Cardinal Stage Company’s “The Birthday Feast” will run from Oct. 10 through Oct. 25 at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium.
Randy White is the artistic director of Cardinal Stage Company and also the director of “The Birthday Feast,” an original musical by Scott Russell Sanders primarily aimed at kids and planned in accordance with IU’s Themester, “Eat, Drink, Think: Food from Art to Science.”
Actor Lola Kennedy said “The Birthday Feast,” written by Sanders, a former IU English professor and an award-winning author, promises something for everyone in the audience.
“We had been trying to find a play that fit with the Themester, but we couldn’t find one that fit,” White said. “So we said we would commission a play and we went to Scott and asked if he was interested to write a play about food and nutrition for kids. We then agreed that we wanted to have a play that had some important stuff to say but is still fun and entertaining.”
There are three characters in the play. Maddie, played by Kennedy, is the central character who wants to throw a feast for her mother’s birthday.
She ropes in her two friends, “Junk Food Jack” and Isabella, or “Healthy Food Bella.”
They go on a whirlwind adventure, from visiting the farmer’s market to hunting in a backyard, trying everything in their power to conjure a special gift for Maddie’s mother.
Two IU students play “Junk Food Jack” and “Health Food Bella” — Matthew Weidenbener, who is working toward a bachelor of fine arts in musical theater, and Audrey Deinlein, a freshman majoring in theater.
“It’s a very funny play, and there’s going to be tremendous acting performances on the part of these actors,” Sanders said. “It also tells a touching story. In the very end they have a few minutes before the birthday celebration, and Maddie finally figures out the perfect gift and people have to come to the play to see what it is.”
For those familiar with Cardinal Stage, “The Birthday Feast” will feature a cast from their previous musicals, with the only new additions being Sanders and Alex Crowley, who is responsible for all the music in the play.
“We trust each other, and I think Scott and Alex have been great,” White said. “They’ve been working really hard and everybody just wants to do the best show possible.”
Cardinal Stage Company has been in Bloomington since 2006. They have performed a myriad of musicals, ranging from kids’ plays like “Charlotte’s Web” to world-renowned musicals like “Les Miserables,” which they performed last season.
“I’ve heard people say, I saw it in New York, I saw it in London, I saw it in Chicago, but this (Cardinal Stage Company) was better,” Crowley said. “I think part of it is because this was smaller and more intimate, and the quality of the production and the singing, because of the IU vocal program, the whole thing was just that great.”
Choreographer Diane Buzzell said Cardinal is aiming to give a good performance and a good laugh.
More than that, the cast also hopes the audience and children attending the show will better understand the importance of food and eating habits by the end of the play.
“You know I hope that kids start to want to read the back of the box and read what’s in the food or get their parents to read what’s in the food,” Buzzell said.
White said this musical definitely has more to it than addressing the problem of unhealthy eating.
“We need to understand that food shapes our identities,” White said. “It establishes who we are as people. So much of our family is passed down through food, we understand the cultural foods that we eat.”
Ticket information can be found on the Cardinal Stage Company’s website.
