The Story of Velveteen Rabbit: timeless family tale at VPA

The timeless story of “The Velveteen Rabbit” is vividly brought to life on the Valley Performing Arts stage. This lovely musical is the perfect light, cheery performance for the entire family to attend for the holidays. The cast is brimming full of talented children acting as various toys and rabbits. Older actors support these youthful actors, effectively working together to create an excellent performance. The play is definitely a “must-see” for audiences of all ages.

The Story of the Velveteen Rabbit covers the story of a stuffed velveteen rabbit given to a boy for Christmas. Both the boy and the toys initially reject the rabbit, as the rabbit is not unique or fancy. However, one toy, a skin horse, befriends the rabbit and encourages him, telling him that if a child really loves their toy, it will become real. This hope stays with the rabbit throughout its time in the nursery, but, as time passes, forces arise that threaten to destroy the rabbit. However, in this story, love is the overpowering force able to defeat all that oppose it.

Kelly Larson skillfully directs The Story of the Velveteen Rabbit. She designed the play to be family oriented, even trying to incorporate whole families as volunteers. This serves to tie the play together even more, creating a cohesive event. VPA veteran Sam Allred plays the boy, Andrew. As usual, Sam Allred does an excellent job portraying a youthful lead character, exhibiting finesse crucial for lead rolls. Warren Foster and Scott Allred play Skin Horse and Velveteen Rabbit, respectively. Both of these actors do a superb job, effectively embodying two of the important characters. Both the Rabbit and Toy Choruses are outstanding, consisting of 19 actors who serve well as the musical’s main groups of singers.

The play proceeds smoothly, with the actors performing without any notable hitches. The music and songs are nice, and the costumes are brilliant. The rabbit and tree costumes standout even among the already exceptional costumes as they are both cute and well put together. The only thing that could stand to be improved is the lighting, which should soon follow the example of everything else and join in contributing to a spectacular play.

The Story of the Velveteen Rabbit runs through December 21st, playing at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. on Sundays at the Fred and Sara Machentanz Theatre, 251 W. Swanson Avenue, in Wasilla. Tickets may be purchased online at www.valleypreformingarts.org or by calling 907-373-0195. They cost $20 for adults and $18 for children and seniors.