‘Pigeon’ in driver’s seat for Theatre Cedar Rapids youth show at Brucemore mansion

While it might not be a great idea to park a bus under a pigeon, it’s an even worse idea to let a pigeon drive a bus. Unless Theatre Cedar Rapids is steering that bus toward Brucemore’s outdoor stage.

“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!“ is this summer’s theater offering for young people — and their friends and families of all ages — revving up from July 5 to 21 in the outdoor amphitheater behind the mansion. It’s a place where adults get to act like kids onstage and kids get to be kids in an audience for an hour.

“The idea of getting up and moving is something that we encourage,” said director Mic Evans, 30, of Cedar Rapids. “If a kid needs to run around for a second, let him run around for a second on the lawn. It’s OK.”

Being outdoors just enhances the experience for preschool- and elementary-age viewers.

“This is a great opportunity to show our younger patrons that the theater is for them,” Evans said. “This is a great introduction to attending shows, and attending art in a way that is accessible to them and is at their level. But it’s also fun and bright and exciting, and in a brand-new location.”

So why can’t the Pigeon drive the bus? Because his wings and legs are just too short, of course. Which leads to another lesson for kids of all ages — and a reminder for the young-at-heart, as well.

“It's a story about finding out what the Pigeon is good at, and what he should be doing, based on who the Pigeon is, rather than trying to fit something that just doesn’t fit you as a person,” Evans said. “(It’s about) finding your identity and who you are, and leaning into that, and then supporting that with the community around you being supportive and wonderful and uplifting you into the thing that you should be doing.”

That’s a universal message Evans embraces.

“I think everyone needs it nowadays,” he said. “We all need to know that we’re all good at something, we’re all good at the things that we are built for and our hearts want to do. And it’s a matter of finding out where we fit best in our communities.”

Page to stage

It’s a message pumped up with song, dance, puppets, colorful trappings and energy galore, based on Mo Willems’ award-winning “Pigeon” picture books.

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Adding a bit of a twist, Pigeon is a puppet made by Jefferson High School drama director Joe Link and brought to life by Jenub Wan, 24, of Cedar Rapids.

Wan charmed audiences as the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz,” dancing through that 2023 TCR holiday show like he had no bones in his body. Brucemore audiences also saw him portray lemur King Julien in last summer’s production of “Madagascar.”

He came back for more because “Brucemore is just a beautiful place to perform,” he said. “There’s just a magic found in performing for kids. … The experience is just so much more novel for them, that you’re creating some core memories for them. I love knowing that I can participate in that.”

Pigeon’s official age is 2, so Wan gets to dig deep to find his inner toddler.

“If he wants things done, he wants it done his way,” Wan said. “He’s definitely a little snappy, lots of fun, and he’s really funny … and he definitely can get frustrated sometimes. The highs are high and the lows are low.

“You get to see a whole range in this production. He’s really excitable. He loves connecting with other characters on stage. It really has been a lot of fun to just explore the range of different emotions that the Pigeon has to experience.”

Wan also is looking forward to the moment where Pigeon gets to hop off the stage and interact with the audiences.

“It’s been great fun” during rehearsals, he said. “I can’t wait to have actual people out there.”

Whether it’s sunny and hot or drizzly and hot, energy and hydration are the keys to keeping the adults connecting to their roles and connecting with the kids.

“I definitely feel like with younger audiences, you really have to put a lot of energy into the performance and be clear about how you’re emoting and expressing with your body gestures,” Wan said. “They just have shorter attention spans, so we definitely want to keep as much life and energy in the scenes as we can. It’s all about being really animated … really focusing on connecting with the kids — talking to them as you’re telling this story.”

Wan not only has to keep the puppet animated, he has to keep himself animated as he expresses the Pigeon through movement, dialogue, song and dance.

“There’s this really interesting phenomenon that happens when you see an actor manipulate a puppet that close to their face, where all of their human emotions suddenly transpose on the puppet’s face,” Evans said. “We haven't figured out why the human brain does that.

“But Jenub is out there acting almost like he’s still as physical as he was in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ He’s still as expressive as he’s been in any other show. Just right now, he’s utilizing a puppet as well, to transfer that emotion through, which is just a really cool thing. In the human body, our brains will transport that emotion into the puppet, so it’s fun to watch. It’s like a new way for him to act, which is neat.”

For musical theater fans, director Evans likens this production to “Avenue Q” meets “Sesame Street,” in a very G-rated way.

“It has that ‘Sesame Street’ vibe, but you’re seeing an actor manipulate the puppet a la ‘Avenue Q.’ It kind of has that vibe to it,” Evans said. “I’ve been playing with the tagline of like, how do you make something ‘everyday’ like pigeons and public transportation fun and cute? We see buses all the time — how do we make that really cute and accessible and fun and exciting?

“So it kind of has that ‘Avenue Q’ big-city vibe, but then it’s pared down to just fun and color and whimsy and excitement. And it’s all seen from the eyes of a 2-year-old pigeon.”

As TCR’s education director, Evans is getting an education, too, by directing this show.

“The most playful kind of education,” he said. “I get to enjoy working on a show that is built for families of all ages and all kinds of families. It’s a colorful explosion of a show, so it’s one of those things that has been fun to play with.”

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com