PETITE ROUGE: A CAJUN RED RIDING HOOD To Open At Imagination Stage

Imagination Stage, the metro DC region's largest professional theatre for young audiences and leader in positive youth development through the arts, brings Mardi Gras energy gift-wrapped in a big-time musical to the holiday season and beyond with Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red-Riding Hood.

The show runs December 14, 2024 - February 8, 2025. Reviewers are invited to Opening Night on Saturday, December 14 at 7:00 or to any performance thereafter. For all press inquiries, contact Laurie Levy-Page.

The story updates the classic tale, sending Petite Rouge, a red-robed duckling, and her ‘fraidy cat friend, TeJean, on a madcap journey through the bayou to Grandmere's house. Along the way, they tangle with Claude, the Big Bad Gator. But Petite is no sitting duck, and she leads her nemesis on a merry Mardi Gras chase through New Orleans. The show is best for ages 5+. Imagination Stage is offering many matinee performances during the week between Christmas and New Years. In January, the celebratory mood shifts to pre-Mardi Gras. 

Based on the picture book by Mike Artell with illustrations by Jim Harris, the show has books, music, and lyrics by Joan Cushing, whose Miss Nelson is Missing! delighted audiences at Imagination Stage this past summer. Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood marks a milestone with this production: it premiered at Imagination Stage 20 years ago. In 2005, the Washington Post raved: “the rollicking rhythms of a New Orleans jamboree are…pulsing at Imagination Stage. With the exuberance of a Mardi Gras float wheeling through the Big Easy, writer and composer Joan Cushing has turned a 2001 picture book into a clever stage production whose tunes explode with Louisiana zest.” When the musical later ran at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, the New York Times called it “a musical with heart.” 

The production is directed by Nathaniel P. Claridad, whose most recent Imagination Stage directing assignment was Mr. Popper's Penguins. Claridad served as Assistant Director on New York City Center's recent production of Ragtime. In the title role is Jordan Leah Embrack, a recent UMD graduate and a young talent to watch. 

Kathryn Chase Bryer, Imagination Stage's Director of Theatre says, “We had a long and very fruitful collaboration with the brilliant Joan Cushing, and Petite Rouge is one of my absolute favorites.” Cushing passed away in May (read the Washington Post obituary) and the summer production of her Miss Nelson is Missing! was dedicated to her. Bryer praises “Joan's incredible lyrics and music, and her clever and sophisticated sense of humor that both adults and children love. We were so proud to work with her. Everyone who enjoyed Miss Nelson is Missing! this summer should return for Petite Rouge and see how Joan's love of all things New Orleans  translates to the stage.” 

Part of the appeal of Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood is that all of the characters are animals, and children find it easy to connect with animals. Joanne Lamparter, Imagination Stage's Chief Artistic Programming Officer, says that “In taking the red riding hood story and setting it in a new milieu, we learn about the vibrant Cajun culture, especially its food and music. We all know the story and it's so fun to see and hear it in a different way.” The musical score incorporates Dixieland jazz, gospel, Cajun two-step, Zydeco, and the blues.

Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood will welcome around 3,000 Montgomery County Public School third grade students and teachers from Title 1 elementary schools to weekday field trip matinees as part of the collaborative Learning Through Theatre program. Learning Through Theatre delivers multi-faceted, curriculum-based educational programming, including a tailored Theatre Arts Integration Guide for teachers to create lesson plans and activities. Tickets, materials, transportation, and teacher professional development are provided free of charge to all participants. There is a separate Learning Through Theatre program for District of Columbia Public Schools. This is a vivid example of Imagination Stage's impact within its community.

Besides Embrack, the cast includes Michael Perrie Jr as Claude, Stephen Russell Murray as TeJean, and  Edima Essien, Aja Goode, and Carl L. William in a variety of roles.  Joining Claridad on the creative team are Maurice Johnson (choreographer), Debbie Jacobson (Music Director), Sophia Tepermeisterl (Scenic Designer), Paris Francesca (Costume Designer), Christian Henrriquez (Lighting Designer), Sam Crawford (Sound Designer), and Andrea ‘Dre' Moore (Props Designer). Samantha Leahan is Stage Manager. 

Fast facts: Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood is best for ages 5+ and runs from December 14, 2024 to February 8, 2025. Shows for the general public are Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00 and 4:00. Special holiday week performances are: December 26 and 27 at 11:00 and 2:00, December 28 and 29 at 1:00 and 4:00, December 20 at 11:00 and 2:00, and December 31 at 11:00. Tickets are $12 and up and may be purchased online at imaginationstage.org, in person at Imagination Stage's box office, or via phone at 301-280-1660. Group rates are available for parties of 10+. 

Performances are in the Jim and Carol Trawick Imagination Stage building at 4908 Auburn Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Parking is located in the adjacent public garage. There is a parking fee Monday-Saturday; parking is FREE on Sunday. 

The season will continue with Paper Dreams on January 11, followed by Mother Goose, and Dory Fantasmgory. In spring 2025, Imagination Stage's innovative, social-justice centered  Theatre for Change program will tour its new show The Last Martyr to area high schools and colleges, with a special public performance at the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Library in DC. 

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