{"id":46395,"date":"2025-04-11T01:48:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T08:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=46395"},"modified":"2025-04-10T14:40:45","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T21:40:45","slug":"carousel-stages-stuart-little","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/04\/11\/carousel-stages-stuart-little\/","title":{"rendered":"Carousel stages Stuart Little"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen Mrs. Frederick C. Little\u2019s second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse. The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way. He was only about two inches high; and he had a mouse\u2019s sharp nose, a mouse\u2019s tail, a mouse\u2019s whiskers, and the pleasant, shy manner of a mouse. Before he was many days old, he was not only looking like a mouse but acting like one, too \u2013 wearing a grey hat and carrying a small cane. Mr. and Mrs. Little named him Stuart, and Mr. Little made him a tiny bed out of four clothespins and a cigarette box.\u201d<\/p>\n

So begins EB White\u2019s classic children\u2019s story Stuart Little<\/i>, which was published 75 years ago. To celebrate the anniversary, Carousel Theatre for Young People is presenting the play Stuart Little<\/i>, which was adapted from White\u2019s book by\u00a0Joseph Robinette. Jewish community members Advah Soudack and Stephen Aberle are part of the production, directed by Carousel Theatre artistic and managing director\u00a0Jennica Grienke, at Waterfront Theatre April 23-May 11.<\/p>\n

Soudack and Aberle take on multiple roles, including as Stuart\u2019s parents. Castmates Melanie Yeats and Megan Zong also play several parts, while Katrina Teitz plays the title role.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Advah Soudack in a table read of Stuart Little<\/em>, which will be presented by Carousel Theatre for Young People at Waterfront Theatre April 23-May 11. (photo by Kezi Jacob)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was so excited when Jennica called me to offer me the role of Mrs. Little,\u201d Soudack told the Independent<\/i>. \u201cI knew being part of Stuart Little would be wonderful and the fact that music was being added to the story made me even more jazzed! I love being part of theatre for young audiences, as I think it is so important for children to get the chance to witness and experience live theatre. I have very fond memories from the theatre productions I saw as a child and I know they were part of what inspired me to be an actor myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved the book when I read it as a child, and the approach taken by this production sounded like fun,\u201d said Aberle of why he wanted to be a part of it. \u201cI have a long history with Carousel, going back to the \u201980s and including many years both touring to schools throughout BC and performing at the Waterfront, so it\u2019ll be fulfilling to come back and perform here with the company again. I\u2019ve also had the pleasure of working with director Jennica Grienke in the past, and I\u2019m looking forward to renewing that connection. Finally: it\u2019s work! And I love to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aberle has performed in Carousel\u2019s Scrooge<\/i>, Macbeth<\/i>, Dream Castles<\/i>, The Taming of the Shrew<\/i> and other productions over the years. Soudack was in The House at Pooh Corner<\/i>, directed by Kim Selody, in 2020. \u201cUnfortunately, COVID shut us down, so we didn\u2019t get the chance to finish our run with Carousel, nor did we get to remount with Presentation House,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In preparation for the play, Soudack re-read Stuart Little<\/i>, a book she read as a child \u2013 \u201cand I remember loving it and putting all this effort into a very detailed title page for a book report I wrote \u2026 putting a lot of effort into drawing Stuart Little and trying to get him just right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only did Aberle read the book \u2013 \u201cand Charlotte\u2019s We<\/i>b, another favourite by the same author\u201d \u2013 but he read it \u201ca number of times and loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting,\u201d he said, \u201cto re-read it now with grown-up eyes and see things I\u2019d forgotten: Stuart\u2019s pluck, and his enduring quest to reconnect with his bird-friend Margalo, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Stephen Aberle in a table read of Stuart Little. (photo by Kezi Jacob)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Aberle, the enduring messages include: \u201cDon\u2019t give up on your dreams \u2013 and don\u2019t pout and sulk when things don\u2019t quite go the way you\u2019d planned! Don\u2019t be a pushover, and don\u2019t be a jerk either. It\u2019s OK to be different. It\u2019s OK to love who you love. Everyone \u2013 including animals, both human and non-human \u2013 matters, deserves respect and has their part to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that the relevance of the story in today\u2019s world is to not fear differences in one another and to not judge each other by our appearance or stature,\u201d said Soudack.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe part of the story that I particularly like is how everyone accepts Stuart without judgment or fear,\u201d she said. \u201cHis parents love him for who he is and everyone he encounters takes him at face value, shows him respect and treats him like an equal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aberle\u2019s favourite part is Stuart driving off into the north, searching for his love, Margalo.<\/p>\n

Rehearsals hadn\u2019t started when the Independent <\/i>spoke with Aberle and Soudack, so they couldn\u2019t say exactly what playing more than one part would be like, but they explained their process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI usually approach playing different roles by working with different character bodies and vocal placement. I like to work off of a first hit that I get from reading the script and various characters and build from there. Some of the roles we get to play are animals, so that will be fun!\u201d said Soudack.<\/p>\n

Aberle said \u201cone of the most interesting things about playing several characters is finding the characteristics that distinguish them so that one can step quickly and surely into their shoes \u2013 or, in some cases, paws. Vocal qualities, gestures, mannerisms, all that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither actor approaches a performance for younger audiences differently than they do other shows, though both pointed to some differences.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren\u2019s theatre is usually quite playful and energetic and requires a different way of storytelling,\u201d said Soudack, \u201cso I keep that all in mind when I start my prep and enter the rehearsal hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYounger audiences can sometimes be more upfront in their responses, which can teach everyone \u2013 actors, directors, playwrights, everyone \u2013 a lot,\u201d said Aberle. \u201cBack in the day, when shoemakers moved from laces to Velcro for young people\u2019s footwear, we used to talk about discovering the \u2018Velcro moments\u2019 \u2013 when the youngest audience members, sitting cross-legged in the front row on the school gym floor, would start to play with the Velcro on their shoes, peeling and re-fastening it, and the sound would fill the air. Usually, these were \u2018author\u2019s message\u2019 moments \u2013 when the script stopped being the story of the interplay between the characters and started becoming a moral. Young audiences can smell a moral approaching from a mile away, and they have little patience for it. (That\u2019s probably true for older audiences as well, but they\u2019ve grown better at hiding it.)\u201d<\/p>\n

For tickets (from $19) to Stuart Little<\/i>, visit carouseltheatre.ca<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen Mrs. Frederick C. Little\u2019s second son arrived, everybody noticed that he was not much bigger than a mouse. The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way. He was only about two inches high; and he had a mouse\u2019s sharp nose, a mouse\u2019s tail, a mouse\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[6891,2586,1555,23956,6208],"class_list":["post-46395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-advah-soudack","tag-carousel-theatre-for-young-people","tag-stephen-aberle","tag-stuart-little","tag-theatre"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}