Make Your Way to Make Way for Ducklings, the Musical at Wheelock Family Theatre
Make Your Way to Make Way for Ducklings, the Musical at Wheelock Family Theatre
The world premiere of the theatrical adaptation of Robert McCloskey’s beloved children’s book presented the cast with challenges, fun opportunities
Maia Ettinger (from left) as Pack, Bonnie Shao as Quack, and Echo Kaufman as Lack in the Wheelock Family Theatre production of Make Way for Ducklings, the Musical, on stage through March 12. Photos by Dave Greene
This article was first published in BU Today on February 16, 2023. By John O’Rourke
Excerpt
When Emily Ranii was approached in 2019 about co-commissioning a musical adaptation of Robert McCloskey’s beloved children’s book Make Way for Ducklings, the artistic director of Wheelock Family Theatre (WFT) jumped at the chance.
“My immediate response was ‘YES,’ in all caps,” Ranii (CFA’13) says of her initial conversation with Michael Bobbitt, then the artistic director of Adventure Theatre-MTC in Maryland, who had secured the rights to adapt the book for the stage. “What story is more Boston…it goes from one historic Boston landmark to another.”
Published in 1941, Make Way for Ducklings is the story of a pair of mallard ducks and their efforts to find a safe home where they can raise their soon-to-hatch brood of eight ducklings. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard fly over the Charles River, the Massachusetts State House, and Beacon Hill’s Louisburg Square before finally settling on an island in the Boston Public Garden. As the book progresses, the couple’s newborn ducklings—Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack—learn to swim, dive, march, and stay clear of bicycles and cars, while the adults learn a thing or two about parenting.
Now, after several detours because of the COVID pandemic, Make Way for Ducklings: The Musical is finally having its world premiere at WFT in a production directed by Ranii, opening February 17 and running through March 12. The show, written by Bobbitt (now executive director of the Mass Cultural Council), Sandra Eskin, and William Yanesh (music and lyrics), received an early, and virtual, production by the Wheelock Family Theatre and the College of Fine Arts School of Theatre in December 2020 before getting a fully staged production last year at Adventure Theatre. The show has since had a number of revisions.
The musical incorporates all of the fun and mischief that has made McCloskey’s story a staple of children’s literature for more than 80 years, but has also undergone a number of tweaks to make it feel more contemporary. In the book, Mr. Mallard flies off in search of a new home while Mrs. Mallard is left to raise her brood alone for a week. “We decided that was too gender normative and old-fashioned,” Bobbitt says. Now, the couple co-parent equally and the family remains together throughout the story.
Bobbitt says he can’t wait to see how Boston audiences react to the show. (After all, the book is the official children’s book of the commonwealth of Massachusetts.) “There’s lots of Boston humor in the show. I’m hoping the families who come to see it appreciate the jokes I put in about Boston.”
Make Way for Ducklings, The Musical…
Runs weekends through March 12 at the Wheelock Family Theatre, 180 Riverway, Boston.
Ticket prices range from $24 to $48. BU students, faculty, and staff are invited free of charge opening weekend (to reserve your ticket, use code “BUOpen”). BU students can purchase $12 tickets to any performance using the code “College.” Faculty and staff receive a 25 percent discount off a full price ticket with code “BUStaff.”