Click, Clack, Moo

Illustration: Doreen Cronin

Doreen Cronin’s popular kids’ book Click, Clack, Moo leaps off the page and onto the stage this month. Theatreworks USA, the country’s largest nonprofit theater company for children, has recast the clever read-aloud as a 50-minute musical geared to youngsters ages four to nine. Tickets for the show are free.

Moo features a danceable country-pop score filled with farm-themed tunes, like “Mad Cows” and “Boiled Chickens.” A six-member adult cast performs the boisterous numbers and acts out Cronin’s plot: Three chilly cows refuse to be milked until Farmer Brown gives them electric blankets.

In the book, which was published in 2000, the cows spell out their demands using a typewriter (hence the title). But in an effort to better engage tech-savvy tots, director John Rando (Urinetown) has replaced the outmoded instrument with a laptop computer. The live show also introduces a new character—the farmer’s tween granddaughter, Jenny—and a fresh comedic treat. “We’ve added poop jokes,” confides lyricist Kevin Del Aguila with a wink. “Very sophisticated, classy poop jokes.”—Kay Boatner

Click, Clack, Moo plays Jul 21–Aug 28 at Lucille Lortel Theatre.

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• Review of Click, Clack, Moo
• Theater articles
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