Kara Blogs: Machines Come Alive

BACT Blogger Kara relays how the magic of theatre can bring a picture book like Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site to life, and also shares a summary of the show!

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Cement Mixer and Dump Truck!

The BACT musical, Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site delivers a play that brings every day machines to life. One of the ways they brought these machines to life was through their costumes. The characters wore super zippy shoes that had wheels on the bottom. They also wore bright yellow construction hats that had decorative, toy machines on them which symbolized who they were. The characters were busy Bulldozer, dynamic Dump Truck, musical Mixer, excellent Excavator and cranky Crane. 

When the show starts, all the machines are hurrying to get the job done because it is at the end of the day. Mixer rushed ahead of Bulldozer, Crane got cranky and they did not work together. They get back on track, but soon realize they need a goodnights rest. So, they start to get ready for bed. My favorite part of the play was story time. They act out the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but, instead of a girl Little Red Riding Hood it was Little Red Tractor, and instead of the Big Bad Wolf it was the Big Bad Monster Truck. There was also Orion, the super hero, who wore a super, shiny, silver cape and saved the day. 

The cast of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site!

At the end of the program, Cement Mixer gets frightened of the dark and Bulldozer comforts her with a song of friendship. One thing that made the show amazing was the way the performers connected with everyone in the audience. At a point in the program, some of the actors and actresses walked around and gave high fives to the kids in the audience. I think that made the kids feel special. It made me feel special. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site teaches you about teamwork and friendship. It is a show you should see with the whole family!

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Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, the Musical runs thru July 31 at Children's Fairyland in Oakland before heading to the Children's Creativity Museum Theater in SF in August. Purchase your tickets today!

Photographer: Melissa Nigro

Julietta Blogs: Meeting Nick Bruel and the Kitty Creative Team!

BACT Blogger Julietta shares her perspective on a special donor event during which author Nick Bruel and members of the Bad Kitty On Stage creative team spoke about the show's creation.

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The Bad Kitty BACT donor event was really cool! Donors who give money to BACT support them because they appreciate the work they put into making a play. BACT gives back by writing plays and musicals for the whole bay area to enjoy! Donating to BACT helps them to create these plays and musicals for school kids who have never seen a play before. Nina Meehan, the executive director, said that at one of their school day matinee performances, almost everyone raised their hand when they asked who had never seen a play before. Even donating a small amount can make a huge difference.

Julietta gets her book signed by Nick Bruel!

At the donor event, they had the Bad Kitty author, Nick Bruel, the Bad Kitty On Stage costume designer, Amy, the director, Benjamin Hanna, and Min Kahng, who is the one who brought bad kitty to stage, talk about how they made Bad Kitty On Stage! The actor playing Bad Kitty even stopped by while on lunch break! Bad Kitty is a book series by Nick. He creates a character by drawing it and using a pen instead of a pencil so he isn't tempted to erase anything. Nick said it was easiest to find what bad kitty looks like because he had a cat named Zuzu who was all black, except for a patch of white on her chest. It took him 9 months to make the first book in the series, and now it takes him 6-7 months because now he knows the characters and what they look like so he only needs to make up a story with these characters.

I had never heard of Bad Kitty before, and now I'm a huge fan and cannot wait to see the play! At the end, I had my book, Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty! signed by Nick Bruel, and I also got a Bad Kitty mask signed! I was so excited to read the book after that, so I read my book all the way home and it is one of my most favorite books now! If BACT hadn't chosen great books like Bad Kitty, I wouldn't had known about Bad Kitty and a lot of the other books BACT turned into such great plays! I like that even the authors appreciate the plays BACT makes from their books! BACT makes the best plays I know and I cannot wait to see Bad Kitty On Stage soon!

Charlette Blogs: Meeting Nick Bruel and the Kitty Creative Team!

Sango Tajima & Nick Bruel signing posters at the show!

When I was invited to see the author Nick Bruel I was so excited. I heard him talk about his books Bad Kitty, and I heard the BACT theater people talk about the play that they made from his books. The author Nick Bruel has 2 cats now, but he had one when he was a child. Bad Kitty looked like his childhood cat named Zou-Zou. The cat was black from the tip of his ears to the the very tip of his tail, but just a big clump of white on his chest.  It took Nick Bruel nine months to finish his first book. He went to college and got a degree in English. Nick Bruel started out with board books for younger children and he really really wanted the kids to continue loving Bad Kitty books even when they're older.  So he started making chapter books of Bad Kitty, so older kids can read Bad Kitty too.

 

Amy Bobeda was the costume designer for the play. Some white feathers was used for Bad Kitty's chest of its costume. She clipped it onto overalls that Bad Kitty wore in the play. I am so excited to see the costumes that everyone will be wearing. I think maybe it was really hard to sew and put together all the costumes. I think she is very talented. 

Sango Tajima played Bad Kitty in the play. She came in on her lunch break so she couldn't stay there the whole time because she had work still, but I still think it was nice of her to come. Bad Kitty does not talk. She makes cat noises like purr or meow. She had to practice making the cat noises. She also had to look in the book and see how the cat positions looked like. I think it was hard for her to make cat noises to go with the feelings of Bad Kitty.

