Last night marked the start of the Orpheum’s 2009-10 Family Series, and Flannery and I were there with bells on for Childsplay’s adaptation of Peter and the Wolf. Okay, so they were proverbial bells. But we knew that a fun evening lay ahead when we arrived at the Broadway Club for pizza, ice cream sandwiches and coloring pages!

At this point I must express my gratitude to Thomas Whitehead for inviting us to be a part of Media Night. And admit that, no matter how many times I’ve seen the theatre, I am always awed by its beauty and historic restoration. From the decadent lobby to glittering chandeliers, the Orpheum atmosphere makes any performance all the more memorable. But I digress!

Seats were general admission, and we managed to find seats on the center aisle in the middle of the orchestra level. The performance began with an homage to Prokofiev and his timeless musical themes. But make no mistake: this was a fresh adaptation of the story of Peter, his grandfather, the duck, the bird and the cat who attempt to outsmart the wily wolf.

In fact, in Childsplay’s version the characters enjoyed original lines, costumes and musical numbers. The costumes were loosely inspired by Cirque du Soleil, but I’ll get to that momentarily.

The sets were simple but effective, the cat jazzy, the wolf dandy-yes, in a sort of erudite, Oscar Wilde-esque sense- and what elicited the loudest laughter from the crowd was the booty (tail feather?) shaking of the short-lived duck.

Skip ahead to the wolf caught in a box, especially as that situation illustrated what made Childsplay’s adaptation so much fun. The characters could not reach consensus regarding the wolf’s ideal fate, and one option was to make him “change his nature” and become “protein free.” During the rousing spiritual that accompanied this particular alternative, I was reminded of older daughter Ripley’s re-telling of The 3 Little Pigs, when she was 4 and offered the big, bad wolf friendship and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

So I won’t spoil the ending-who knows when you might have the pleasure of seeing Childsplay’s performance-but I will commend their addressing of young fans following curtain fall. The troupe asked children in the crowd about rules and their impetus, then offered themselves up for questions.

They explained how they used puppets to emphasize perspective. How their costumes were designed to hint at their animal inspirations without turning them into literal animals. What their ending meant. Or implied.

So sure, it’s too late to see this fun adaptation of Peter and the Wolf. But hopefully you are intrigued. And that intrigue will lead you to check out the Orpheum’s 2009-10 Family Series. So many amazing performances lie ahead, and at the remarkably accessible price of $12.50. Even more, you can purchase 4 flexible tickets for $32. That means that for only $8 apiece you can enjoy CSI Live, Chasing George Washington: A White House Adventure, The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon, Most Valuable Player, A Year with Frog and Toad, Strega Nona and Marlee Matlin’s Nobody’s Perfect.

Seriously, we all know that the Orpheum offers such blockbusters as WICKED and Jersey Boys. But don’t miss the similarly  impressive, albeit unfortunately less recognized, treasure that is the Family Series. It is yet another reason that raising a child in Memphis is, well, just plain wonderful.

View Elizabeth Lemmonds's Profile      Subscribe via RSS