THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR SHOW
As a former Pre-K and elementary school teacher, I’m all-for theatre that entertains children in a good way. I don’t know if the general public knows that Theatre For Children is actually a very specific and often hard-to-do art. And I find that the most difficult age group to entertain is the very young.
So I was really happy to discover The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show at the El Portal in North Hollywood, especially since it’s based on several books. The show is geared to the uber-young ‘uns. I was actually a little late to the party because the show began in early December, (which is why it has one small holiday bit in it.)
Sean Tibangin and Becki Park with the caterpillar. Photo courtesy of Rockefeller Productions, as is the one at the top of this page, which features a different cast, but the same puppets.
When I first sat down, having never taught the books of Eric Carle, (who wrote all the stories featured in this show,) which are geared towards pre-school children, I was a tad concerned that there were so many one-to-three-year-olds in the audience; I thought that perhaps that age range is too young to be audience members. But I’m glad to report that they were all fascinated! They stopped crying and being restless as soon as the first puppet, the Brown Bear, appeared. It was like magic! The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show is actually perfect to be a child’s first theater experience.
The production is presented by the company who brought us Winnie the Pooh last year, so I knew it would be a quality one. (You can read all about that one, and the producer, right here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/theatre-disneys-winnie-the-pooh-the-new-musical-stage-adaptation.)
The quartet of actors bring to life four different books by the late prolific children’s author Eric Carle. (The caterpillar is the last one, so just know that.) The other three are Brown Bear, Brown Bear; 10 Little Rubber Ducks; and the holiday-themed Dream Snow. Even though it’s January now, I really appreciated seeing one more tiny Christmas tree on the stage in that segment. Mr. X and I once kept ours up for the entire year, so it was actually a delight to see one a little longer in this show.
The third story, Dream Snow, helps prolong the holidays a little bit. Photo by Karen Salkin.
In addition to The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show entertaining the kiddies so well, it also teaches them animals, colors, numbers, directions, and even questions and replies. This is a great show to get them started on.
Even for grown-ups on our own, (as my friend and I were, for reviewing purposes,) it was a very relaxing presentation. It’s a pleasure to see an angst-free production for once. And between the minimal dialogue in the show, and the adorable words from the little girl behind me, I had a trio of wonderful personal memories that day. They’re amusing, so I’ll share them with you at the bottom of this review, right after all the show info. [Note: The tales are easier to tell verbally, so I really should have done videos of the stories on my YouTube channel, but you have only two more week-ends to see this show in LA, so I didn’t have time to shoot any vids right now.]
The actors/puppeteers do their jobs perfectly. And their white tees and overalls are also perfect backdrops for the several dozen incredible, beautiful, and super-colorful puppets. Each of the four stories is done in a way that the audience can easily differentiate them from each other.
(L-R) Leonard J. Moore II, Sean Tibangin, and Becki Park, from the second story in the show. Photo courtesy of Rockefeller Productions.
The caterpillar movement is impressive. Since my own (stuffed) Froggy has been my best friend since my very first month in Los Angeles when I was a teen-ager, the one in this show should have been my favorite of all of them. But it actually was the whale in the second story, even though we saw just a hint of him. (But I did not love the picture of the teacher’s face, even though I’m sure it’s directly from the book—I never looked like that. It did amuse me, however.)
There’s also a bit of an audience participation element to it, as in we get to count with the actors, and things like that. At one point, all the kids repeated, “The caterpillar had a stomach ache,” like it was a game of Telephone. That brought a smile to my face.
The actors, (Paula Macchi, Sean Tibangin, and Becki Park,) giving the audience a close-up look at some of the puppets, on the edge of the stage, at the end of the show. Photo by Karen Salkin.
Actually, the kids I saw it with made me miss teaching. But just a little bit. Let’s not get crazy.
Jeanine, the friend who saw the show with me, is a magician who specializes in children’s parties, complete with puppets, (so she knows this area of entertainment really well,) loved it! She told me she was so glad she saw it.
