Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, and their best friends Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Owl (and Tigger too!) can be found these days adventuring deep in the Hundred Acre Wood—or rather, Times Square’s Theatre Row—in Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical Adaptation, opening November 4. The new stage production features the iconic Disney characters, created by A. A. Milne, in a new story with music by the Sherman Brothers. Previews began October 21.
The show is developed and presented by Jonathan Rockefeller, whose company Rockefeller Productions created the popular family-friendly puppet shows The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show and Paddington Gets in a Jam. Like other Rockefeller shows, Winnie the Pooh features life-size puppets. Check out the gallery below of new photos from the production.
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Jake Bazel and Winnie the Pooh with Kirsty Moon and Piglet
The cast includes Jake Bazel as Pooh; Chris Palmieri as Tigger; Kirsty Moon as Piglet/Roo; Emmanuel Elpenord as Eeyore, Rabbit, and Owl; and Kristina Dizon as Kanga/Owl.
The Sherman Brothers—Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman—are the Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriting duo behind many Disney classics including Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and The Aristocrats. They wrote the music for the original Winnie the Pooh featurettes that made up the 1977 musical film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The new musical stage production includes familiar tunes such as "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers" and "A Rather Blustery Day."
The creative team includes original music and orchestrations by Nate Edmonson, costume design by Lindsay McWilliams, lighting design by Jamie Roderick, and scenic design by David Goldstein, Matthew Herman, and Johnny Figueredo. Lead puppet builders are Matthew Lish and Ben Durocher.
