The bark is in! HONK! The Musical at The Rose theater is a bone-a-fied success! There was no doubt that the kids were enjoying themselves, singing along to the catchy tunes performed by a wonderful ensemble of actors and actresses.
The “poultry tale” of the ugly duckling was as fascinating as it was heartfelt. Ugly (played by Dan Chevalier) came tumbling out of his oversized egg into a new world of diversity and fun, or so he thought. The paw-fect rendition of “The Joy of Motherhood”, sung by Ugly’s mother Ida (Stephanie Jacobson) and her friend Maureen (Sarah Carlson-Brown) shed some light on what it means to be a mother, especially of 5 newborn ducklings.
As Ugly soon learns, he is much different from his brothers and sisters. While they quack, he honks. While they waddle, he tumbles. He feels the need to fit in, but as his mother always tells him, “it’s ok to be different”. He soon realizes that the world would be boring without diversity.
There is a sadness to the story that had me welling up in the eyes, after all, I am a Chi-wah-wah… However, there was a good amount of comic relief that kept my attention throughout.
The costumes were delightful, The Cat (Nik Whitcomb) actually turned out to be my favorite character, even though I am a dog. HONK! taught me to accept The Cat for who he is and not what he looks like. I originally wanted to bark at him, but I got to know him better throughout the story and ended up loving him.
The set was larger than life and painted in a very unique way that caught my eye (even though I am color blind). This oversized set made the actors look small enough to actually be animal sized! I should know, as I am one of the smallest breeds of dog.
This show, directed by Cynthia Gendrich, was pup-tacular! I will definitely be wagging my tail at the next performance at The Rose. I would give HONK! two paws up and recommend it for parents with kids ages 4 and up!
Until next time,
Spot
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The Rose Theater
Attn: Spot the Dog
2001 Farnam Street
Omaha, NE 68102
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