Review: DRAGONS LOVE TACOS at Arkansas Museum Of Fine Arts

The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E 9th St, in Little Rock, is a beautiful facility. It is huge! There is so much space with so much potential and located on land once owned by the Quapaw nation. According to their website arkmfa.org, The Museum’s historic 1937 Art Deco façade is returned to its original role as the building’s north entrance. The central addition, with its organic curves and pleated roof, creates a complementary, park-side entrance at the south and establishes a light-filled, connective space that intuitively guides guests into AMFA’s Harriet and Warren Stephens Galleries, Windgate Art School, Performing Arts Theater, Cultural Living Room, Museum Store, and restaurant. Their goal is to be inclusive for all Arkansans who wish to experience the arts, whether it is visual arts, performing arts, and/or the classes that they offer.  

For this trip I was treated to the Children’s Theatre production of DRAGONS LOVE TACOS, which is based on the very popular #1 New York Times bestseller that was written by Adam Rubin and illustrated by Daniel Salmieri. Based on this book, the play, written by Ernie Nolan with music by Chris Laporte, is about a Boy (Keith Harper), who is having issues with his homework. When his mother tells him to take a break, she leaves him alone with his dog Leroy (Brandon Nichols), and they watch TV. While flipping through channels, they stop when a Man in Suit (Quinn Gasaway) starts talking to them through the TV and then appears at their house. Then, this man starts talking about dragons who like to eat tacos and introduces them one by one-Red Dragon (Brian Earles), Blue Dragon (Micha Newell), White Dragon (Katie Greer) and Yellow Dragon (Reese Hinton). The Man in Suit tells them that to make friends, feed them tacos, but they can’t be spicy. What happens when they eat spicy foods? Go to the show to find out.  

I love children’s shows. Like a lot of theatre folks, I too was raised on programming aimed at the younger set, so I understand the value in these productions. As an adult, I’m ok with going to shows specifically for the younger patrons, but I love it when there is humor that their chaperones can enjoy.  

This show had so many of my favorite performers, so I knew it was going to be great. The whole ensemble embraced the youthful silliness that made everyone laugh. Even with so few lines, minus Gasaway and his shenanigans, they allowed the noises and the physical moves speak for themselves. You knew what they were saying even though they weren’t really using their words. And there was so much dancing! For an added bonus, there were Arkansas celebrities that made cameos on Boy’s TV- D.J. Williams (Moxy Clean Man) is a former Arkansas Razorback/Pro NFL player who currently co-hosts on KARK 4 Today; Mario Luna (Telenovela Character) hosts “Celebrating Arkansas: Holiday Traditions” on Arkansas PBS; and Ebony Mitchell (Telenovela Character) served as Miss Arkansas 2022 and is Director of External Affairs for the Arkansas Foodbank. It was a big colorful interactive taco party that had the children talking back to the actors, cheering on their favorite dragons, and laughing through the whole show. Fun was had by all. 

For this particular presentation (which was sold out), it was a Sensory Friendly show. They kept the loud noises, including the music, to a much lower level, and they had the lights partially on. If the kids needed to step away, they had a separate room that was tele streaming the show in real-time so they wouldn’t miss anything. For added instruction, there was a cast member on the side of the stage to hold up signs to indicate when there was going to be action or noises that may be alarming. During the March 16 show, Sandee Pinkstaff of Creative Descriptions was on hand to provide Audio Description for the low vision/no vision theatre goers. AMFA is truly striving to include everyone of all abilities, and Broadway World is beyond thrilled. We can’t wait to see what’s next.  

Prior to watching the show, Broadway World was able to talk with Chad Bradford-Director, Brandon Nichols-Leroy the Dog, Baleigh Almond-Stage Manager, and Micha Newell-Blue Dragon, about working on DRAGONS LOVE TACOS. 

BWW: So, what's it like working here?  

Micha: Fun. It’s very energetic. 

Baleigh: Yes, everyone's very passionate and professional. We all get along really well. We always have a good time. It's a great place to work. 

BWW: So, what is the difference between working in a children's theater versus an adult theater? Why this theater?  

Brandon: OK, well, there's multiple answers for that. For me personally, I grew up in this theater. It was my introduction to theater....the Arkansas Arts Center.  But as an adult, I find it extremely important because a lot of kids don't realize that there are things for them outside of YouTube Kids or things like that. There is this artform that's geared towards them, and it's also educational and entertaining. I feel like it’s an overlooked artform that is important not only for children, but for society as a whole.  

