What do you get when you mix the harmonic and melodic structures of the Temptations' "My Girl" with the rhythm section of Katrina and the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine"?
"I Got a Snow Ball," a ditty by Eric M.C. Gonzalez that percolates sweetly in "The Snowy Day." The music gives the show a sense of play and place even as it pushes the narrative along.
Adapted by Jerome Hairston from Ezra Jack Keats' classic children's books, "Snowy Day" is up in director Ansa Akyea's super-cute production at St Paul's Park Square Theatre through Dec. 23.
The one-act takes its name from Keats' 1962 title that became the first children's book about an African American child to win the Caldecott Medal. Hairston fills out this stage work with later Keats books, including "Whistle for Willie," "A Letter for Amy" and "Goggles!"
These stories are marked by a sense of wonder as young Peter (Joe Charley) delights in new discoveries. He relishes sledding in the snow, and becomes so smitten with the winter powder that he puts a snowball in his pocket for safekeeping. He's bereft the next morning when he cannot find it where he left it.
Peter and his dog, Willie, have outdoor adventures, and the young boy tries his darnedest to whistle. Thankfully, he has a mother to teach him.
"Snowy Day" premiered in 2016 at the Children's Theatre, with a big emphasis on puppets designed by Italian virtuoso Fabrizio Montecchi. There's commendable puppetry at Park Square here, as well — kudos to puppet designers Peter Talbot and Amm-Ra Seka, for their Willie the pooch is beautifully expressive.
Still, director Akyea highlights different things in this production, which also is imbued with fun and innocence, and with more grounding music.
