by MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR There is a tendency when creative people take on the job of remaking a classic children’s tale to modernize things. They feel the need to reinvent the story and, often, in the process inject a bit of modern-day cynicism into the final product. “The Grinch” comes to mind, first. The movie turned sweet tale from Dr. Seuss into a frenetic, slightly dark, and sinister tale that seemed to have snuck Christmas into the story as a mere afterthought. So heading into the Bushnell Friday night to see, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical,” I went into the theater wondering how they would tinker with the original story. For most of us, “Rudolph” is a holiday tradition that makes us nostalgic for an innocent childhood where Christmas time was about wonder, the power of toys, and behaving ourselves so we made Santa’s nice list rather than naughty. So I wondered what they were going to do to spoil that sense of nostalgia and how they were going to leave the children behind to appeal to the adults who had watched the show decades ago. I’m pleased to say, that beyond extending some of the choreography and […]
by MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR There is a tendency when creative people take on the job of remaking a classic children’s tale to modernize things. They feel the need to reinvent the story and, often, in the process inject a bit of modern-day cynicism into the final product. “The Grinch” comes to mind, first. The movie turned sweet tale from Dr. Seuss into a frenetic, slightly dark, and sinister tale that seemed to have snuck Christmas into the story as a mere afterthought. So heading into the Bushnell Friday night to see, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The Musical,” I went into the theater wondering how they would tinker with the original story. For most of us, “Rudolph” is a holiday tradition that makes us nostalgic for an innocent childhood where Christmas time was about wonder, the power of toys, and behaving ourselves so we made Santa’s nice list rather than naughty. So I wondered what they were going to do to spoil that sense of nostalgia and how they were going to leave the children behind to appeal to the adults who had watched the show decades ago. I’m pleased to say, that beyond extending some of the choreography and […]