The Very Hungry Caterpillar — ON TOUR!

There’s a very special production in the spotlight on the Starborn Revue today.

You’ve probably encountered the picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I know that it’s been a favorite of a lot of kids since it was first published in 1969. That’s FORTY-FIVE years ago this year! (Wow.)

Did you know that there’s a stage version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Click the magic words to read more…

Actually, the full title is The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Eric Carle Favorites. It’s done with puppetry and narration, and was developed by Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Mermaid Theatre is dedicated to retelling children’s literature through theatre. Isn’t that wonderful? And not only do they have productions in their own theatre, they take their puppetry on tour so that kids all over North America can watch and delight in their shows.

Imagine an hour-long puppet show, with music, and narration (by Canadian star Gordon Pinsent), telling stories that kids (and grown-ups) already know and love!

Right now, they’re doing their show on the Children’s Theatre Company stage in Minneapolis, Minnesota (just until February 23rd, so if you’re in or near the Twin Cities, you’d better see it before the Caterpillar inches away!) The short trailer at that link will show you what the puppets look like. I think they’re totally cool.

My friend Mary Aalgaard saw the play at the Children’s Theatre Company, and she wrote a review of it on her blog, Play Off the Page. There’s a picture in her review that lets you see just how big those puppets are. I was really surprised!

After the tour leaves Minneapolis, they have several one-night-only public performances in Nebraska, Delaware, Quebec (in French), several places in New York, Massachusetts and Illinois, before settling in for a one-month run in Chicago. The tour ends June 2014.

Besides the public performances, there are school-only performances as well, all over the place! To check out the tour schedule, click here.

If you’re not near enough any of the places where they’re performing, there are kids’ activities on the Mermaid Theatre website, there’s tons of cool stuff on Eric Carle’s website, or maybe you and your friends can put on your own version of the books! You can be the caterpillar eating… eating… eating his way to becoming a butterfly.

Why not try it out? See you on stage!