In the early ‘90’s, the British musical team of Anthony Drewe and Geroge Stiles opened Honk!a children’s musical theatre adaptation of Hans Christen Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling. The musical amplifies the tale’s message of tolerance in a two-act structure complete with a lengthy cast of characters and nearly two dozen different songs.
The story takes place on a farm. The title character, his parents and siblings are joined onstage a cat, a domesticated free-range chicken, a frog, a couple of geese, the inevitable swans and more.
This week, the Waukesha Civic Theatre presents a staging of the children’s musical. The quaint downtown area of Waukesha has no difficulty drawing family crowds for any show. This should be a fun show for any kid young enough to be entertained by people musically anthropomorphized barnyard animals onstage and old enough to sit through two acts with intermission.
Waukesha Civic Theatre’s production of Honk! opens this Friday and runs through July 25th. Friday, Saturday and Sunday 2pm matinees are followed by 8pm evening shows.
