Not aimed at the typical-aged theater audience, “Piggy Nation: The Musical!” has a bouncy score and just enough bodily function jokes to keep the kid-crowd for which it’s intended. As an added bonus for parents, this heartwarming children’s musical offers some pretty good lessons.
Written by Richard Rosser and based on his award-winning children’s book, the show illustrates what happens when little piglet Sammy Hamhock spends a day with his dad on Piggy Patrol. Papa’s mission is to wander through the neighborhood giving out tickets to animals engaging in piggy behavior — the rude and the thoughtless.
Whether it’s a baboon who lets his pet porcupine poop in somebody’s flower bed, a lizard who litters or an obnoxious ox talking too loudly on his cellphone, Sammy’s dad is on the case — even as he thoughtlessly engages in piggy behavior himself in the process.
Meanwhile, little Sammy makes a new friend, Lacey, a leopard who loves blowing bubbles in the park. She’s the daughter of Rudella Leopard, or, as she haughtily pronounces it in French, Leppard — with an accent on the second syllable — who objects to her daughter associating with a mere piggy.
Among the songs kids 3 to 10 will enjoy in the score composed by Alec Wells are “Stop That Noise,” “You Gotta Look Around” and the rap-inflected “Clean Freak.”
And grown-ups get a couple of bones, as well, such as a gag that has a rabbit complaining about missing his colonoscopy appointment.
With its adult cast going through their animal-like paces with admirable commitment, the show directed by Kim Moore is a strictly no-frills affair, its scenery consisting mainly of cloth backdrops and, its costumes, animal-suggestive head-wear. But it gets its important message across in fun and lively fashion, and if it makes your tykes think twice before engaging in piggy behavior you’ll be glad you took them.