Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

If you love kids and theater or love theater and have kids or any variation there of, a wonderful place to be on Saturday or Sunday (late morning or early afternoon) between now and January 7th is 4 floors above Broadway near 76th Street at The McGinn/Cazale Theater. In an atmosphere infused with enthusiasm and happiness, Vital Children's Theater is presenting a fanciful new musical titled "My New York," with a book by Carla Jablonski and music and lyrics by Rick Hip-Flores.

The setting of the play is a cheerful New York City middle school classroom where substitute teacher Miss Sunshine, delightful and a bit "dizzy" (Dilhya Ross), informs her five students-conveniently from different ethnic backgrounds-that class time can be utilized to create entries for submission to the school's mural competition, "The Real New York." In the course of the next forty minutes, the students' personalities and cultural pride are revealed through family stories, mini scenes (where Ms. Ross shines in an assortment of adult roles) and choreography (Dax Valdes), which utilizes cultural motifs in imaginative ways.

Under the well-balanced direction of Linda Ames Key, elements common to children's theater-audience participation and some silly shenanigans-are blended agreeably with real peer pressure concerns, as well as some necessary stereotypical behavior. Each of the five ardent, young adult actors portraying the students does a remarkable job of capturing the language, mannerisms and appearance of their teen characters and their heritages: African American Clarisse (Barret Doss)-haughty yet soulful, Chinese Wendy (EJ Zimmerman)-sensitive and traditional, Jewish Sophie (Sarah Levine)-unpretentious and not-so-traditional, Dominican JT (Paul Pino)-footloose and hip, and Asian Indian Ray (Dax Vadles)-somewhat reserved but in some ways fervent. All of the musical numbers are lively and engaging, but my favorites pertain to JT's salsa-dancing grandma and Sophie's Hebrew school angst. Predictably, the final musical number provides a pleasant resolve; and needless to say, there is a moral to the story-a good one for young, old, and heads of state.

As family-friendly add-ons, after each performance the young at heart audience members will have an opportunity to meet with the cast to chat and obtain autographs, Vital Theater is conducting its own "My New York" mural competition, and some performances will be followed by "Design a Mural" workshops.

"My New York," in a multiplicity of ways, demonstrates how fortunate we are to live in our New York.