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Family-friendly fare in March includes Anne of Green Gables, Peter Piper Picks a New Profession, Pinkalicious, The Game Boy, and Go, Dog, Go!

Piper Goodeve
 in Anne of Green Gables
(© Joan Marcus)
Piper Goodeve
in Anne of Green Gables
(© Joan Marcus)

TheatreWorks is known for its prolific musical adaptations of children’s books, and they’re at it again with the world premiere of Anne of Green Gables, based on a novel by Lucy Ward Montgomery and featuring music by Nancy Ford and book and lyrics by Gretchen Cryer
(Lucille Lortel, March 21-May 5). In this classic tale, two elderly siblings want to adopt a boy, but end up getting an 11-year-old girl named Anne Shirley (played by Piper Goodeve), who winds up bringing a lot of joy into their lives. The supporting cast includes Broadway stars Jessica Grov&eacute: and Heather MacRae.


It seems that everybody is hard up for work these days, and Peter Piper is no exception. In the new musical Peter Piper Picks a New Profession (Impact Theatre, March 3-24), the famed figure from the tongue twister is out on a job hunt. Music isn’t paying the bills, and people just aren’t buying the pickled peppers that he thought were so tasty. What went wrong, and what should he do now? Two fairy godmothers, a restaurateur, and a swing dancing sandman set out to answer these questions in a family tuner with book and lyrics by Diana Tucker and music and direction by Adam Baritot.


Pinkalicious, the new musical about a girl with a crushing addiction to tooth-decaying pink cupcakes, was so successful at drawing audiences to its debut production last month that it is now moving to the Soho Playhouse for an open-ended run on March 3. This charming story about the girl whose skin turned pink from overindulgence in the irresistible goodies features book and lyrics by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann, and music and lyrics by John Gregor.


At Theater for the New City, The Further Adventures of Uncle Wiggily: Windblown Visitors (March 2-25) is an imaginative new verse play with music that follows a child whose life is uprooted by Hurricane Katrina. When she gets separated from her grandfather, distant relatives take her to New York to stay with her aunt and uncle. The only way she can get back home is by reading a magical storybook, meeting a zoo full of animals, and taking the “circus train” back to Louisiana.


Manhattan Children’s Theatre presents Go, Dog, Go! (March 3-April 8), a musical adaptation by Allison Gregory and Steven Dietz of P.D. Eastman’s popular children’s book. Watch the Red Dog, Yellow Dog, Blue Dog, Green Dog, and other canine friends dance, swim, climb trees, and even drive cars.

Meanwhile, Vital Children’s Theatre offers The Game Boy (McGinn/Cazale, March 10-April 22), a new musical by Robin Rothstein and Matthe Gandolfo about a boy who gets so caught up in his computer that he neglects his friends.

One World Symphony is back with One World Strikes Back: Music From Hollywood Films (Town Hall, March 11). The program includes the Star Wars Suite, the scores from Hitchcock’s Vertigo and North By Northwest, and assorted Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes.

Outside the Big Apple, the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, Long Island kicks off its KidStreet 2007 festival with two performances for young audiences in March. The first is called Cherish the Ladies (March 4), which features a five-piece female Irish folk band that plays traditional tunes in a rambunctious style. Next up is Pushcart Players’ production of Stone Soup and Other Stories (March 25), a collection of folk tales from Africa, India, and Eastern Europe.

Finally, Ball in the House visits the Paper Mill Playhouse in Milburn, New Jersey on March 17. Originally from Boston, this five man a cappella group has a unique style, combining hip-hop, soul-pop, and R&B.