The wild things are at Theatre North West this week, but you'll have a wild time finding any remaining tickets. Some remain, as of press time, but they were going fast.
The modern classic children's story, written and illustrated famously by Maurice Sendak, has been converted into many other incarnations over the years - an opera, two animated short films, a blockbuster feature-length film, songs, art - and now it comes to Prince George as a stage play.
The production was created by Vancouver theatre company Presentation House. It was spotted by Theatre North West artistic director Jack Grinhaus, who instantly saw the potential for local audiences.
"I'm a bit teary-eyed, actually, to see how involved and engaged the children are," said Grinhaus as the first presentation of the show went on Wednesday morning. "The kids are all involved in the show; everybody is part of the play. We had to build extra stage area to make this all happen, there is a big wild rumpus at the end that the actors and the audience join in, it's so immersive, the imagination of it is so inspiring. It's a book we all know so well, families have always responded to this story since it came out in 1963, and now it's happening right in front of our eyes."
Thirteen matinee showings are happening at the TNW theatre space, reserved during those times for local schools to send their students.
There are three full-public showings, also: tonight at 7 p.m.,
May 27 at 7 p.m., and May 28 at 11 a.m. These were sold out but new seats became available due to the rebuilding of the stage area, so Grinhaus urged fans to try obtaining tickets if they couldn't get any before.
Prior to their Prince George stint, this version of Where The Wild Things Are had a run in New York and they leave P.G. heading back to the States at the end of this month.
"Presentation House moves this around like they're a rock show out on tour, it is an international hit and we are so proud to have it here," Grinhaus said. "The way we looked at it was, why don't these young theatre fans in our city deserve to get a quality arts experience just like adults do? It was (local teacher, author, musician) Tim Yule who put that into those words for me, and he is so right.
"Our adults get to have that experience throughout the season, and TNW is exactly who should create that opportunity for young theatre fans before they even understand what that is."
Tickets to TNW events are available online at their theatre company website or from Books & Company downtown.
