Once upon a time, there was a girl named Little Red Riding Hood who had an adventure along the way to her grandmother’s house.
Think you know the rest? You might be surprised when you see Once Upon a Puppet’s production of ‘Little Red? at the Depot Theater on Dec. 10.
The show is written and performed by Once Upon a Puppet founder Nancy Penvose of Clarkston..
Inspired by the famous fairy tale, ‘Little Red? follows Little Red Riding Hood in her adventure through the woods to Grandma’s house. What Little Red doesn’t know is that Hairy Von Wolfenstein, a.k.a. ‘Big Bad Wolf,? is following her and planning to beat her to Grandma’s house. But Sheriff Hoppy, who protects the woods, is following Hairy too.
Together, Hoppy and Little Red work to capture Hairy and rescue Grandma.
‘I tried to bring it up to modern times and add a few little twists,? Penvose said.
The production is Penvose’s second performance presented by the Clarkston Village Players. Penvose, a native of England, is in her 11th year with the Clarkston Village Players and has worked with puppets for some time.
‘In England, I had my own puppet company for quite a while. I was an aspiring actor and trying to get my equity card and not having much luck,? Penvose said, adding that she started her own puppet show company and started performing plays at birthday parties and such to make money.
‘It actually started back in college,? Penvose said. ‘At that time, (I was ) really very shy, wasn’t so confident about performing? one of the options we could do when we had to do a performance piece was to do a puppet show.
‘I’m basically a character actor, so I do lots of voices, so it incorporates all the different things I’ve learned over the years.?
Much like Penvose’s last show, ‘Dick Whittington and his Cat,? ‘Little Red? is filled with comedy, music and audience participation.
Penvose said ‘Dick Whittington? was largely a British-inspired performance, while ‘Little Red? is more American.
‘It has a little bit of ‘Wild West? in it? which is Sheriff Hoppy,? Penvose said. Penvose also added a lonely flower, Posey, who Little Red tries to help out.
‘There’s a little bit about friendship in it, there’s a little bit about don’t talk to strangers and that kind of thing,? said Penvose.
Penvose added there a few moral lessons mixed in, but also some things just to have fun, such as the three little pigs singing backup for one of the Big Bad Wolf’s musical numbers.
Penvose said she has received good feedback about performances so far from students at Springfield Plains, where her children attend, and she said the school was very appreciative.
‘There’s not much live theater for children, and they’ve had me in to assemblies,? Penvose said. ‘I’ve done a few things there which have been really good. I’m appreciative that they ask me to go in and do stuff.?
Performances of ‘Little Red? are on Dec. 10 at 2 and 4 p.m. Shows will run approximately 45 minutes. Tickets are $6 and are available online at www.clarkstonvillageplayers.org, or by calling 248-625-8811. The Depot Theater is located at 4861 White Lake Rd.