‘Babes in Toyland’ an optimistic holiday show

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Candace Edwards, of Country Club Hills, plays Little Bo Peep in "Babes in Toyland."

‘BABES IN TOYLAND’

♦ 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. Nov. 28-
Dec. 12, and also 2 p.m. Dec. 10

♦ Theatre at the Center,
1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Ind.

♦ Tickets, $7-$8.50, with group prices available for students

♦ (219) 836-3255;
TheatreAtTheCenter.com

♦ This is a Theatre for Young
Audiences production.

Article Extras

Maps

Updated: December 26, 2011 8:34AM

It’s not every actor who can play the kind of fairy tale character featured in “Babes in Toyland.”

The actors in the show — which opens Nov. 28 at Theatre at the Center in Munster, Ind. — have to have a certain something that makes them real and believable to young audiences.

That special something is why actor Reid O’Connell, of New Lenox, and Candace Edwards, of Country Club Hills, were picked for the cast.

That certain something for an actor is a childlike look of wonderment that makes their part as a Mother
Goose hero or heroine convincing.

“I believe I got the part of Tommy Tucker because I look a lot younger than my 24 years,” O’Connell said.

“People tell me I look young and very naive. In the show, I play naive and innocent Tommy Tucker and marry Mary Contrary.

“Things become scary for us when Barnaby, the evil uncle, tries to dupe us out of our money and frightens the toys in Toyland.”

“I think I got my part for the same reason. I’m 27 years old, but I look a lot younger,” Edwards said.

“I think it’s my wide-eyed look that gives me a look of naivete. I play Bo Peep and she’s a pretty naive character.

“She asks a lot of questions that don’t need to be asked. She loses her sheep and she doesn’t know why. She’s very childlike and goes to Mother Goose for help a lot.”

The Theatre for Young Audiences’ production of “Babes in Toyland” at Theatre at the Center was last presented in 2004.

The show was so popular that the production is again being presented for the holiday season.

“Babes in Toyland,” which originated as an operetta composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Glen MacDonough, was first produced in 1903.

With songs that include “Toyland,” “March of the Toys” and “Go to Sleep, Slumber Deep,” “Babes in Toyland”
became such a big hit that it has since been revived many times as a stage musical, in films and on television.

The version of “Babes in Toyland” at Theatre at the Center will offer seven musical numbers and fairy tale characters such as Red Riding Hood, Jack and Jill, Little Miss Muffet and other famous Mother Goose figures.

The story centers on Tommy Tucker and Mary Contrary who try to stop the villainous Barnaby and his attempt to foreclose on the mortgage of Mother Gooseland.

O’Connell went to Lincoln-Way Central High School in New Lenox and attended Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills.

He started acting at 10 years old with the Drama Group in Chicago Heights and at the Oak Lawn Park District.

O’Connell also has been in productions at Illinois Theatre Center in Park Forest and at Theatre at the Center productions including “Scrooge,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “The Producers.”

“I can’t help being an actor,” he said. “I’m not good at anything else.”

Edwards, who went to Hillcrest High School in Country Club Hills and graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2008, said she’s excited to be in “Babes in Toyland,” especially since she almost didn’t become an actress.

“When I was first in college, I never knew people could make a career of what they loved. I thought I’d get a degree in journalism and be normal,” she said.

“But in the middle of a journalism course, I found out that you can sing, dance and act, and people come and pay for it. That’s when a lightbulb went off. Once that door opened, I ran right through it.

“ ‘Babes in Toyland’ is an optimistic show, and I like it because I’m a very optimistic person. Since the musical is for kids and it’s a fairy tale, everything is redeemed at the end, and the bad guy, Barnaby, gets it.

“That’s one of the fun things about the show. The good are rewarded and the bad are punished. It’s a wonderful morality tale.”

Betty Mohr is a local free-lance writer.