ON STAGE
Doggone fun!
Review by Caleb Perez
Barbers Point Elementary School
Who let the dogs out? They are causing havoc everywhere, but while doing that, are making a pretty good play.
Honolulu Theatre for Youth's "Go, Dog. Go!" is a very funny musical, so all you dogs and puppies out there should come to Tenney Theatre and laugh your head off. The play is based on the book "Go, Dog. Go!" by P.D. Eastman.
'Go, Dog. Go!'
Presented by Honolulu Theatre for Youth
Place: Tenney Theatre, St. Andrew's Cathedral, 229 Queen Emma Square
Date and times: 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Saturdays through May 20
Tickets: $16; $8 children and seniors
Call: 839-9885 or visit htyweb.org
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If you have never read the book, you might wonder what is going on.
The dogs go in, they go out, they go up, they go down, they work, they play, they bark, ruff, whine, growl -- and they tap dance.
Not much story, but lots to watch.
Each dog has a different personality (not to mention a very limited attention span). The red dog is mad, the yellow one is sad, the green one is jumpy and the blue one is silly. The leader of the pack (says him) is the MC dog, who sort of narrates with phrases like: "Now it is day."
My favorite dog is Yellow Dog (Hermen Tesoro, Jr.) because of how well he can show that doggie ability to go from lonely to extremely happy in an instant. And my mom said Red Dog (BullDog) has superior growling skills.
My favorite part is when they played baseball and took the game into the crowd. Yellow Dog was able to react to whatever the audience threw at him. Literally. "Play, Dogs. Play!" (If you come to the show, be prepared for a ball to come flying at you. "In your face!" as Red Dog says.)
Joe Dog (the scenic, prop and costume designer) took the "dog" in "Go, Dog. Go!" very seriously. He decorated the walls with fake dog fur and put up signs that say things like: "If your nose is dry, please see a doctor immediately" or "Humans must be accompanied by a dog." It is fun to read the signs while waiting for the play to start.
His props are very clever, too, like the ladders and colored umbrellas that represent trees, and his cardboard-box cars.
Director Eric Johnson did a really good job. He kept everybody moving around and nobody crashed unless they meant to.
So, like I said before, all you dogs and puppies out there should come see this play. (But don't forget to read the book first.)
Caleb Perez, age 10, is a fourth-grader in Lowell Tsuchiyama's class at Barbers Point Elementary School.