Ever feel as if you got up on the wrong side of the bed? Alexander does. And no wonder. He woke up with gum in his hair, tripped on a skateboard and accidentally dried his face with his good sweater. And he hadn’t even had breakfast yet!
Based on a popular children’s book by Judith Viorst, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” is a comedic musical that runs Friday, April 29 through Friday, May 6 at Arizona Broadway Theatre in Peoria.
It was originally commissioned and premiered by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and has been performed around the country. Book and lyrics are by Viorst herself, while music is by Shelly Markham.
“What is great about this story is that Alexander is such a little everyman, an antihero,” says director Andy Meyers. He believes that all kids “will recognize themselves in him or relate to one of the many events that happen in his day.”
Playing the part of Alexander is Nicholas Kuhn, who is no stranger to ABT. Besides performing in other parts of the country, he has previously appeared at ABT in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “The Little Mermaid” and “A Christmas Carol.”
Brad Rupp is Alexander’s father, and Johanna Carlisle is his mother. Another veteran ABT player, Rupp has appeared in such shows as “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Carousel,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Les Misérables,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Into the Woods” and “Oklahoma!”
Carlisle, well-known to the Valley’s alternative theater audiences, has been seen in a number of productions for Stray Cat Theatre, such as “Learn to Be Latina,” “Pulp” and “The Whale.”
Audiences young and old can identify with Alexander’s struggles and the obstacles he encounters. You may discover that everyone sometimes has a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. And it’s OK.
If you go: 10 a.m. (select days) Friday, April 29 through Friday, May 6. Arizona Broadway Theatre, 7701 W. Paradise Lane, Peoria. $18.50; $15.50 children, group discounts available. 623-776-8400, azbroadway.org
