all her parts for many difference reasons. Like the original Fancy Nancy because she made all her best friends in that show. She read the Fancy Nancy books and she was so happy to bring it to life on stage.  She did have to look in the book to see how Fancy Nancy poses and her clothes. 

She grew up watching plays and her first one was Phantom of the Opera when she was 9. One of her favorite plays in New York is Spring Awakening.  She saw it last year.  She also really enjoyed Finding Neverland. The advice she would give all young actors is to never lose sight of who you are and don't lose sight in the fun.  She is a great actor and I hope I see her again. I really enjoyed the show.