"Tuck Everlasting"

Tuck Everlasting

Chris Miller (Music); Nathan Tysen (Lyrics); Claudia Shear & Tim Federle (Book)

Based on the Novel by Natalie Babbitt

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley

Natalie Schroeder and Eddie Grey

For anyone who has seen even a few of the over 165 productions that Artistic Director Robert Kelley has directed in his near fifty years at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, then it soon becomes easy to recognize when the curtain opens that ‘this is a Kelley show.’  His shows exemplify in every respect a core set of values of celebrating the human spirit by exploring who we are and our potential; of exuding optimism and hope even when faced with life’s biggest challenges; and of creating theatre art that overflows with humor and heart, pathos and passion, excellence and exceptionalism.  And if the show he directs is in December, there will be snow falling as the production climaxes and as the audience exits the theatre.

And all this is once again true for the visually stunning, musically uplifting, and thematically intriguing and inspiring Tuck Everlasting, now being staged by TheatreWorks and directed by Robert Kelley as a true holiday gift to the Silicon Valley community.  Chris Miller (music) and Nathan Tysen (lyrics) planted the seeds for the eventual 2016 Broadway offering by writing its first two songs at a TheatreWorks writers’ workshop in 2010.  They were big fans of Natalie Babbitt’s 1975 novel, Tuck Everlasting – already considered a children’s classic – which explores the question of “If you could live forever, would you?”  Bringing first Claudia Shear and then Tim Federle to complete the book of their musical, the entire team birthed a musical where magic can be found in a forest spring and a country fair, where family unity and unlikely friendships equal eternal love, and where the concept of eternity is discovered to be more than just living forever.

For the rest of my rave review, please proceed to Talkin' Broadway: https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/regional/sanjose/sj147.html.

Rating: 5 E, “MUST-SEE”

Tuck Everlasting continues through December 30, 2018 produced by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.  Tickets are available at http://www.theatreworks.org/box-office/buy-tickets/.

Photo by Kevin Berne