Madhuri Shekar once described the Alliance Theatre as her own personal Disneyland. “I absolutely love working at the Alliance,” said the 2014 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition winner (In Love and Warcraft). “This place has set the standard for me, shown me how I want to work with people, and shown me how things should be done, especially with a new play production.”
This summer’s production of The Incredible Book Eating Boy, adapted from the award-winning children’s book by author Oliver Jeffers, marks Shekar’s fourth production at the Alliance and her first time doing a musical.
When she was approached to write The Incredible Book Eating Boy, Shekar didn’t hesitate. While her schedule was “getting full,” doing another show at the Alliance, and it being a children’s play, felt like the kind of soul-feeding opportunity she needed.
“The book is a really charming and beautifully written picture book about a boy named Henry who loves books, but doesn’t enjoy reading them,” she said. “Henry just wants to be one of the smart kids and doesn’t want to be left behind. Which is what leads him to the discovery that if he eats them, he can absorb them and be one of the smart kids.”
Henry’s story isn’t all that different from other kids. At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, virtual learning exacerbated many of the learning challenges facing our young learners. Children struggle to find the joy Shekar said she had for reading when she was young.
“As we were developing the story, we spoke to a special education reading coach,” Shekar said. “She shared with us how her son was not interested in reading at all before discovering Pokémon cards. There are all sorts of debates on the best way to teach [kids]. Many are left behind, but what’s most important is meeting them where they are.”
Christian Magby, the musical’s composer and orchestrator, found himself identifying with Henry as they worked on developing the production.
“I wasn’t as young as Henry, but there was a time during my childhood where I felt l wasn’t progressing through at the same pace as some of my peers,” Magby said. “I was trying to find the best ways to learn and keep up. It’s kind of like when our parents tell us we need to eat our vegetables or clean our rooms. We do it because we are told to, but we don’t exactly understand the importance. That is where Henry is coming from.”
“We don’t always understand the why and because we aren’t getting it and no one is breaking it down for us in an accessible way, we have to take drastic measures,” said Magby. “For Henry, that meant book eating to keep up.”
Christian Albright, the musical’s lyricist, says that “understanding that there are different ways of learning” is at the heart of it.
“What we really hope for audiences, both adult and child, is to realize that learning does not have to be scary and that every child learns at their own pace and speed,” Albright said. “There is power in the imagination. Everything begins with the imagination.”
If the feedback received during the February workshop is any indication, the production team – which represents some of the best Atlanta talent – is on the right path.
As the show started, Magby said the kids couldn’t contain themselves.
“The first song started, and they were swaying and moving about. It was immediate!” Magby said. “During the talkback after the workshop, they talked about all of their favorite parts. They reiterated everything, from beginning to end. We had no idea it would work so well.”
“Children are unpredictable,” said Albright. “Sometimes you don’t know what they will really like. Sometimes you aren’t sure if they will get the joke or the message, and you don’t want to dumb anything down.”
Albright says that they “did a lot of research. Chris Moses [the Alliance’s Director of Education, plus the show’s Line Producer] did a lot of work of getting resources from area schools so we would have an idea of what they are learning in their classrooms. It was so enormously gratifying to realize what we created related to them.”
Having some of the best Atlanta talent involved also makes the production special for Shekar. In addition to Magby and Albright both being Atlanta natives, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Jamil Jude will direct.
“This is a completely local cast,” Shekar said. “We are so lucky, and it feels great. The songs are fantastic. They will be earworms that you won’t be able to get out of your head. Christian and Christian are so talented. And with this being their first major production and the Alliance being their first big break like it was for me, is all exciting. It’s really exciting for people to get introduced to their work.”
