Nashville Children's Theatre's World Premiere of THE GINGERBREAD KID Sure Smells Swell And Is Loads of Fun

Should you feel the sudden urge to go home and bake some gingerbread upon leaving a performance of Nashville Children’s Theatre’s world premiere production of The Gingerbread Kid, rest assured it’s not a sign that you’ve developed cannibalistic tendencies. Rather, it’s part of a clever plot by director/choreographer/librettist Abe Reybold and executive artistic director Ernie Nolan (and their gang of creative artists) to ensure you’re immersed in the sweet-smelling world of confectionery treats while enjoying the brand-new musical that presents all manner of childhood tales in “bakery-fresh” packaging.

While the younger members of the audience focus their rapt attention on Reybold’s energetic and colorful storytelling – set to the music of Jodi Marr and featuring the orchestrations of Sarah Michelle Bailey – their older counterparts may be wondering if someone’s backstage baking up all sorts of sweet threats, thanks to the fragrant notes of ginger and cinnamon that fill the air of the country’s oldest, continuously operating theater for younger audiences.

For people in the know, of course, it’s just the latest example of the originality and inventiveness that are the hallmarks of Nashville’s most consistently creative theater company, one that continues to push the boundaries of how to effectively blend entertainment, education and theatricality with each new season.

Now in its 93rd year of theater-making, NCT has perfected the recipe and there’s absolutely no doubt younger theater-goers will take an instant liking to The Gingerbread Kid, which tells the story of Allspice (played by the ever-versatile and immensely likable Mallory Mundy), the magical child of a bakery-owning couple (portrayed by the real-life married pair of Sarah Zanotti and Jonah Jackson), who realizes she’s not nearly as perfect as her parents insist she is and runs away rather than face the consequences of her actions.

Along the way, Allspice encounters all sorts of storybook favorites in this pop music-infused musical, including Henny Penny (the gloriously voiced Piper Jones belts out the show’s best musical numbers) and her cohorts, including the musical theater virtuoso Megan Murphy Chambers, aka Goosy Poosy, Foofinella (of Little Bunny Foo-Foo fame), and more, NCT favorite Gerold Oliver as Foxy Loxy and David Murphy as Little Boy Blue.

Reybold’s direction and choreography ensures young imaginations are engaged throughout the hour-long musical, providing movement aplenty and loads of fun in the process. Thanks to music director Christopher Bailey, the upbeat score creates memories for young audience members, who seem certain to keep singing the songs by Reybold and Marr long after the show’s final curtain. Kudos to designer Marsalis Turner for providing the sound  that keeps the music playing.

Scott Leathers’ ideal lighting illuminates his eye-popping set that’s filled with stage wizardry to the delight of audiences, while William Ditty’s gorgeous costumes helps to create characters that dazzle the eye. Jesse Mooney Bullock’s puppets provide some extra-special moments that help the musical version of The Gingerbread Kid to make certain the musical is far better than any book you may have read about the same characters.

The Gingerbread Kid. Music by Jodi Marr. Book and lyrics by Abe Reybold. Orchestrations and vocal arrangements by Sarah Michelle Bailey. Dramaturgy by Ernie Nolan. Directed and choreographed by Abe Reybold. Musical direction by Christopher Bailey. Stage managed by Abby Locke Austin and Joe Mobley. Presented by Nashville Children’s Theatre. Through February 25. Running time: 60 minutes (with no intermission). For details, go to www.nashvillechildrenstheatre.org.

Photos by Michael Scott Evans

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