BWW Reviews: PLANET HOPPING Sails Out of This World

Planet Hopping - An Intergalactic Puppet Musical has just finished its initial two performances at Midlands Technical College's Harbison Theatre, but be on the lookout for this charming production for children to land at tour destinations sometime soon. This is a lovely, fun, original work that is suitable for young children and will delight the grown-ups in the audience as well.

The premise is simple: an interplanetary cruise makes stops at various planets, while its crew sorts out their personal quests, goals, and loyalties. This is all happily accomplished in about an hour, which accommodates the attention span of most of the young audience. The most unique feature of the production is that many of the major and minor characters are played by puppets of different design and manipulation, and the blend of styles works well. Children may be most enamored of the robot marionette, Jack Rabbit, whose relationship to his spaceship builder and friend drives much of the plot. Music also helps to keep the production aloft, through the indie on-stage band, Lunch Money, whose members are key crew members on the voyage and whose specially crafted songs make this adventure an energetically musical one.

The set is simple and evocative, and is bolstered by a liberal use of video and projection. In fact, the show requires technical proficiency for these elements as well as for the puppetry; these aspects may grab young people's attention even more than the actual storyline. Of course, the songs are also welcome, and several young audience members were up and dancing at their seats, savoring the music, which is played at a comfortable volume and offers teachable moments amongst the fun elements. A sock puppet's hip-hop paean to Jupiter is especially clever and enjoyable. There are also opportunities for some audience participation, which the children responded to with gusto. Adults will especially enjoy the sly humor and science facts that are sprinkled throughout.

A production of HT@MTC's Performance Incubator, Planet Hopping is the brainchild of several artistic partnerships: Belle et Bete, (puppet artists Lyon Forrest Hill and Kimi Maeda), and Lunch Money (family-friendly indie band members Jay Barry, Molly Ledford, and J. P. Stephens). All of the artists collaborated on the production team, and play roles and/or are the voices behind them. Part of the mission of the HT@MTC's program is to develop shows that are practically portable and can be easily set up in other venues throughout the country. Planet Hopping should easily succeed on that score, and the artists are to be commended for their versatility and creativity. This is a show that might just inspire young people to ultimately do great things, whether it includes exploring space or finding lives in the arts, and building strength of character along the way.

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