The energy was palpable as young children and their families filled Imagination Stage’s Lerner Family Theatre on a Saturday afternoon for Winnie the Pooh. Several children clutched stuffed animals of the beloved bear and his friends. Most fidgeted in their seats. One little girl behind me spoke for most when she said, “I’m so excited, I can’t wait!” The set (designed by Sarah Beth Hall) so perfectly recreated E.H. Shepard’s iconic map from A.A. Milne’s original Winnie the Pooh books that as we took our seats, my two-year-old, attending his first play, pointed to the stage and shouted, “It’s the Hundred Acre Wood!”
Imagination Stage’s production, directed and choreographed by Christopher Michael Richardson, soon took the audience on a musical romp through the Hundred Acre Wood. Adapted by Le Clanché du Rand, with music by Allan J. Friedman and lyrics by A.A. Milne and Kristin Sergel, the script weaves together elements of four stories from Milne’s 1926 collection Winnie-the-Pooh. Fans of Milne’s stories will immediately recognize the play’s memorable moments. Eeyore loses a tail (and Pooh finds it). Piglet and Pooh attempt to trap a dreaded Heffalump, and to celebrate Eeyore’s birthday, with unintentionally comic results of both endeavors. Rabbit plots to force newcomer Kanga to leave the forest by kidnapping her son Roo and swapping him with Piglet, resulting in a terrified and unwilling Piglet receiving a bath from Kanga. Where each of these appear as standalone stories in Milne’s original, du Rand’s script condenses all of the action into a single interconnected story set on a single busy day in the Hundred Acre Wood, punctuated by nine musical numbers directed by Elisa Rosman.
With his lumbering movements, whimsical “bear-of-little-brain” musings, musical numbers with lyrics drawn directly from Milne (“On Monday When the Sun Is Hot,” “Cottleston Pie,” “Sing Ho! For the Life of a Bear”), and relentless optimism, Jimmy Bartlebaugh embodies Winnie the Pooh. His famous love of honey takes center stage (accentuated by Zavier Augustus Lee Taylor’s projections of honeycomb and dripping golden honey) in “Isn’t It Funny How a Bear Likes Honey?” and later when he gets his head stuck in a honey pot to great comedic effect.
The remaining characters (Christopher Robin, Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, and Roo) are played by a cast of three, each playing multiple roles. Understudy Quincy Vicks played Christopher Robin and Rabbit in the performance I attended. His bossy mannerisms and body language as he strode purposefully around the stage giving orders to Pooh, Piglet, and his numerous unnamed relatives, represented as ever-multiplying rabbits on a screen behind him during his catchy number “Friends and Relations,” punctuated throughout by energetic bunny hops, nailed the role of Rabbit. (“Friends and Relations” also brought chuckles to the adults in the audience with its cheeky tale of Rabbit’s “just one nephew” and the nephew’s “just one visitor” turning into “relations by the score” as they multiplied like — well, rabbits).
Ashley D. Nguyen plays Piglet with an often-frantic nervous energy, rapid-fire movements and dialogue, and big emotions that many children in the audience could undoubtedly relate to. Her pigtail braids, and her frequent pulling on them as a form of stimming or self-soothing in anxious moments, provided a clever take on the character. Best known as Pooh’s sidekick, and accused by Rabbit of lacking “pluck,” Nguyen’s Piglet takes charge of the plan to trap the Heffalump, and having survived the terror of being bathed by Kanga, boldly asserts her own voice in “Piglet’s Song.” Nguyen doubles as Roo, making Rabbit’s plan to kidnap Roo and swap him with Piglet a bit of an embedded joke.
Brigid Wallace Harper plays Eeyore, Owl, and Kanga. From Eeyore’s melodramatic, operatic “Sing Woe! For the Life of a Donkey” (backed by Taylor’s projected rain and storm clouds) to Kanga’s soothing lullaby “Rockabye, Rockabye, Roo,” Harper brings outstanding vocal range to her multiple roles, along with comedic presence. Her running gag of bending down and looking through her own legs for her missing tail as Eeyore brought giggles to the children in the audience. Meanwhile, Eeyore’s grumpy, sarcastic comments about Owl land especially humorously because Harper plays both roles — and despite only appearing in a single scene, her Owl is worth the price of admission!
Frank Labovitz’s costumes create a cohesive theme for the characters, with patched overalls in yellow for Pooh, pink for Piglet, light purple for Eeyore, and a multicolored patched coat for Christopher Robin. Rabbit stands out with a plaid shirt and suspenders. The animal characters are easily identified by the ears on their caps. Andrea “Dre” Moore’s props recreate some familiar and beloved elements of Milne’s stories, including Pooh’s honey pot and the balloon that Piglet attempts to give Eeyore as a birthday present. Darkness and ominous red lighting (Helen Alton-Garcia) and a popping sound effect (Madeline “Mo” Oslejsek) combine with Moore’s prop design to create a moment of high drama when Piglet falls and pops the balloon. My two-year-old talked about the balloon scene for days afterward.
A couple of early-run hiccups occurred during the opening-weekend performance I attended. Eeyore was interchangeably referred to as “they” and “he” by the other characters, while Piglet was referred to as both “she” and “he,” which came across as accidental and potentially distracting for young audiences. Nonetheless, Imagination Stage’s production draws Pooh-loving youngsters (and their parents) into the warmth and whimsy of the Hundred Acre Wood and reminds audiences of all ages why Winnie the Pooh remains beloved, 100 years after he first appeared.
Running Time: Approximately one hour, without intermission.
Winnie the Pooh plays weekends through October 27, 2024, at Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave, Bethesda, MD. Tickets ($12–$46) can be purchased online, in person at Imagination Stage’s box office, or by calling the box office at 301-280-1660.
Best for ages 3+.
COVID Safety: Masks are optional.
Winnie the Pooh
From the stories of A.A. Milne
Dramatized by Le Clanché du Rand
Music by Allan J. Friedman
Lyrics by A.A. Milne and Kristin Sergel
Directed and Choreographed by Christopher Michael Richardson
CAST
Winnie the Pooh: Jimmy Bartlebaugh
Christopher Robin/Rabbit/ASM: Jordan Essex
Eeyore/Kanga/Owl/Dance Captain: Brigid Wallace Harper
Piglet/Roo: Ashley D. Nguyen
Piglet/Roo, Eeyore/Kanga/Owl Understudy: Kaeli Patchen
Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin/Rabbit Understudy: Quincy Vicks
CREATIVE TEAM
Director: Christopher Michael Richardson
Music Director: Elisa Rosman
Scenic Designer: Sarah Beth Hall
Costume Designer: Frank Labovitz
Lighting Designer: Helen Garcia-Alton
Sound Designer: Madeline “Mo” Oslejsek
Projections Designer: Zavier Augustus Lee Taylor
Properties Designer: Andrea “Dre” Moore
Resident Stage Manager: Samantha Leahan
IMPORTANT DATES
• Meet the Actors: Saturday, September 28 at 10:00 AM, Sunday, September 29 at 10:00 AM, Sunday, October 6 at 1:00 PM, Sunday, October 13 at 1:00 PM, Sunday, October 20 at 1:00 PM, Sunday, October 27 at 1:00 PM
• ASL-Interpreted Performance: Saturday, September 28 at 10:00 AM
• Sensory-Friendly Performance: Sunday, September 29 at 10:00 AM
