Archive: Arts & Entertainment

The beloved story of the ugly duckling who is really a swan comes alive with great music, clever costumes, and plenty of laughs in Running to Places’ production of the musical Honk!, May 24-25 at the State Theatre of Ithaca. In the midst of its hilarity Honk! is also deeply moving, treating audiences of all ages to an intimate journey of transformation.

Honk! follows Ugly (Felix Fernandez-Penny), who is rejected for his odd, gawky looks by his father Drake (Michael Sloan) and everyone else—except his mother Ida (Maddie Vandenberg), who sees Ugly only with love. Rejected, Ugly is lured away by a hungry, “friendly” Cat (Matthew Skrovan), and becomes lost when he narrowly escapes being Cat’s next meal.

Lost, Ugly has a rollicking and harrowing journey that leads him to discover not only his true beauty and glorious destiny, but also love and acceptance in all its forms.  Characters who help him on his emotional and physical journey include a hen named Lowbutt (Lisa Podulka), a housecat named Queenie (Elisheva Glaser), a flock of geese led by Greyleg (Noah Elman) and Dot (Sophia Tantillo), and a Bullfrog (Tommy Strawderman), who shares an important message of accepting ourselves, “warts and all,” with a chorus of dancing frogs.

“The show is about community and caring,” says Emily Loewus, choreographer for the production. “It’s a really warm musical theater experience that shows us just because people are different it doesn’t mean they’re wrong.”


Honk! swept London the same year Lion King swept the U.S., winning multiple awards—“the equivalent of sweeping the Tony’s in the United States,” explains Gail Belokur, Co-Artistic Director for R2P.

This is R2P’s second time producing Honk! The first production was wildly popular with kids of all ages, but the main reason R2P chose to do the show again is because of its strong themes, including acceptance, unconditional love, and embracing individual uniqueness, says Belokur.

“We believe strongly in teaching tolerance and respect for each other. In this production we’re emphasizing that there’s a change of heart about Ugly even before he transforms into a swan,” she says.

Alexander Woodward, scenic designer, also designed R2P’s first Honk. He’ll be coming in from New York City to work on the production, as will costume designer Sarah Bertolozzi, who served in the same role for R2P’s acclaimed production of Hairspray, and R2P’s resident designer Tyler M. Perry, who serves as lighting designer for this production. The artistic team is rounded out by Jeff Cox, a Cornell graduate student, as music director.

Instead of full animal costumes, the emphasis will be on a “personified version” of the characters, with the actors walking and talking like the animal. This approach helps the audience relate to the themes in this classic children’s story. 

“The actors have had a great time playing around with how the animals move,” says Belokur. “The audience is in for a treat.”

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