Buckle up for Chicago Children’s Theatre’s New Bilingual Musical, “Go Dog Go! (Ve Perro ¡Ve!)”
Audiences are invited to strap in this spring alongside a gaggle of delightful dogs as they drive, swim, play baseball and make their way to the big dog party — all in a lively blend of English and Spanish — in Chicago Children’s Theatre’s world premiere bilingual musical, Go Dog Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve!
Like a pop-up book that comes to life, Go Dog Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! is a heart-warming spectacle of music, color, language and delight, appealing to all ages. Performances are March 15-May 18 at Chicago Children’s Theatre as the company’s 19th season finale.
“Go, Dog. Go!,” written and illustrated by P. D. Eastman, has been an essential and beloved children’s book since 1961. Millions of toddlers (and their parents) have fallen in love with its menagerie of highly mobile dogs who drive cars, boats and motorbikes in pursuit of work and play. The action culminates in a big dog party, while introducing basic early education concepts along the way such as color and relative position.
In 2003, playwrights Allison Gregory and Steven Dietz adapted Eastman’s book into one of the most widely produced plays for young audiences in the U.S. Now, in collaboration with Chicago Children’s Theatre, they have transformed that play into a bilingual (English/Spanish) musical for all ages.
“P.D. Eastman’s iconic book has been reaching audiences in multiple languages for years,” said Gregory and Dietz. “This project was born of our desire to see two of those languages braided together onstage, side-by-side, in a show that seeks to welcome, instruct, surprise and delight.”
Dietz is also traveling to Chicago to direct this first production of Go Dog Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! Original compositions are by Michael Koerner with Spanish translations by Ana Maria Campoy. Music director is Rob Witmer, who will also play accordion for the first half of the run. Choreography is by Sonya Madrigal, based on original choreography by Allison Gregory.
Chicago Children’s Theatre’s has cast Go Dog Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! with some of the city’s top professional actors, including CCT favorites Melanie Brezill (Last Stop on Market Street, My Wonderful Birthday Suit, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane) as Hattie, Tony Carter (Mesmerized: A Ben Franklin Science & History Mystery) as Red Dog; Maria Clara Ospina (Carmela Full of Wishes) as Blue Dog; and Shawn Pfautsch (Mesmerized: A Ben Franklin Science & History Mystery, A Year with Frog and Toad, Leo Lionni’s Frederick, among others) as Yellow Dog. Jean Carlos Claudio (MC Dog), Jalbelly Guzmán (Green Dog) and Nathan Hunter (accordion player) are all making their CCT debuts.
Behind the scenes, Go Dog Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! showcases the work of some of the top professional artists and designers in Chicago: Lonnae Hickman (props designer), Molly May (assistant props designer), Jazmin Aurora Medina (costume designer), Jason Lynch (lighting designer), Karen Wallace (associate lighting designer), Harper Crewse (production stage manager), and Anastar Alvarez and Gianni Cacagno (assistant stage managers).
Performances of Go Dog Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! are March 15-May 18: Saturdays and Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $42.25, including fees, and are on sale at chicagochildrenstheatre.org.
Go Dog Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! runs approximately 60 minutes and is recommended for all ages. Call CCT Guest Services, (312) 374-8835, or email [email protected] to learn about student matinees and more.
