Bay Area Children's Theatre Launches Musical Starring Everybody's Favorite Llama

"Llama Llama Live!", a new musical inspired by the bestselling Llama, Llama Red Pajama series of picture books by the late Anna Dewdney, opens Saturday, June 8, at Bay Area Children's Theatre (BACT) in Berkeley.

The show will be performed in Berkeley, Sunnyvale and San Francisco this summer, and will begin a tour of the United States and Canada in January 2020. ((See place, date, time information for Bay Area venues, below.))

The musical features Kris Anthony Williams, who recently played the effervescent Red Dot in BACT's "Press Here, the Musical," as the kindergarten-age Llama and Sheila Townsend, who played the Greek goddess Hestia in BACT's "Gold: the Midas Musical," as Llama's Mama.

Llama bursts into his bedroom looking frantically for his favorite red pajamas, with help from his toys. Mama comes upstairs, with his pajamas in the laundry basket, to ask about his day-his very first day at school-and put him to bed. But when she goes downstairs to do the million things that busy mothers have to do at the end of the day, Llama is too wiggly to fall asleep, and besides, he's thirsty. He howls for Mama to come back up, but she doesn't arrive. Will she ever return?

"What's amazing about the Llama Llama books," said Director Marty Johnson, "is that they are telling a story about a normal child who is going through scary moments about growing up and has to learn how to take care of himself in the simplest ways to feel safe, comfortable and become a little bit more independent. What we're doing with this musical is to bring to life some of those situations, as Llama learns that, if he's a bit anxious, he can calm down and not have a total mental breakdown at this very moment. Llama is already living in an imaginary world, but sometimes that scary shadow is just an old towel and a baseball bat left on the floor. We're just helping him deal with the choices he has made."

Award-winning playwright-composer-lyricist Austin Zumbro ("Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site the Musical") has written a panoply of clever tunes in a variety of styles to create a fun-filled, contemporary musical that expresses the imagination of childhood for both children and adults to enjoy, including a song about the history of sleepwear through the ages.

Families are invited to don their favorite pajamas and come to this original, world-premiere musical, ready to do the Bedtime Dance! Recommended for ages 3 and up.

TICKETS: $18 - $30. Box Office: www.bactheatre.org Or Call (510) 296-4433.