All posts by Miriam Chernick:
Miriam Chernick is a local author for children. She also reviews children's books for Children’s Literature.
Jack and the Beanstalk
February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Fe-fi-fo-fum! This famous line from the classic Jack and the Beanstalk will resonate with pre and elementary school-age kids when they see the show currently playing at The Puppet Company in Glen Echo Park, Maryland. [Read more...]
Pinocchio
November 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Developed by Len Piper (from the book by Carlo Collodi) as a puppet show within a puppet show, this marionettes-mixed-with-human-actors version of “Pinocchio” from Glen Echo’s Puppet Company is perfectly tailored to pre and elementary school-age kids. [Read more...]
Locomotion
October 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I’ll admit I wondered if a stage adaptation of “Locomotion” could capture the powerful voice in Jacqueline Woodson’s award-winning novel in verse. Well, it can. And it does. The show is a superior work in its own right, and an excellent addition to the fall line up at The Kennedy Center’s Family Theater. [Read more...]
Las Aventures de Tio Conejo
July 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Director Elena Vasco has come up with an original crowd-pleaser with Tio Conego and his fellow animals in Las Aventuras de Tio Conejo. Adapted from a Nicaraguan folktale, this is the story of a trickster rabbit who turns the “might makes right” adage on its head. [Read more...]
Knuffle Bunny
May 12, 2010 By 4 Comments
Anyone can relate to the trauma of a child losing a beloved stuffed animal, not to mention the resulting kerfuffle. That’s why Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical really works.
Written by Mo Willems, and based on his Caldecott Honor award winning book “Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale”, the story takes place in Brooklyn, NY, where Dad accepts the daunting task of taking his toddler daughter, Trixie, with him to the Laundromat. [Read more...]
The Fool at the Circus
April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Before the show, Director Nicholas Allen comes out to remind the audience that one of the things we should do is laugh. But his encouragement is hardly necessary. We can’t help but laugh because this production is brimming with funny moments, [Read more...]
Peter and the Wolf
February 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Though significantly different from Prokofiev’s original symphony of Peter and the Wolf, Imagination Stage’s modern adaptation is a very entertaining show.
The book (Allison Gregory) for the most part stays true to Prokofiev’s story, where young Peter and his friends – bird, duck and cat – work hard to avoid being attacked and eaten by the cunning wolf. [Read more...]
Disney’s Mulan
December 1, 2009 By 1 Comment
Mulan is by far my favorite of all the Disney stories, so I – and the sell-out crowd around me – eagerly anticipated Imagination Stage’s adaptation of this popular musical. [Read more...]
Ferdinand the Bull
October 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Karen Zacarias’ excellent adaptation of the book, ‘The Story of Ferdinand’, enhances the story with new characters and songs, and, as such, is wonderfully suited to the stage.
In this version, Ferdinand, the peace-loving, flower-smelling bull, has a friend, Cochina the pig played by Sara Beth Pfeifer, who convinces him to go to Madrid [Read more...]
Go, Dog. Go!
September 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Adventure Theater’s adaptation of Go, Dog. Go! captures all the best elements of the book: fun, action, and drama. Director Karen Abromaitis does an excellent job of working with the author’s requirement that only words from the book be used. [Read more...]
