Review: The Red Curtain Theatre Brings the Adventure of WINNIE THE POOH KIDS to Conway

In Central Arkansas, The Red Curtain Theatre in Conway is the community leader in producing programming aimed at our younger thespians. This weekend actors ages 8 to 12 wowed an almost full auditorium with WINNIE THE POOH KIDS, entertaining the young and young at heart with darling musical numbers and a storyline that involved Christopher Robin's entire group of friends in the Hundred Acre Woods.

Based on the stories of A.A Milne and the 2011 Disney animated feature film, WINNIE THE POOH has been a favorite of mine for years. Opening up with the catchy Winnie the Pooh song... "Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh....la la la la la la la la stuffed with fluff...." (If you're reading this, I know you know it ..or at least most of it), the cast tells a tale of the dreadful Backson that has stolen Christopher Robin away. Narrators of all colors help Pooh and his friends move the story along.

Pooh (Reilly Reed), of course, is hungry and would very much love some honey. The story emphasizes the magnitude of Pooh's hunger by adding an extra character to play the tummy (Jakob Heintzen), who does a lot of growling. In search of honey, Pooh runs into Tigger (Olivia Bartholomew), who is more interested in adventure than honey. So, then Pooh tries to find Christopher Robin (Hailyn Rowland), who is not home but has left a note. Pooh sees Piglet (Reagan Madsen) who suggests they go find Rabbit (Sophia Lenehan). Rabbit is convinced that it says horrible things, and the friends take it to Owl (Isaac Abel). All the while, Pooh's hunger keeps growing and growing. Randomly, bees dance along singing about honey. After much deciphering, Owl tells the gang that Christopher Robin has been taken by the Backson. Pooh decides that they need to catch the Backson, so they dig a hole as their trap, and they all accidently fall in, including Kanga (Maelyn Gowin), Roo (Henry Gowin), and Eeyore (Lila Epps). Eventually Christopher Robin shows up, everyone gets out of the trap, and Pooh finally gets the honey. All is well in the Hundred Acre Woods.

This is a super cute show. I loved the colorful costumes, the catchy songs, the wonderful set, and the charming characters that brought this show to life. Director Dana Kordsmeier, Music Director Breanna Bucko-Koscenski, and Choreographer Ansley Sherman took on the task of molding the elementary and middle school aged kids into fabulous story tellers that kept the audience smiling all the way through. The kids brought the energy and spirit of their characters, making this a very enjoyable show to experience. I look forward to seeing more productions by these budding actors.

Next weekend, The Red Curtain Theatre will present JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH, JR Friday, Oct 7, through Sunday, Oct. 9. This show will star Red Curtain's actors ages 13-18, and will be staged at Conway Junior High School Auditorium, 1815 Prince Street, in Conway. For more information, visit their website at recurtaintheatre.com or their Facebook page @redcurtaintheatre.