Maggie Interviews Nina Meehan
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00:00Lila Lila Crocodile. Did you ever read that to your kids? I cannot tell you how
00:05many times I did and I even saved the book for my son for when he has children
00:10because it's that good. Well, now it's a musical. I know I'm so excited. February
00:1815th through March 16th at Colony Theatre in Burbank by Pasadena Playhouse.
00:23And today we are so lucky to grab Nina Meehan, who is the director, to tell us a
00:29little bit more about it. Thank you so much for making the time, Nina. Thank you
00:34so much for having me. We are so excited about this show and to bring it to the
00:39Colony Theatre Burbank produced by Pasadena Playhouse. I cannot wait. In a
00:43sentence or two or three, tell us the story for people who have not read it. So
00:48if you haven't read the books, the Prims, the Prim family, moves to New York City
00:53and moves into the house on East 88th Street and discover that there is a
00:59crocodile living in the bathtub. And the crocodile, in our version, does not talk
01:05but does sing. And through our story, Lyle, our singing crocodile, has wisdom to
01:13impart to the Prim family. And in the end, they all come out happier and more
01:20connected to each other, and Lyle becomes a member of their family. So it really is
01:24a story about connection and bringing people together and, you know, bringing
01:29crocodiles together, of course.
01:32I love the Lyle book so much, I can't tell you. So you even have some EGOT
01:36winners involved with this musical.
01:39Oh, we sure do. So Pasek and Paul are incredible composers. You know them from
01:45La La Land, The Greatest Showman, Dear Evan Hansen. And they are the head of the
01:50composing team that wrote the music for this show. So for this show, they
01:55originally had this team together to put together the music for a Lyle Lyle
02:00Crocodile movie that came out a few years ago. And so a couple of the songs in the
02:04show are from the movie. And then they wrote all new original songs that are
02:08just for this show. So this is a world premiere of, there's at least four or
02:14five songs in the show that have never been seen, never been heard in public
02:18before, and they are so good and so much fun. So we are just delighted to have
02:24Benj and Justin working on the show and their amazing team. And then we also have
02:29Tim McDonald and Sarah Wordsworth, who wrote the book. And it's one of those
02:34teams where everybody just sees the beauty and the heart of this story. So
02:38we're all working truly collaboratively to make sure that the imagination and
02:44charm of the original is being translated into a new medium for a new
02:49audience.
02:50I love it. And I love that adults will love it as much as children. I just know
02:54it. But especially at this time, children need something happy and upbeat to go to,
03:03especially in that area, between the fires in the Palisades and Altadena and
03:08Pasadena. So let's talk about the Pay It Forward ticket initiative, because this
03:13is crucial to get the word out.
03:17Absolutely. So Passing a Playhouse is the first day of rehearsal. Danny Feldman,
03:23artistic director, came in and said, you know, this is an incredibly difficult
03:27time for our community. And we just want to be able to give kids who have had
03:32who've lost their homes, who've lost their schools, who were displaced, we
03:36want to give them a moment of joy. We want to give them a moment to connect and
03:40have fun and laugh and sing and dance. So the Pasadena Playhouse has a Pay It
03:46Forward initiative where individuals can purchase their own tickets and then at
03:51the same time purchase tickets on behalf of families affected by the fires. And
03:58throughout the entire run of the show, three days a week, Pasadena Playhouse is
04:02bringing in young people from Pasadena, Pasadena Unified School District, as
04:06well as surrounding LA Unified Districts for free. So kids who have been,
04:13you know, kids were missing school, schools have been closed, you know, it's
04:17just been so hard on kids. And we just want to be able to give both classes and
04:22families a moment to enjoy live theater and watch a singing crocodile make
04:29people smile.
04:31Nina, where do they go to find out more about the Pay It Forward ticket
04:35initiative specifically?
04:37Everything is on the Pasadena Playhouse website. So you can do tickets there, you
04:41can do the Pay It Forward tickets, and then you can also get a hold of the
04:44Education Department if you have questions about the student matinees and
04:47how your students can get involved.
04:50Is that PasadenaPlayhouse.org?
04:52Oh, yes. Sorry. It's PasadenaPlayhouse.org.
04:55Okay, great. So La La La Crocodile, the musical happening February 15th through
05:00March 16th at the Colony Theater in Burbank through the Pasadena Playhouse.
05:05Nina Meehan, Director, thank you so much for joining us today. We so
05:10appreciate your time.
05:11Thank you so much. And you are so right. Everyone will enjoy the show doesn't
05:15matter if you're a kid, a teenager, an adult, a grandparent, come on by and
05:20enjoy.
05:21Absolutely.