"Rugrats - A Live Adventure!"

Rugrats week continues as the live show takes the stage beginning Thursday night at Huntington's Keith Albee Performing Arts Center.

My pal Dave Lavender has this awesome story in today's Herald-Dispatch:

Aaron and Kim Magner and their kids are settling in for a nice, peaceful weekend of watching Rugrats.

OK, so there might not be anything peaceful and quiet about the joyously rowdy Nickelodeon TV show, and the Magner's three kids, Carlee, Kennedy and Kylie, are not just watching the popular animated kids show, they are bringing it to life.

The girls are just a small part of a cast of 67 children starring in First Stage Theatre's production of Rugrats - A Live Adventure at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, March 17-20, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 19-20, at the Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center. Reserved tickets are $15 and $12 for children 12 and younger. General admission balcony tickets are $10.

Corporate tickets are $25 per person with special seating in the orchestra pit.

Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster and Marshall Artist Series box office by calling 304-696-6656.

About The Show

For those who haven't seen the TV show, or Rugrats: The Movie, the 1998 film that was the first non-Disney animated movie to gross more than $100 million, the show is all about life from a baby's point of view.

Whenever adults are around, the Rugrats act like real babies, but when they're alone they drop their witless pose and talk to each other with the vocabulary of 5-year-olds.

The Rugrats are Tommy Pickles, the 1-year-old hero (played by Salem Carlton) and his friends, Chuckie (Maggie Donahoe), Phil (Griffin Conaty) and Lil Deville (Rileigh Smirl), Susie Carmichael (Bailey Sanders) and his cousin Angelica (Elizabeth Schmitz).

In Nickelodeon's live theatrical production, the Rugrats, in their usual offbeat fashion, turn a typical rainy afternoon into an adventure of the imagination. When Chuckie laments that the world is becoming too scary, Tommy decides to do something about it and creates the People-ator, which makes inanimate objects come alive. Tommy's plan quickly backfires when Angelica takes his invention. As the Rugrats travel over oceans and battle Reptar to keep Angelica from using the People-ator for her own purposes, Chuckie realizes that the world no longer seems as scary -- not because Tommy changed the world, but because Chuckie has found that he can survive scary things through his own courage and the help of his 'bestest' friends.

Bringing TV to Life

Known for breathing stage life into everything from children's books in Seussical, and comic strips such as Peanuts in Peanutsapalooza to movies like Disney's High School Musical, First Stage is tackling it's first interactive kid's TV show on stage.

"This was a real challenge," said director Mary Smirl, who is directing the show with her husband and fellow theater veteran, Tommy Smirl. "We've done Cats and Into the Woods and a lot of other fun and difficult stuff but this one presents a totally different challenge. There is no fourth wall, and the fact that kids may be yelling in the audience and you're keeping them engaged while staying in character and doing your lines has been crazy."

Not unlike seeing one of the traveling kids' stage shows like Blue's Clues or Sesame Street Live, the interactivity of Rugrats has the actors constantly talking with the audience, whether they're asking if this is Huntington, W.Va. (where the Pickles family has just moved) or asking questions about their favorite dinosaur, Reptar.

"They lead the kids and that has been fun because that has been a really clever thing because you can't hide beneath the character you create" Smirl said. "You create this character and shove it out there."

Not For Kids Only

Mary Smirl said folks of all ages will connect with the show - even adults who might see themselves a bit in the Rugrats.

"Tommy Pickles is very thoughtful, and Chuckie is the scared little nerd, and Phil and Lil are the hi-jinks," Smirl said. "That's sort of like life because no matter how teeny you are you put a group of human beings together and someone shakes out to be the nerd and someone the thoughtful, logical one and some creating hi-jinks. We're no different."

Utilizing everything from rap music in the opening number, "Mover's Rap," to some James-Brown-esque R&B in the song, "Let Your Light Shine," "Rugrats" dances home a good message about facing your fears and being a good friend and being able to lean on your friends too.

Smirl said musical director Lara Donahoe and choreographer Tiffany Carroll have a lot of fun in the production especially on such numbers as "Let Your Light Shine," during which the flashlight princess Kate Colclough leads her lit-up troupe of 20 flashlight dancers on the stage at the Keith.

Smirl said one of the cool things was that once they got the script they had the freedom to add some things to it, like making the movers do an American Idol-esque judges scene where they're commenting on the babies.

