Sing Ho For the Life of a Bear

Disney’s Winnie the Pooh – Mercury Theatre

How magical it would be for a child to actually experience some of their favorite storybook characters brought to life on stage? That’s precisely what happens in this new family production having its Chicago premiere at the Mercury Theater. Winnie the Pooh and his friends are here for a 13-week stay in the Windy City, arriving on a Blustery Day in March and continuing through June. The production is fresh off a sold-out run in New York City. In the course of an hour, children and their adults will be able to enjoy this enchanting, live production that depicts a year in the life of Pooh Bear, Christopher Robin and their friends. It’s the perfect way to welcome the much-anticipated arrival of Springtime to Chicago.

Winnie the Pooh was the anthropomorphic teddy bear creation, of “very little brain,” that English author A.A. Milne invented for his son, Christopher Robin. His stories first appeared in a book, simply entitled Winnie-the-Pooh. It featured simple line drawing illustrations by E.H. Shepard and was published in 1926. The children’s book became so popular that Milne penned a sequel in 1928, called The House at Pooh Corners. The Pooh stories all took place in a timberland location inspired by Ashdown Forest, in the south of England. That pastoral setting was near the country house that Londoner A.A. Milne had purchased for his family to enjoy during Spring and Summertime holidays. Milne named Pooh’s fictional home “The Hundred Acre Wood.” To the stories, he added several friends for Pooh Bear, modeled after his son’s other beloved stuffed animals. They were called Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga and her baby Roo, Owl, Rabbit and Tigger.

The story in this delightfully charming production begins with Winnie the Pooh bidding a fond farewell to his human friend, Christopher Robin. The little boy explains to Pooh that it’s Autumn and he’s just going back to school, but that he’ll return soon. Pooh then meets up with Kanga, her little baby Roo and his doleful donkey friend, Eeyore. He discovers that the bees have stored their honey in a tiny hole in a tree. But since Eeyore can’t climb trees he asks his best woodland buddy, tiny Piglet, to help out. When that doesn’t work out well, the friends set off together on other adventures.

During the winter they enjoy sledding and welcome the arrival of Mrs. Winter, a snowman they find in the forest. As Spring arrives the friends notice that the birds have returned, the bees are buzzing again and flowers are popping up all over the woods. Pooh and his friends play games, fly a kite, guard Rabbit’s garden, learn to bounce with Tigger and, thanks to Owl, discover the hollow tree where the bees are once again working hard. That’s when Pooh climbs the tree and gets stuck in the hole, all the while trying to reach a little “smackerel of honey.” But, of course, all ends happily as Christopher Robin returns to forest and another adventure begins.

This spectacular, family-friendly production is another creation by New York’s Rockefeller Productions. They have a history of bringing young audiences other wonderful children’s productions, such as Michael Bond’s Paddington stories and the award-winning Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar, seen a few years ago at Chicago Children’s Theater. In this splendid, joyful presentation, all of Milne’s venerated characters appear live on stage, not in an animated movie, but as giant-size puppets. They’re brought to life by a company of talented actors, several of whom are from Chicago. Jake Bazel, who’s worked many years as an integral part of Jim Henson’s Muppets and “Sesame Street,” is flawless as Winnie the Pooh. He lends the perfect movement and provides his own facial expressions to mirror what Pooh Bear is experiencing.

And Mr. Bazel sounds exactly like Sterling Holloway, the actor who first voiced the character in Disney’s animated short film, “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.” Emmanuel Elpenord is wonderful as Eeyore, Owl and Rabbit. Both actors starred in the original New York production. Diminutive actress, Tina-Kim Nguyen is sweetly charming as both Roo and Piglet, Sebastiano Ricci wins over the children as Tigger and Emilie Rose Danno nicely portrays Kanga, along with other woodland creatures. And not to be forgotten, young actor William Dally makes an adorable little Christopher Robin.

The beautiful scenic design for the Hundred Acre Woods is by Jack Golden; Zach Pizza has designed the seasonal lighting and Nate Edmondson created the soundtrack. It includes some of the familiar Sherman Brothers’ singalong songs, like “Winnie the Pooh,” “Sing-Ho (For the Life of a Bear)” and “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers,” to which this talented cast lend their voices. The gorgeous, giant puppets, which are the real stars of this production, were all designed and built by Rockefeller Productions, in association with the Disney Theatrical Group. 

This glorious, vibrantly colorful and magically mesmerizing spectacular production combines live actors, music and exciting puppetry in a show for the young and the young-at-heart. The performance also celebrates the 95th anniversary of A.A.  Milne’s original books. A warm feeling of wonderment and childhood innocence washes over the audience, as we fondly enjoy these familiar, beloved characters recreating the adventures of Pooh Bear and all his friends. All is told against the background of the changing seasons in the Hundred Acre Wood. This production will leave audiences filled with the enchantment of Milne’s imaginative characters and charming stories in an extravaganza designed for the whole family. It’s a show that should not be missed.     

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented March 15-June 12 by Rockefeller Productions at Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available at the box office, by calling 773-325-1700 or by going to www.winniethepoohshow.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.