Baleigh: I’ve only worked in adult theaters. This is my first professional children’s theatre job, and I think for the adult shows, you have an audience that's already developed. They've already kind of have their mindset on certain things, and it's more important to bring out societal topics to address the issues that are going on in the world. In children's theater, I think it's more about helping them develop into functional, emotionally and intellectually healthy adults. 

BWW: Who's easier to capture- the children or the adults?  

Baleigh: I think children are easier to capture.  

Brandon: I don't know. Kids are more honest and judgmental.  

Baleigh: For sure! No filters. They will tell you exactly what they think.  

Brandon: I also think that’s the joy of it...is their honesty. 

Baleigh: Yeah, because then you know you are doing a good job. Adult audiences are more polite. If they don't like it, they'll still clap and sit quietly. With the children's audience, you know when things are working. They are so vocal.  

Brandon: But they love it regardless, and that’s a fun thing. They always make you feel good. However, I find it to be one of the hardest forms of theater in existence, because your energy level has to be at 125 the entire time.  

Chad: And the storytelling has to be so specific, very clear. You can't rely on them knowing what’s going on. You must be intentional about how you're presenting it.  

Micha: This is all new to me. This is my first kid’s show, so I'm just excited to see what happens. 

BWW: Ever? 

Micha: Yes. I mean, I've done shows in high school for kids, but that's at a different perspective rather than me being an adult and doing it for kids. 

BWW: So, what brought you here?  

Micha: Brian Earles, pretty much, he's helped me out in this field.  

Chad: Micah came to the audition and was amazing. She blew us away, so we were happy to snag her.  

BWW: What else do you do? 

Micha: I'm a dance teacher at Shuffles and Ballet II.  

Baleigh: This is a dance heavy show.  

Micha: Yes, it is. 

Chad: Lots of dancing. 

Baleigh: You must learn choreography quickly, which they all did.  

Micha: Yes. A lot of choreography, fast choreography. 

BWW: So, not to give anything away or anything, what do the dragons look like? Are you wearing the dragons, or holding the heads like at Chinese New Year?   

Chad: They're fully dragged out. They have headpieces, tails, wings, horns.  

Baleigh: Not like a Barney costume. They are more of a representation. Some have horns, some have wings. 

Chad: But you can still see their faces. So, it's not gonna be scary or anything. 

BWW: Ok, you were saying that you basically grew up here. Do you think that helped develop your interest in what you're doing now.  

Brandon: Oh yeah. The story I always tell about myself is that my grandmother brought me here when I was six to see Alexander's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and from that moment, I said ‘I don't know what this is, but I got to do it.’ So, I started out doing their summer camps called Summer Theater Academy. From there I did four shows as a child, and then grew up, came back and started teaching here and doing Mainstage shows. It’s a full circle moment, full circle.  

Chad: Yeah, one of the great assets about being here at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is that we are part of Wingate Art School. Brandon teaches musical theatre, and we teach improv. We're hoping to do some scenic painting and makeup stuff this summer. There's dance and all kinds of activities related to the performing arts in their school.  

BWW: What do you want your audience to take away from your production of DRAGONS LOVE TACOS?  

Baleigh: I want people to see that it’s a beautiful artform. I feel that schools are geared more towards the STEM academics, you know, math, science. But it's important to know that art is also very, very valuable to society. And yeah, I just hope that people enjoy it. We are almost full for all of our school shows already.   

BWW: How do the schools book a show? 

Chad: They can either book online through the website or call our guest services. They can set you up, and we do group discounts and things like that. 

BWW: What's the recommended age?  

Chad: Basically, four years old and up. We have students as young as kindergarten, but the kids are mostly in first and second grade for a lot of the school shows. Then, of course, we have families for our public shows, and it really is fun for any age.  

Brandon: It's a good mix of children's humor jokes for adults to understand. That's why I think this show in particular is so well crafted because everyone can enjoy it. It's hilarious.  

The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is supported in part by: 

• Dragons Love Tacos is supported by Dr. Loren Bartole, ‘Family Foot Care.’ 
• Children’s Theatre and Performing Arts programs are supported by The Shubert Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation. 
• The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is supported in part by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation; Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Board of Directors; Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Board of Trustees; Windgate Foundation; City of Little Rock; City of North Little Rock; and Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

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