July 14, 2004

Everyone knows about Pinocchio, the puppet who longed to become a boy and whose nose grew whenever he bent the truth. Few, however, know what happened to the lovable marionette after his wish for humanity was granted.

Thanks to the University of Houston’s Children’s Theatre Festival, audiences can see firsthand what became of the famed character in “The New Adventures of Pinocchio.”

The play is the final production in this year’s festival and runs July 16 – Aug. 1 in the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre.

Written and directed by Sidney Berger, director of UH’s School of Theatre, “The New Adventures of Pinocchio” places the puppet-turned-boy in an adventure in which he travels to the future, foils kidnappers and learns valuable lessons about life.

“What the play tries to teach is being true to one’s self,” Berger said. “It essentially tells children not to pretend to be someone they’re not to achieve gains that have no real value.”

Collaborating with Berger on this production is award-winning lyricist and composer Jerry Bock, who also scored the Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Both Berger and Bock wanted “The New Adventures of Pinocchio” to have a contemporary feel. By adding a rap number to the mix and placing the former puppet in the 21st century, they modernized the classic fairy tale yet they have attempted to retain all of the charm and innocence that has made Pinocchio such an endearing figure in children’s literature.

“The major challenge is keeping Pinocchio who he is in the contemporary story so that the character is still consistent with who he was in the classic story,” Berger said. “We had to ask ourselves how the classic Pinocchio would respond to contemporary situations. We didn’t want to lose this classic character and make him any different than he was in the original story.”

Mike Emery
memery@central.uh.edu