[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Storybook Theatre’s The Ugly Duckling, with book by Lloyd J. Schwartz, music and lyrics by Adryan Russ, and produced and directed by Barbara Mallory Schwartz.
Another delightful play by the good people at Storybook Theatre! The Ugly Duckling has to be perfect children’s story. A lost swan egg is adopted by a sweet mother duck and hatches. I’s a weird-looking duckling of course, but mother duck loves it anyway and so the story unfolds.
No princesses, no princes swooping in to save the day, no wolves swallowing grannies, no one in a coma. It’s just a sweet story about being yourself no matter what and being loved for who you are.
Of course, the kids love this story too, not just me, and the lovely cast sings their hearts out and includes any kid who has the nerve to clamber onto the stage to take part. The result is charming and heartfelt and thoroughly entertaining. The theatre was packed with kids barely containing their excitement and laughing in all the right places.
Isn’t that wonderful when you consider TV and computers and gaming and TikTok? It’s hopeful to think that something as simple as a kid’s play can have a positive impact on so many children and as a collective. They experience this together, feeding off each other’s energy and delight. It’s vital that children are exposed to art of all forms, but live theatre in particular as their instantaneous enjoyment is visceral and real. Creating those neural pathways at an early age will hopefully produce artists of all forms. Art is everything as we all know!!
What a wonderful place to go with your little ones to see actual live theatre! Theatre West and its Storybook Theatre series is a godsend for those of us with little ones in our lives! I highly recommend The Ugly Duckling to one and all!!
Tickets:
https://theatrewest.org/storybook-theatre
When:
October 12, 2024- January 11, 2025, Saturdays at 1PM
Where:
Theatre West
3333 Cahuenga Blvd W, Los Angeles 90068
The Ugly Duckling Cast and Team
The cast includes Kathy Garrick, Elise Walters, Briana Burnside, and Paul Denniston. Understudies: Kerry Melachouris, Jennifer Whitman, Kelsey Johnson, Hasan Crawford.
Stage managers: David P. Johnson, Leesa Freed.