Video: Anika Larsen is Advocating for a Better Tomorrow with THE POCKET PARK KIDS

New York City Children’s Theater is now presenting the world premiere of The Pocket Park Kids, the story of neighborhood kids coming together to save a neglected city park. With original music, puppetry, and an inspiring message about sustainability, the play highlights how "small people can get big things done." The production is inspired by the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainability, encouraging audiences to embrace environmental stewardship and community action. 

The piece is written by Tony Award-nominated actor and climate advocate Anika Larsen and award-winning writer Orlando Bishop and directed by Larsen. 

"Over the past couple of years, I’ve become a passionate advocate for sustainable practices in theater and beyond," she explained. "The UN Global Goals for Sustainability provide an elegant framework for understanding the world’s problems and how all of us have the power to help solve them, so I was excited to incorporate them into a play for New York City Children’s Theater. It’s been thrilling to see the talented creative team of The Pocket Park Kids embrace the challenge of making this production joyfully sustainable with every choice we make."

Larsen is an actor, singer, director, writer, teacher and climate advocate who has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in national tours and regionally. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her role as Cynthia Weil in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and she also appeared on Broadway in Almost Famous, Avenue Q, Xanadu, All Shook Up and Rent. Anika wrote and performed in a musical about her childhood growing up in Cambridge, MA with nine brothers and sisters from different races and countries; she released an album of lullabies for all ages called Sing You to Sleep; and she gigs with her trumpet-playing husband in the Larsen Maxwell Quintet.