 

Min Kahng wrote the play Bad Kitty.  Min Kahng really really wanted for the audience to be excited and wowed during the play. He mentioned that in a comic book, on every page you see a pow or a boom it makes the reader excited. Min wanted that for every scene of the play. He worked with the director named Benjamin Hanna. I think it was hard for him to to direct all the characters. I bet he worked very hard.

 

The pianist and narrator of the play was Phil Wong. I think it was amazing that he can talk normal and play piano at the same time. He said he had to practice alot! The music was live because when in the play someone stomps or jumps really hard they would make a sound on the piano and match it with the action Bad Kitty was doing. I think he is awesome. 

Our BACT Bloggers: Kara, Julietta & Charlette!

After they were done speaking, Nick Bruel the author of Bad Kitty signed my book, Bad Kitty for President. Now, I am so excited to see this play and see everything come alive on stage.

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You can also see this play and see everything come alive on stage! Bad Kitty On Stage runs in Berkeley thru February 21 at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse. The show then has a run in San Ramon from February 27-28 at the Dougherty Valley Performing Arts Center, and in San Francisco from March 5-26 at the Children's Creativity Museum Theater. Purchase your tickets today!

Genevieve Blogs: Ron S. McCan, Costume Designer for Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds

BACT Blogger Genevieve is back! This time, she was able to interview Ron S. McCan, costume designer for Three Little Birds. Genevieve is 12 years old and in sixth grade at Kensington Hilltop School. She loves theater and has been going to productions since she was three years old. Genevieve enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and playing piano. She lives in Kensington with her parents and two younger siblings. Genevieve just played Hamlet in her school play. She thinks BACT is awesome and everybody who works there really inspires her!
 

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     Bay Area Children’s Theatre’s (BACT) has just started showing an amazing production called Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. It is colorful, filled with expression, and very true to Jamaican culture and music. When I looked around at the rest of the audience, everybody looked so engaged, sitting at the edge of their seats, thinking, “What’s going to happen next?” The show was a perfect mixture of exciting, silly, and even just a little bit scary. One thing that really struck me was the amazing, detailed costumes that were designed by Ron S. McCan.

Ron S. McCan

     This is Mr. McCan’s first time designing costumes for BACT, and he absolutely loves it. Everybody there is really supportive and fun. This play, Three Little Birds, has actually been his favorite production that he has designed costumes for. It has fun music, and it just felt right for him. When Mr. McCan first found out that he would be designing costumes for Three Little Birds, he was so excited. He loves the work that BACT does. He likes how exciting it is for kids. He also thought that all the different bird characters were cool and fun.
     When he was a kid, Mr. McCan didn’t think that he would be a costume designer. He thought that he would be an actor. However, his mom was a costume designer, so that’s how he got interested. Now, he designs costumes and acts (and he likes both of them equally because you have to be creative for both of them). The most recent play that he acted in was called Jesus Christ Superstar. He also teaches high school. Mr. McCan is a Bob Marley fan. His favorite song by Marley is “Is This Love”, which is actually a song used in Three Little Birds.
     Ziggy and Nansi are the main characters. They are average, eleven-year-old kids. Because Mr. McCan is a high school teacher, he found his inspiration for these kids by looking at how his freshman students dress. He also based their costumes off nephews and nieces. He wanted them to look cool and colorful, but like normal kids. Mr. McCan knew that in Jamaica it is very hot. Other than that, people in Jamaica just dress like how we dress in America. So Mr. McCan dressed them the way we dress here, but in clothes that will keep them cool. Mr. McCan buys some parts of costumes and makes some of the costumes.

Anthony Rollins-Mullens as Duppy

     The hardest costume that Mr. McCan designed for Three Little Birds was Duppy’s costume. This specific costume took him the longest to make out of any other character in this play (it took him two whole months!). Duppy had big, glowing eyes, and had hair on the back. These were hard to create. Duppy had so many things that he had to do, and, to make it even more challenging, he had a big headdress. Mr. McCan had to glue every individual feather on to this headpiece. Actually, he had to do this for every bird costume in Three Little Birds. Mr. McCan gets his inspiration for costumes from pictures. He got a lot of inspiration for Three Little Birds by looking at pictures of Caribbean carnivals.

The cast of Three Little Birds

     Mr. McCan loved making many of the costumes for Three Little Birds. One of his favorites was Dr. Bird because he was modeled after the Red-Billed Steamertail Hummingbird which is the national symbol of Jamaica. He loves the bright colors. He also loved making Duppy because of the hair he stole from children and the glowing eyes. He liked Nansi because of her bright color scheme. Her shirt also played with cool shapes and patterns. He enjoyed doing Tacoomah, as well, because the actress who played her (Taylor Jones) really wanted a big headdress, which was fun to make.
     If Mr. McCan could design costumes for any production, it would be You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. It’s about kids, and it’s very cartoony, which means he could use colorful costumes. The most challenging play that he ever designed costumes for was The Mad Woman of Challiot. The reason it was so hard was because it took place in Paris in 1915, when there was a very specific style. Men had tuxedos and woman had to wear lots of wigs.
     Thanks for being such a fun person to interview, Mr. McCan! You love to imagine and create amazing things. I think he was the perfect costume designer for this particular production. Also, thanks to Min Kahng for organizing this interview. And, of course, thanks to the whole crew at BACT for putting on the amazing, creative, colorful production…Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds! I can’t wait for the next play!!!