Junie B. Jones The Musical is about Junie B. Jones’ adventures in first grade. These range from losing old friends and making new, to making the most of an injury, and to finding self-confidence when wearing new glasses. I saw the production at Columbus State University directed and choreographed by Brenda May Ito as part of the Columbus Repertory Theatre.
Upon entering the theatre, Tim McGraw’s design makes you immediately feel as if you were there to see a show that appeals to young audiences or to the child inside all of us. The bright colors on the downstage flats along with the purposely inexact lines allude that we are not only there to see a children’s show but are entering a child’s world. The flats upstage are painted to look like notebook paper with doodles on it, to anyone who knows the story of Junie B. Jones, will immediately feel connected to the story with the allusion to her Top Secret Personal Beeswax Journal. However, the scenic painting on the upstage flat looked realistic and intentional and the downstage ones looked hurried and it was detrimental to the cohesion of the design. It was a shame that the upstage series of flats were separating, because it was a very nicely designed piece. Furthermore, there was some very nice roll on units, such as the windows with brick outlines that came on for the kickball tournament. They were not only beautiful pieces on their own, but it really brought the audience outside the
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The kids were clamoring to get their pictures taken with the cast. To me the most impressive part of the experience was watching the interaction between the actors and the kids. The actors clearly understood they were still playing a role and that they had to be giving of their time and energy to them. Seeing the kids reactions solidifies that shows like this will keep the theatre culture growing by building new generations of audience