This past weekend my youngest kids and I took in a performance of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show in NYC. Not only was it a special experience to see a collection of stories told by one of the kids’ favorite authors come to life, it was my youngest daughter’s first show! How cool is that!? Sitting with both girls (age 5 and 22 months), the were both super excited to see the ‘famous’ caterpillar, which actually took shape to be something more magical than I could have ever envisioned.
Featuring a theatrical interpretation of four of Eric Carle’s classic stories (The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, Mister Seahorse, The Very Lonely Firefly and, of course, The Very Hungry Caterpillar), the show combines this familiar and colorful world of purple foxes, orange foxes, red crocodiles that instantly made my daughters smile. It was so wonderful to see my daughters become mesmerized as they lit up as these classic stories came to life right before their eyes.
The colorful world of Eric Carle came to life as seen through 75 incredibly constructed puppets and four talented actors (Ariel Lauryn, Kayla Prestel, Jake Bazel, Weston Long and Mindy Leanse) who depicted these beloved stories through multiple characters. They were incredibly engaging and spirited as audience members reacted, in awe, to seeing some of their favorite characters. After the show, some of the puppets and the cast even came out so that we all could take pictures and see the puppets up close.
Running at around 60 minutes (which was perfect for my little one), the girls seemed to be so happy as I asked them what the loved. My older girl gushed: “Everything!” It was incredibly sweet and a special show for us all to see, because little did they realize, I have been reading these classic tales for over 8 years now and to see them come together, and so true to Carle’s words, was nothing short of magical.
Created by Jonathan Rockefeller, co-founder of Rockefeller Productions, a company that combines film, theatre, animation, puppetry and television. He also devotes time to philanthropic work furthering childhood literacy and appreciation of the arts, the production started at the Sydney Festival January 2015, and will continue to tour Australia and New Zealand through 2017. As for the NYC production, the show only has two weeks left! Check out the link below to get your tickets! Trust me, this is a show that you don’t want to miss out on.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show Details
Go quick! The show closes in 2 weeks!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show
Created by Jonathan Rockefeller
Performance Schedule:
Thursday & Friday at 11am; Saturday & Sunday at 10am, 12pm & 2pm
NEW THEATRE: Theatre Row Theatres is located at 410 West 42nd Street
Running time 60 minutes, no intermission.
Autism Friendly
Friday, September 9 at 11am
Spanish Language
Saturday, August 13 at 2pm; Saturday, October 8 at 2pm
Tickets are $49.75* – $67.25 (Premium Seats) and can be purchased by visiting
Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.
For more information, visit HungryCaterpillarShow.com.
I was provided with tickets for the purposes of this review. These opinions are my own.
