GetOut Magazine

"Velveteen Rabbit's’’ changes tidy up favorite
By MAX McQUEEN
Get Out
Dec. 16, 2002

You can judge a communitys community by the longevity of its holiday traditions.

This year, a number of events remind us just how established the Valley has become just like a big city back East. Parades and pageants all seem to shout: Were here to stay.

This is true in the theater arena, too. From Actors Theatres A Christmas Carol to Valley Youth Theatres A Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas Tail, more and more theaters have found their signature Christmas production.

The Velveteen Rabbit is Childsplays holiday baby. Now in its 15th year at Scottsdale Center for the Arts, many a family has grown up making annual pilgrimages to the staging of Margery Williams story about a plush toy rabbit that becomes the real thing due to the love of a boy.

Childsplay took a big step last year, moving Kamala Kruszka into the role of the Boy, a role owned by Debra Stevens for 13 seasons. True to form, Childsplays wise old supreme ruler David Saar made one of his famous smart moves. He relinquished his role of director to Stevens, thus ensuring her knowing touch on a show that has become an institution for thousands of East Valley families.

To further secure the changing of the artistic guards, Childsplay gave The Velveteen Rabbits mammoth bedroom set a thorough going-over. It had begun to look a bit tattered after 14 years. Although Jeff Thomsons set is still a larger-than-life boys bedroom and British garden, its gleaming once again thanks to master fixer-upper Anthony Runfola.

While Velveteen Rabbit has almost zero to do with Christmas, it is a safe some would say, too safe secular holiday choice for a metropolis filled with various religious and ethnic communities.

Ultimately, Williams classic conveys three universal themes that keep bringing families back year after year. One is the passing of childhood. Another is the lasting value of having a loving adult in ones life (embodied in Dwayne Hartfords endearing Nana). Third and most important is the message of loving someone or even an object such as a velveteen rabbit enough to let it go.

Kruszka has big shoes to fill in stepping into a role so identified with Stevens. It's not completely hers yet we see her acting a bit too much. But she does capture the tone of a pampered but sweet preteen. True, he doesnt seem indulged, but his swell toys suggest a lad who has everything. Theres a stuffed lion (roared by Hartford), a rocking horse (whinnied by Gordon Waggoner), a tin soldier (chatted up by Jon Gentry) and a tugboat (tooted by Kristin Hailstone). Katie McFadzen gives a bunny voice to the titular rabbit.

All of the toys spring to talkative life when the humans are out of sight, or in the Boys case, out like a light. We wish this whimsy could be played up more, but it works for the attention-getting device it is. Trust me, whenever the toys are chattering among themselves, every restless child stops fidgeting and turns all eyes to the stage.

This Velveteen Rabbit stays true to the genteelness of Williams book. Thats a blessing for parents eager to find a play that doesnt blast home its message. On the other paw, however, this production doesnt have one all-out showstopping scene, not even when Hailstones nursery fairy turns the toy rabbit into a flesh-and-blood garden-variety bunny.

Still, The Velveteen Rabbit is a handsome, deliberate production that doesnt stretch itself too thin. At slightly over an hour, its an ideal play to introduce preschoolers to theater. Something tells me when these little ones become parents, theyll return to Scottsdale Center with their children to see this perennial holiday favorite.

The Velveteen Rabbit

Who: Childsplay
When: 2 and 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: Scottsdale Center for the Arts, 7380 E. Second St.
How much: $15-$19
Info:
Grade: B