Saying a last name at the ticket counter often wasn’t specific enough to claim reservations for Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s Saturday matinee of “Elephant and Piggie’s We’re in a Play.”
Relatives of all stripes, many carrying bouquets for the 6- to 11-year-old performers, filled 200 seats to watch the cast of 45 perform the culminating production of their two-week summer theater boot camp.
Sarah Ray directed the play based on the popular children’s book series written by Mo Willems.
“We started last Monday, had ten days of rehearsal, and then they get to perform,” Ray said before the shows, which ran once on a recent Friday and twice the next day, Saturday.
Ray has been involved with Timpanogos Valley Theatre for 10 years and is now the director of youth programs.
“When my kids were little, ‘Elephant and Piggie’ were some of our favorite books. When I saw they had an ‘Elephant and Piggie’ junior play, I was like, ‘We have to do that one,’” Ray said.
Farrah Johnston played the stage manager who welcomed the audience to the theatre. Eleven-year-old Cole Wright played Elephant Gerald, in floppy grey ears, baggy overalls, and a big silver tie hanging from his neck as a trunk. Piggie was played by 8-year-old Elyse Siggard wearing a pink dress, pig ears and ringlet pigtails.
For starters, the two best friends ran on and off stage seeking each other, while enlisting crews of young actors playing birds, bats, dogs, mice, penguins and squirrels to join search parties.
Once united, Piggie opened a party invitation from the Squirrelles, a group of fur-clad flappers. The animal kingdom dressed up for the fiesta with Seuss hats, snorkels and umbrellas as they sought to answer the question, “Can elephants dance?”
Gerald tried, but was convinced he failed until the Squirrelles, asked him for lessons. The students followed their leader’s cues to produce a stomping effect strong enough to shake the back row riser seats as singing children popped their heads out from polka-dots panels dotting the back stage wall.
Piggie used her trumpet to thank Gerald for making the party so fun. Her brassy squeals scattered the other animals, and Gerald informed Piggie that her noises were not music. Piggie agreed, because she was actually using the trumpet to say thank you in elephant language. Gerald insisted something was lost in translation, and used the opportunity to teach Piggie to become “eleph-luent.” When the duo debated who is the better friend, Piggie won with an exceptional hug.
Unfortunately, Piggie had to go. Gerald sang a plea for her to stay and enlisted his mice friends to harmonize. This didn’t change that Piggie had to go. The next song in Gerald’s rejoinder consisted of the single word, “Why?” repeated repeatedly and reinforced with a high-kicking chorus of animal friends. Piggie insisted she had to go as she crossed her legs. “To the bathroom? By all means, don’t let us stop you!” one animal clarified to the audience’s laughter.
Penguins in penguin suits waddled onstage pushing an ice cream cart. Gerald considered himself an Ice Cream Hero by saving a cone for Piggie, but it melted before she returned. Thankfully Piggie arrived with her own ice cream cone to share.
“It doesn’t matter who is the ice cream hero as long as there’s ice cream,” Piggie declared while the bird gang watched from high in the scene scaffolding.
A new toy prompted Piggie to sing with happiness. She offered to share the toy with Gerald, who dropped it, upsetting Piggie. She lobbed accusations at Gerald, who hung his head as the finger-pointing cast surrounded him.
Gerald no longer wanted to play, and friendship balanced on the brink of rupture until Piggie sang a song about why she loves having “an elephant in the room.” Kazoo-playing dogs trotted on stage as the two besties made up.
Piggie gazed around in happiness, then became aware of the audience as the fourth wall broke.
“The best part about an audience is that you can make them do things,” she concluded.
The cast tested their power, instructing an audience clap-along, prompting a “banana”-yelling back and forth, and leading hand waving. The cast then filled the aisles and split the audience into sections, so each area performed one of these actions simultaneously to great cacophony.
The cast showed how to circle hands while clapping for a proper round of applause, then Piggie and Elephant considered what it meant that the show would soon end. They were on page 64 of the 68-page script. Piggie led the crowd in breathing exercises to prepare for the inevitable, then the entire cast assembled onstage for the last number to sing, “We’ll be friends even after this ends.”
After the end of the script, Elephant and Piggie concluded they were now free to do anything. The stage manager returned to confirm the good time that was had, then the cast proceeded down the aisles so they could wait in the foyer to receive accolades.
The theatre’s year-round programming offers numerous chances for involvement.
“We do get a lot of kids that start at the theatre and come back often,” Ray said. “In this production, maybe three-fourths of them have done a show with us before.”
“Elephant and Piggie” was one of three summer youth camps hosted by the Timpanogos Valley Theatre. Twelve to 18 year olds performed “Beetlejuice Jr.” on June 27 and 28. And 10-18 year olds will be performing Mary Poppins Jr. on July 18 and 19. A full list of all-ages programming is available at www.timpvalleytheatre.com.