"We were able to run with it and make it as big and as ridiculously over the top as we wanted to," Smirl said.

All Aboard

Speaking of big and over the top, First Stage has also got a song-slamming pre-show with 57 kids (ages 4 to 18). Jimmy Neutron leads The Big Surprise Pre-Show cast that features Spongebob, Dora The Explorer, Blue's Clues and Fairly Odd Parents through a series of exciting and surprising adventures.

Kim Magner said that is one of the things she loves about First Stage, which starts its 22nd season in the fall, that everyone in a family can participate and that they find a role for everyone.

"I love it because it gives them that confidence and it's not just on stage," Magner said. "A family can get involved in making costumes or doing tech or doing sound."

Smirl said for the pre-show they've got all of the inanimate objects from the show's played by little kids - everything from Dora's backpack (played by Taranee Karimpour) to a bar of slippery soap (played by Ethan Lovejoy).

"It's kind of a little warm-up and we've got a couple of 4-year-olds who have just got up on stage and it's been amazing how they've learned the choreography and they've been a delight," Smirl said.

Chad Lovejoy, the father of Ethan, who is 5, and Luke, a 7-year-old playing a Mr. Salt in the pre-show, said originally Ethan didn't have a speaking part but when he found out his brother did, he asked for a bigger role.

'"He went up to Tommy Smirl and said I need a speaking part," Chad Lovejoy said laughing.

Coming Back to the Keith-Albee

The coolest thing for parents and the kids alike is for First Stage to put the one-weekend-only show on at the Keith-Albee, home to the Marshall Artists Series and the Huntington Symphony Orchestra.

Penny Watkins, executive director of the Artists Series, and who has a daughter in the show, said one of the hopes for the non-profit theater is that it would not only be used to house national tours but to also be open for a wide array of community productions.

This is the first time First Stage has been back in the building since they put on High School Musical in November 2007.

Lovejoy said everyone's excited to be performing in the grand ornate movie palace that was built in 1928 during the heyday of vaudeville and silent movies.

"Everyone's so excited," Lovejoy said. "I mean how cool is it to be on that stage? It's the coolest thing in the world."

If you go

WHAT: First Stage Theatre presents Rugrats - A Live Adventure. A cast of 67 brings to life the Nickelodeon classic hit animated series about life from a baby's point of view.

WHERE: Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, 925 4th Ave., Huntington

WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, March 17-20, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 19-20.

HOW MUCH: Reserved tickets are $15 and $12 for children 12 and under. General admission balcony tickets are $10.

Corporate tickets are $25 per person with special seating in the orchestra pit.

GET TIX: Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster and Marshall Artist Series box office by calling 304-696-6656.

CONTACT FIRST STAGE: For more info go online at www.firststagetheatre.org or call 304-416-KIDS.

WHAT ELSE: Jimmy Neutron leads The Big Surprise Pre-Show cast that features Spongebob, Dora The Explorer, Blue's Clues and Fairly Odd Parents through a series of exciting and surprising adventures.

BEHIND THE SCENES: The show's directors are Mary and Tommy Smirl. Musical Director is Lara Donahoe. Choreographer is Tiffany Carroll. The show's producers are Leslie Comer-Porter and Elaine Young.

ABOUT FIRST STAGE: Based in Huntington, the First Stage Theatre Company is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing an educational, developmental experience for young people through the performing arts.

ON DECK AT FIRST STAGE: First Stage has announced its lineup for its 22nd season, which begins in the Fall of 2011. The children's theatre will present three shows, including two musicals and a non-musical.

The season begins with Schoolhouse Rock Live! The musical is based on the classic animated series originally presented on ABC-TV in the '70s and '80s. Loaded with memorable songs, the show teaches facts about history, grammar, math, science and politics using clever, tuneful songs. The show will be directed by Amy Browning.

The second show for the season is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. That play tells the story of a Christmas pageant that must cope with a crowd of inventively awful kids. When the two collide, the result is mayhem - and a lot of fun! The show will be staged in Winter 2011 and it will be directed by Justin McElroy.

The third show of the season is Seussical, a fantastic musical based on the books created by Dr. Seuss. It includes many of his most famous characters, including The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz and a boy named Jojo. The show will be presented in Spring 2012 and will be directed by Mary Smirl.

ON THE WEB: www.firststagetheatre.org.