The Velveteen Rabbit

For the past couple of weeks I've been working on drawings and designs for the Manhattan Children's Theatre production of The Velveteen Rabbit which opens this weekend. My friend Chris wrote and directed it and he asked me to design it and it's been a ton of fun to work on.

The set is a pretty simple (and dang elegant) notion, but the back wall is a big projection screen and there are all sorts of surprises which I won't say much about because then they wouldn't be surprises. I will however shout out because the technical director, John Ivy, has created some UNBELIEVABLE animations out of my drawings. Seriously, I never imagined that my stuff could look so cool!

I'll also posit that the crew over at MCT has done an amazing job of turning my hare-brained design notions into real and wonderful theatre. Finally, I'll swoon and giggle and mention that Chris's script (and his original score) has taken a classic melancholy children's story and injected fresh feeling and joy. Aw heck, while I'm at it, I'll say that the casts are great and the whole thing has been a lot of fun.

So bring the kids and check it out!