I remember being a young child unable to sleep. I was having nightmare visions of big mushroom-shaped explosions wiping out all the life on the earth. I walked over to my sleeping mother and told her about fears. A bleary-eyed mother had to explain to her son about mutually-assured destruction on the middle of the night. It was actually reassuring, but then...the early ’80s were a weird time to be a kid. That being said, it’s never been easy for kids to sleep. Too much going on. Too much ricocheting around in the mind of a little person who is only just beginning to understand the world.
Paulette Bogan wrote a children’s book about nighttime anxieties called Goodnight Lulu. The pre-school-Grade 2 book tells of a little chicken named Lulu who needs a lot of assurance from her mother chicken before she can get to sleep. It’s a cute book. This weekend, Bogan’s book is being brought to the stage at the Sunset Playhouse thanks to Sunset’s bug in a rug Children's Theater Series. It’s a local adaptation by Sunset’s Director of Education Erika Navin with music by witty local musical comedy talent Jason Powell.
The bug in a rug experience allows kids a chance to snuggle-up to a performance. There are no seats. Kids bring blankets and jammies. Show-up early enough and there are crafts. It’s a fun, little matinee with performances that fit nicely around many nap schedules of even the smallest theatergoers.
bug in a rug Children's Theater’s adaptation of Goodnight Lulu runs Feb. 8 - 11 at the Sunset Playhouse on 800 Elm Grove Road in Elm Grove. For ticket reservations and more, visit Sunset Playhouse online.