This “mind-expanding musical romp through the world of numbers” is a fun-filled exploration of the role and evolution of numbers. It is enjoyable enough, and filled with imagination for children’s theater goers.  Not that us elders couldn’t afford a trip to “Numbers Land” with memorable reminders about the role of zero and the significance of “pi.”  It’s just that the show should be identified as “Family” entertainment, since unlike most of the animated shows on the market and cartoons, it is squeaky clean without a double entendre or adult-themed  whammy in sight.  Even Sesame Street and Disney give up a little sizzle.  Cookin’ Up Numbers is Board of Ed clean and would be great playing in school auditoriums.

Yvonne Roen plays Becca who confronts the numbers when mixing ingredients in a recipe to bake a pie.  When she loads it in the large oven, out pops Eric Onate as pi, looking fit and dapper, even a bit Will Ferrell-like with a beret looking pie on his head.  He is soon accompanied by all the numbers held up on sticks by Genna Davidson, Cecilia Cackley, and Michael Page who sing and move around nicely portraying the evolution of the symbols from ancient Greece, the meaning of the “Golden Ratio,”  formulas and equations, and of course, pi.

The music and lyrics are very effective, and the piece hits a wonderful stride in showing how the numbers “describe things in nature.”  The fun and carefree approach help release numbers from the grip of being “too hard” by showing their relationship to everyday items around us, like the ubiquitous circle.   Anything that could help me finally understand the relationship between a circumference of a circle and its diameter, using a memorable jingle and talking numbers with fun-filled personalities has got some serious chops and deserves appreciation.

Cookin’ Up Numbers

Based on an Ideas conceived by Rebecca Klemm
Book and Lyrics by Yvonne Roen . Music Composition by Tom Berger & Davey Yarborough
Directed by Steven Scott Mazzola
Produced by Numbers Alive!
Reviewed by Debbie M. Jackson

Running Time: Nearly one hour

Read all the reviews and check out the full Capital Fringe schedule here.

Did you see the show?  What did you think?