Alessandra Dimitriou, Enrico Verta and Arthur Berges spoke to RECREIO about the new show ‘Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical’; check it out!
From October 5th to November 24th, the VillaLobos Theater, in São Paulo, presents the show “Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical”, which brings another exciting adventure of Pooh, his friends and the little boy Christopher Robin in the Hundred Acre Wood .
Created by internationally acclaimed director, producer and writer, Jonathan Rockefellerin collaboration with Disney, the musical features the use of impressive life-size puppets, made with soft materials and manipulated by artists who are experts in bringing the characters to life, both through voice and movement.
In Brazil, the piece is under the artistic direction of Alessandra Dimitriouwho shared with RECREIO a little about the process of adapting the show for the new generation of children. According to the director, despite Pooh being a character that marked an older generation of children, the show has reached current children and has also fallen in love with the show:
For sure! I observe children interested in the story, enchanted by the characters and engrossed in the adventures that take place throughout the play. The show, as it has a rhythm designed for early childhood, conveys a sensation of analogue time, essential for all of us, but especially for the target audience of this work. So, even if just for 60 minutes, families have the opportunity to connect with classic Disney characters and the innocence and purity of Winnie the Pooh. Parents and grandparents introduce new generations to characters that were part of their childhood, while our children discover a sweet universe of stories.”
Furthermore, Alessandra also says that the national cast was chosen together with Rockefeller Studios and Disney, highlighting the commitment of the artists in the process of handling the puppets:
Our talented cast auditioned and was approved by Disney and Rockefeller Studios, prioritizing the profile of the characters and creator Jonathan Rockefeller’s ideal for this show. Although previous experience with puppet manipulation is
absolutely welcome, it was not an eliminative factor. It was a great pleasure to direct this persistent and available cast in the process of discovering their characters and the idyllic world that surrounds the entire story of Winnie the Pooh.”
The actors Enrico Verta and Arthur Bergeswho played Tigger and Pooh in the play, also shared their personal experiences manipulating the puppets during the short season, as well as opening up about their own relationships with the characters:
Enrico: I have a really cool relationship with the Winnie the Pooh characters, because it was a cartoon that my mother put on for me to watch on VHS at the time. I grew up watching it, I always felt that the cartoon was very welcoming and cozy, and that feeling remained for the rest of my life. Today, every time I see something related to Winnie the Pooh, many fond and pleasant memories come to mind.
Regarding the puppets, this is the fifth show in which I have performed puppet manipulation. But, about this specific manipulation, where we use a structure to hold the doll against our body, I had never done it before. It’s a challenge, because (Tigrão) is a heavy puppet and also has a very specific voice, where the lines need to be delivered very quickly, so this makes me leave the scene dripping with sweat (laughs).
Arthur: The Winnie the Pooh characters are really very famous, I would even say that they are pop culture icons all over the world, not just in Brazil. I wasn’t a child who watched Winnie the Pooh very often, but I watched everything because I always liked animation (…) One of the things that most piqued my curiosity during the study of the character was how Pooh and the others Class animals were present in my daily life, because I remember seeing many girls at school using character products. To this day, as an adult, I still see a lot of his presence, as well as noticing the sweetness and kindness of the drawing and the way it brings back memories of another time for children, the opposite of the frantic side that we often see in most animations. .
Learning how to manipulate the Pooh puppet was one of the biggest challenges of my life, because the process is very complex and difficult (…) It took me around two or three weeks to really manage to manipulate the character and interpret him, because in the At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, since I was just trying to ‘survive’ the manipulation. It’s still difficult, but after many rehearsals and exercises, today I can master and manipulate it in a full and conscious way. Regarding the voice, I tried to bring it up by referencing the way Brazilians usually hear it in dubbing, believing that identification would be greater due to this vocal characteristic.
The show “Winnie the Pooh: The New Musical” also has an Instagram profile, where it publishes several takes of the performances; Check out one of them below!
In addition to North America and Brazil, the show has also toured several other countries, including the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Japan. Tickets are available on the Sympla website, with performances scheduled on Saturdays and Sundays.
Read also: Winnie the Pooh: Discover the story behind one of the most famous teddy bears in the world
Source: Recreio
