Today is the opening night of the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre's presentation of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. This children's musical is based on the well-loved children's book by the same name. The lyrics were actually written by Judith Viorst, who authored the book, ensuring that the musical does this childhood favorite justice.
For those not familiar with the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, it is the story of a boy whose day starts off bad and quickly gets worse. When he wakes up, he finds that there is chewing gum in his hair. When he gets to school, not only does his best friend no longer want to be best friends but he discovers to his horror that his mother has forgotten to pack his dessert, making him want to move to Australia! It continues downhill from there in a comedic and relatable fashion, helping children understand that bad days happen to all kinds of people and that there's always tomorrow to look forward to when a day is going poorly.
The Grand Rapids Civic Theatre puts on a wide variety of plays and musicals every year, from Death of a Salesman to Fiddler on the Roof. Later this year, the Civic will be putting on the comedic puppet show Avenue Q, proving that they can do everything from children's musicals to decidedly un-kid-friendly comedy shows. There's been a lot of anticipation for Alexander, including shows for local schools earlier this week. The show will run for several weeks, with showings on April 24th (tonight) at 7:30 pm, the 25th at 2:00 and 7:30 pm, the 26th at 2:00 pm, the 30th at 7:30 pm, May 1st at 7:30 pm, May 2nd at 2:00 and 7:30 pm, and a final show on Sunday, May 3rd at 2:00 pm.
Like all the shows at the Civic, the cast is primarily pulled from the West Michigan community, though there are occassionally professional actors who take part in the shows as well. In the case of Alexander, that means that ten different young children with dreams of acting have had the opportunity to be a credited member of a civic theatre production, something truly amazing for local aspiring thespians.
The first show premieres tonight, Friday April 24th, 2015, at 7:30 pm, and there were still tickets available at the time of this blog's publication. They are $16 for the general public, less for those who are season members of the Civic. You can purchase them by clicking here. This show will be one that will have kids (and parents and anyone else who loves a child) laughing and smiling.