LOVABYE DRAGON Takes Flight at First Stage

Amelia Sajdak as Girl (left) and Penny Whitmore as Magical (right) in Lovabye Dragon at First Stage. Photo credit: Paul Ruffolo.

A review of Lovabye Dragon

by Ellory Woodford, age 12

On Saturday January 24th, I was able to attend the opening performance of Lovabye Dragon at First Stage’s Goodman Mainstage Hall. This production was directed by Marion Frank, and is adapted by Jeff Frank and Barbara Joose from Joose’s Girl and Dragon book series. Lovabye Dragon is a fun and exciting musical, targeted towards younger audiences, about a girl and her Dragon friend who go on adventures in the woods, across the sea, to an island, and even to the moon! The core messages are that having a friend to rely on makes everything easier, and that we can be brave and resilient, even if things seem scary sometimes. Lovabye Dragon manages to entertain younger children while still having enough of a bigger message to provide something for older audience members, including parents. This show had amazing puppets, actors, and a very fun and unique way of staging this story.

Lovabye had an extra element to it that not a lot of shows have: puppets! They used puppets for the Dragon and for the three Bad Hats. The Dragon was a giant three person puppet. One of the Young Performers controlled the mouth of the Dragon and another controlled the tail. In the middle of the puppet, one of the adults, Jesse Weinberg, stood with most of his body in the puppet, controlling the wings and also making all the noises for the Dragon. The other puppets, the Bad Hats, were controlled by Young Performers Mac Heinrich and Mason Litzsey in the Magic Cast, along with adult actor Bree Beelow. The Bad Hat puppets were more of the traditional Muppet-type puppets that we often see in the media. These puppets were controlled by the actor having one hand control the mouth, while the other hand controlled the legs and feet. I really enjoyed watching everyone navigate the challenges of puppetry, and doing so incredibly well!

One of the most notable characters in this show is the role of Girl. In the Magic Cast, that role is played by Lainey Techtmann. Techtmann played this role very well all around, especially considering she had very little time to get water or take a breather, as she was on stage for almost the entire show, not even having an intermission to rest her voice. The same goes for one of the adults, Christopher Feiereisen, who played Troubadour. Feiereisen basically narrated the show, along with playing the Man in the Moon for a scene. He had an amazing voice and great comedic timing.

The space that First Stage used for this show was the Goodman Mainstage Hall. One thing that is unique about this venue is it is a theatre in the round. This worked very well, especially since this show is targeted to younger children. Anyone who works with kids, is a parent, or has younger siblings can tell you, younger kids need to be engaged to stay captivated. This space ensures that no audience member is more than 20 feet away from the stage, no matter where they're sitting, providing a more personal and connected experience for the audience. Another thing about the Goodman is that it has a balcony in the corner above where you enter the theatre. In this production, they had a wall around the balcony, and used it for the majority of the Bad Hat scenes. 

I would recommend this show for families with kids ages 3-7 or older than 12, as the younger kids will enjoy the fun story and catchy songs, and older kids and adults will be able to see the deeper meaning and messages of friendship and resilience behind the surface-level show for kids.

You can catch Lovabye Dragon at First Stage through February 15th!