August 21, 2024

BETHESDA, MD (August 21, 2024). Imagination Stage™, the metro DC region’s largest professional theatre for young audiences and leader in positive youth development through the arts, transports the Hundred Acre Wood to the DMV with Winnie the Pooh,  running September 18-October 27. Reviewers are invited to Opening Performance on Saturday, September 21 at 5:00 or to any performance thereafter.

Based on the beloved stories by A.A. Milne, the show is dramatized by Le Clanché du Rand with music by Allan Jay Friedman and lyrics by A.A. Milne and Kristin Sergel. In the show, everyone’s favorite bear is surrounded by Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Owl in a frolicsome and gentle musical. Set during one busy day, there’s a Heffalump to catch, Eeyore’s tail to find, and a misunderstanding between Rabbit and Kanga to sort out. In the end, friendship and understanding win the day. Winnie the Pooh is best for ages 3+.

This play adaptation was written in 1992, and Imagination Stage’s Director of Theatre Kathryn Chase Bryer says it is “delightfully funny and sweet and focuses on friendship, community, and kindness–all things that we want for our young children.” Imagination Stage produced the show once before, in the 1990’s in our former White Flint theatre. Bryer is excited to bring back the show and to encourage families with children as young as three years to experience it in the beautiful Lerner Family Theatre. 

Imagination Stage Chief Artistic Programming Officer Joanne Lamparter says, “We learned with last year’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar that inviting families with young children early in the academic year gives them an introduction to all of the classes and performances that are coming up. We are thrilled to be an entertainment and educational resource for them, always with the goal of making the arts an essential part of their lives.” 

This first show in the 24-25 season follows an extremely successful 23-24 season, during which almost 55,000 children and adults attended one or more of the five professional shows offered. 

Directing Winnie the Pooh is multi-talented emerging artist Christopher Michael Richardson. Besides making his professional directing debut with this show, he is doing the musical arrangements and orchestrations.

This is not Richardson’s first stint at Imagination Stage: he played Charlie Brown in the 2018 production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Currently, he is studying directing in the graduate program at Northwestern University. Of this production of Winnie the Pooh, Richardson says, “Almost 100 years after A.A Milne’s stories and E.H. Shepard’s illustrations were first published, there is no better time for us to remember the power of community. Winnie the Pooh is a timeless story that helps us celebrate the simple joy of sharing our lives with each other.”

Richardson is also eager to share the imaginative and creative process with his child audience. “Our production celebrates the original book AND highlights the power of creative play,” he says. “The team has been very intentional in bringing the magic of Winnie the Pooh to the stage in a way that our audiences can replicate at home. It would bring me so much joy to see our young audience members leaving Imagination Stage to set off on their own adventures, whether that be trying to trap a Heffalump or finding a unique way to celebrate a friend’s birthday!”

Imagination Stage takes pride in giving opportunities to early career, up-and-coming artists like Richardson. This is, in part, the result of relationships with area universities, where Bryer often directs and teaches. She encourages students to audition for Imagination Stage and also to spend summers working at Imagination Stage’s extensive summer camps, where, she says, “we both pay them and we train to be teaching artists.” 

The cast includes Jimmy Bartlebaugh as Winnie the Pooh and Jordan Essex, Ashley D. Nguyen, andBrigid Wallace Harper rounding out the company. Joining Richardson on the creative team are Elisa Rosman (Music Director), Sarah Beth Hall (Scenic Designer), Frank Labovitz (Costume Designer), Helen Garcia-Alton (Lighting Designer), Zavier Augustus Lee Taylor (Projections Designer), Madeline ‘Mo’ Oslejsek (Sound Designer), and Andrea ‘Dre’ Moore(Props Designer). Samantha Leahan is Stage Manager. 

Winnie the Pooh is best for ages 3-8 and runs from September 18 to October 27, 2024. Shows for the general public are Saturdays and Sundays at 10:00 and 1:00. Tickets are $12 and up and may be purchased online at imaginationstage.org, in person at Imagination Stage’s box office, or via phone at 301-280-1660. Group rates are available for parties of 10+. 

Winnie the Pooh performances are in the Jim and Carol Trawick Imagination Stage building at 4908 Auburn Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Parking is located in the adjacent public garage. There is a parking fee Monday-Saturday; parking is FREE on Sunday. 

The season will continue with Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood starting December 11, followed by Paper Dreams, Mother Goose, and Dory Fantasmgory. For Imagination Stage’s innovative and impactful Theatre for Change program, the new show The Last Martyr will tour to area high schools and colleges. 

Special Performances

Meet the Actors (a chance to say hello and pose for pictures with members of the cast following the performance)
–Sunday, September 22 at 1:00

–Saturday, September 28 at 10:00

–Sunday, September 29 at 10:00

–Sunday, October 6 at 1:00
–Sunday, October 13 at 1:00 

–Sunday, October 20 at 1:00

–Sunday, October 27 at 1:00

Access & Inclusion is a core value and program of Imagination Stage. In our professional theatre, that takes the form of having ASL-interpreted and Sensory-Friendly performances of every show. For Winnie the Pooh, those performances are:

ASL-Interpreted performance:   September 28 at 10:00

Sensory-Friendly performance:   September 29 at 10:00

ABOUT IMAGINATION STAGE

Imagination Stage, the DMV’s leader in youth development through the arts, is driven to build a generation of compassionate, collaborative young people who are capable of changing the world. Starting as an arts academy in Bethesda in the late 1970s, it has responded to the evolving “needs of now” over the last 43 years by expanding its reach throughout Montgomery County and Washington, DC. Since the pandemic, we see more than ever how the arts play an essential role in positive youth development. Children from every socio-economic group need experiences that teach empathy, demonstrate resilience, and inspire hope. Theatre does just that. Beyond the classes, camps, and shows at our Bethesda location, Imagination Stage brings programming to locations throughout Montgomery County and DC through partnerships with Montgomery County Public Schools, DC Public Schools and others. One example is our Theatre for Change programs. They serve teenagers, using theatre productions and educational workshops to bridge cultural divides, lift up underrepresented voices, and explore complex social justice issues.

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