AMERICAN THEATRE: What is your first artistic memory? We at American Theatre love to ask folks what moment in their youth generated that first spark, what title infected them with the theatre bug. When it comes to the theatre, I recall dancing in the aisles during habitual outings to theatre for young audiences in Rio and, as a toddler, proclaiming I’d make theatre for a living. When I came to the U.S., my love for language and the written word blossomed with The Magic Tree House series and Beatrix Potter books.
8 comments:
I really loved the magic tree house books as a kid. I remember the first time I read them, I was probably in kindergarten, and had just beginning to be able to read chapter books of that nature. My neighbors who were a few years older than me brought a few things they had outgrown over to our house and included the first few books of the magic tree house series. Immediately I was obsessed with them, and would spend hours reading, even though I wasn’t the best at reading yet I still loved doing it. I think that having magic tree house on stage like this could be just as magical, and inspire more kids to like performance, and to like reading. The other thing that is great about magic tree house is that it has elements of teaching history in its fantastical stories. I love the adaptability of these productions and I would love to get to see one.
I was obsessed with the Magic Tree House books as a child and I love seeing books turned into shows. I think that the stage is a great place for the exploration of the topics in The Magic Tree House and for learning for children so I think this is really cool. This article made me so nostalgic for the Magic Tree House book series and I would love to see their shows as a fun remembrance of my childhood. I appreciate that this is the original author who's doing this because they want to bring it to children in a different way and I think that's so lovely. I think that the content of the Magic Tree House really translates really well to stage and could be super fun to do costume design for, to do set design for, to do Lighting and Sound design because of how wide the variety of stories happen in The Magic Tree House series.
I think the Magic Tree House books are especially good options for making shows out of. I remember reading the Magic Tree House growing up and it was just such an incredible and honestly magical experience that really helped me connect with history in a way that didn't feel boring but instead felt exciting and magical. I think theater geared towards younger audiences is some of the most important theater we can make because for as cliche as it sounds kids really are our future and exposure to the Arts at a young age is so incredibly important because it ensures that we will have people interested in not only pursuing but in continuing the legacy of live performing arts. I think it's really easy to write off theater for children as boring or less than, but it really can be this incredible and magical thing and I think we should lean more into these stories that have engaged so many people for so long.
I absolutely loved reading about Magic Tree House On Stage and the Chicago Children’s Theatre adaptations. I grew up reading the Magic Tree House books as well, and I remember being completely fascinated by Jack and Annie’s adventures. I would spend hours reading, even if I wasn’t the strongest reader. It’s so exciting to see how these stories are being translated to the stage, keeping the magic and history alive for a new generation. I especially appreciate how flexible the productions are, adapting to different theaters and audiences while still preserving the heart of the stories. I also think the programs that give books to students beforehand are amazing, because they create a personal connection to the story and the theater experience. Overall, this article made me nostalgic and inspired. It reminded me of the joy and imagination of reading the books with my sisters as a kid.
This article is so insane to me because as someone who has struggled with dyslexia her whole life and couldn't bear to pick up a book as a kid, these were literally the only book series I ever read in elementary/ middle school. Honestly I hadn't ever really made this connection but I had never really thought about art or theater before reading these books, they were so transforming, while reading I truly felt like I was there in the world. This feels like where this creative side of me came from especially because i also have a really short attention span so books really have to be captivating early on for me to want to keep reading and these books were perfectly to the point while still also describing in great detail fully building this world just like we do as theater makers. Magic Tree House on stage seems like a really interesting, younger me would be so jealous if she knew this was gonna be a thing now.
I LOVED the Magic Treehouse books as a kid and they were definitely one of the most popular series in my school. Never did I ever think that one of my favorite series would be transformed into a show. I definitely think most theatre is geared towards older audiences since many shows contain heavy topics, so theatre that is child specific is so important. These books were such a huge part of everyone’s childhood because they connected them to history through storytelling in a way that was digestible for kids, much like the way theatre does through visual storytelling. There isn’t much children’s theatre that isn’t just Disney or princesses or something, so for the creation of Magic Treehouse to extend to theatre I think that is very important. I think they should start making more shows based on childhood stories, especially since our generation is starting to have kids and it would be special for our kids to grow up with what we did.
“The Magic Tree House” series is one of my favorite childhood series. There is so much magic and myth in that series that lends itself really well to the stage. The surge of popularity in children's theater makes my heart very happy. We are able to show kids from an early age that there is a whole world in theater that they might not have known about. Doing this with popular series is brilliant because it not only brings kids to the theater, but also adults who enjoyed the series. The final line of the article did bring tears to my eyes because I am someone who has missed the series and the feelings those books gave me. The fact that the series is such a large one lends itself well to the theater world because there are so many worlds to explore in the series. I am excited to see how many of the stories get translated to the stage.
Reading this article felt like a blast from the past, as 'The Magic Treehouse' was the first book that I remembers as a child besides the 'Harry Potter' series. 'The Magic Treehouse' was the first series of book that I finished in its entirety as a child, and the series really got my imagination flowing. This fact was then only made stronger due to the fact that my family home had a treehouse in our backyard. This really cemented 'The Magic Treehouse' as a major childhood memory, so seeing that there is a theatrical production being made is making me think that I have never wanted to to see a production more in my life than this production. I want to see what this production would bring up from my potentially forgotten childhood memories. To add to this last point I know that watching this production would be a blast from past because I actually was the one to take down my childhood treehouse. I demolished it due to the presence of termites, and to stop the terminates from spreading the treehouse need to be taken down. As I took down the treehouse I felt my childhood memories pass by, and it was mixture of sadness and happy memories. I cant predict what the theatrical production of 'The Magic Treehouse' would make me feel, but I want to find out.
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