Adding to the experience is an adorable “activity” set-up in the lobby of the El Portal. There are tables with puzzles, tiny books, and my fave–crayons and papers with outlines of the caterpillar, butterfly, and bear to color in. You can either go early or stay a bit late to do it. I can’t tell you how much I wanted to color a caterpillar! I had to hold myself back, but I did write all the notes on the back of one of the pages. And I’ll color it in this week, with some of my own zillion crayons! I can’t wait!
The activity area in El Portal’s lobby. Photo by Karen Salkin.
You can purchase VIP tickets, if you like, which give you seats in the first couple of rows, and then, when the show is over, you can meet and take a picture with the caterpillar. I advise, though, that even though literally every seat is good at the El Portal, I actually think that sitting a tad further back here is a little better, although lots of people with tiny tots chose to sit in the front row.
And if you didn’t already know, I love the El Portal. It’s a legitimate theater, but sooooo unstuffy and easy.
So, if you have young children, or are just one yourself, I suggest seeing this show before the caterpillar turns into a butterfly and flies off to its next destination!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show running through January 21, 2024
El Portal Theatre 5269 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood
818-508-4200 www.hungrycaterpillarshow.com
Okay, here are my personal stories that The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show brought up for me:
When I was doing my TV show, which my precious little Clarence, The Singing Dog, used to perform on, I used to sometimes watch them with my parents. I knew my father was not as into it as my mother was, so when they were watching one, I secretly spied from the adjacent room so I could find-out if my father said anything nice about my show. I was thrilled that he watched so intently for the first twenty-five minutes of the half hour show. And then I heard him say to my mother, “I thought the dog was on the show!” That’s when I realized he wasn’t watching to see me, but to see Clarence! Mr. X and I still laugh about that after all these years. And that’s what I did to Jeanine during The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show–after two parts of the show without the critter, I whispered, “I thought the caterpillar was in the show.” And I realized I sounded exactly like my father, wanting to see “the dog.”
My next memory this show brought up is the best: I used to spend my summers in a cabin in Aspen with my mother. Every day she pointed-out a little bit of rusty hardware in front of our door, insisting that someone was going to cut themselves on it. My friends and I kept telling her that no one would be stupid enough to fall against it. So, of course, I did. I didn’t want my mother to see that I was bleeding, so I started crossing the little walk in front of the cabin to show my friend, Vota, the damage. Just as I stepped into it, I saw some giant brown entity rushing right at me, and I thought it looked familiar. And then I realized that it looked familiar because it looked like a teddy bear. And it looked like a teddy bear because that’s exactly what it was-– a baby bear barreling down right at me and my bleeding back! I was so scared, but I still looked at the bear with love because he was adorable. But at the same time I kept repeating Vota’s name, in a high-pitched voice, thinking he could help me. All of a sudden, the bear just stopped right in front of me and turned around and ran the other way. It was probably because repeating my friend’s name in a sing-song voice sounded like singing, which is what you’re supposed to do to scare a bear away. But, to this day, I think it’s because he saw the love in my eyes. It still really was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. And when it was over my cute little mother, who was watching from in front of the door, called-out to me in an astonished tone, “Karen, did you see that big dog?!!!” So when the Brown Bear appeared on stage the other day, and the little girl behind me called out, “That’s a dog!,” it reminded me of my innocent little mother, and made me laugh.
(L-R) Becki Park, Sean Tibangin, and Paula Macchi with the Brown Bear, of course! Photo courtesy of Rockefeller Productions.
The last memory this show evoked for me is of one of the strangest acting experiences I ever had. I was playing one of the trio of young girls in the Spanish classic Lorca play, Blood Wedding. The words were so strange, especially to a girl from Brooklyn who liked everything in life to be literal. So when one of the characters in this show asks the bird, “Red bird, red bird, what do you say?” it harked me back to one of the worst lines I’ve ever had to deliver on a stage, “Wool, red wool, what do you spin?” I still have no idea what my line meant, while no one can be confused about the simple query to the bird here!
