Review: CTC's CHARLOTTE'S WEB Is A Delight For The Whole Family

Everyone knows the tale of Fern, Wilbur and Charlotte from the beloved classic children's book Charlotte's Web by E.B. White and now for the first time you can see them come to life on the Children's Theatre Company stage. Brilliantly directed by Greg Banks, this production is fun and entertaining whether you have kids or not. He did an amazing job bringing our favorite barnyard story to life...from the acting, scenery, lighting and costumes this show shines as a whole.

Ethan Davenport portrays everyone's favorite pig, Wilbur, and does an excellent job. I found myself forgetting he was an actor portraying a pig with his unbelievably realistic squeals and oinks. Audrey Anderson is exquisite as the Goose. She brings a lot of the laughs with her one liners and perfectly timed honks and hisses.

The scene stealer or rather show stealer belongs to CTC company member Reed Sigmund as Templeton the rat. The love to hate him or hate to love him character brings the laughs and the dialogue more aimed at the adult audience members. His portrayal as Templeton is spot on to how I have always pictured the character in the book.

Director Greg Banks and the rest of the creative and technical team designed a great way to help Joanna Harmon's portrayal of Charlotte look and feel like a real spider on stage. I have to admit I was a little worried how Charlotte would be portrayed...would she be an actor or an elaborately designed spider? But I love the harness rigged system they are using to make Charlotte "descend" from her web.

As usual CTC does a fantastic job putting together a production that not only appeals to the entire family, but also to those without children. I highly recommend taking the time to see this show before it closes on October 27.

For more information on Charlotte's Web or to purchase tickets visit the Children's Theatre Company website.

Photo credit: Dan Norman