Fairytale Jones

This month, fitting in doesn’t have to be hard if you join Junie B. Jones (March 20-May 4) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Based on Barbara Park’s best selling books, TheaterworksUSA’s musical follows Junie B. as she experiences a new teacher, new classmates, and new glasses. The cast includes Jennifer Cody (in the title role), Sarah Saltzberg, and John Scherer.

With a fresh look at a classic fairytale, England’s Kneehigh Theatre will present Rapunzel (March 7-23) at the New Victory Theater. In place of the usual mantle of long golden braids, this Rapunzel has raven-black handfuls of dreadlocks. Smart, engrossing and accompanied by live folk music, it’s the gritty version of a story you thought you knew. Also at the New Vic, Patch Theatre Company has made a concoction out of several timeless fairytales in Pigs, Bears, and Billy Goat Gruff (March 28-April 6), a musical mash-up of the Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and a lesser-known story, The Three Feathers.

If fantasy is what your kids need then join Hannah in Hannah and the Hollow Challah (March 16-April 6) at the 78th Street Theatre Lab. When Hannah eats the inside of an entire loaf of Challah, her favorite bread, she ends up inside the hollow loaf as it flies out of her kitchen window to Bread Land where the inhabitants are all made of bread.

If you haven’t already gotten your fill of fairytales, Sleeping Beauty (March 16) at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts will include a special interactive “Kids Club” post-performance workshop by reservation. The classic stories take a Biblical turn with Queen Esther (March 16) at the Kaufman Center, a light hearted look at the ancient Purim story. In this version, Esther dreams of being queen and denies her Jewish identity in order to succeed.

If your children are in the mood for a visitor from the sun named Gustafer Yellowgold or they’ve already met this lovable cartoon friend, Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Sensations (March 15-May 3) will play at the DR2 Theatre. In the show, Gustafer joins his friend Forrest Applecrumb the Pterodactyl, his pet eel Slim, and Asparagus the dragon in their cottage in a remote part of Minnesota. Meeting people isn’t always easy, but in Madeline and the Bad Hat (March 16) at the Queensborough Performing Arts Center, a young Parisian girl learns that first impressions aren’t everything.

This month, the Galli Theatre Company also has a collections of classic fairtales including Snow White (March 7-9), Little Red Riding Hood (March 5-9), and the Frog Prince (March 4-8). For german speakers, one performance of both the Frog Prince and Little Red Riding Hood will be performed in German.

If musical theater is important to your family, the don’t miss the final concert in the Broadway Playhouse series, Celebrating Lerner & Loewe (March 30) at the Kaufman Center. Featuring Kathryn Markey, Jason Robinson, and Erica Schroeder, the show will explore the songs of Lerner & Loewe who wrote Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, and Camelot.

Finally, for a taste of Latino culture, Teatro S.E.A. will present El Encuentro de Juan Bobo y Pedro Animal/The Encounter (March 22-29), a circus style play centered around two characters, one from the Dominican Republic and the other from Puerto Rico. Together, Juan Bob and Pedro Animal find friendship, self-esteem, and confidence. Teatro S.E.A. will also present La Caperucita Roja/Little Red Riding Hood (March 8-15) a musical version of the classic story with a comical twist.