CLEVELAND — For the first time, Playhouse Square has self-produced a family show.
It is now playing to student audiences and will open to the public this weekend. But there’s another reason why this production is so significant for Cleveland’s not-for-profit performing arts center.
What does it mean to be real? For Clayten Yoder, it’s being on stage.
“So freeing,” Yoder said about his latest role on stage. “So freeing! I might get emotional. There are a lot of similarities between he and I.”
Yoder plays Velveteen in Velveteen, A New Musical: An uplifting, modern-day adaptation of the classic children’s story, the Velveteen Rabbit.
The stuffed bunny famously asks what it means to be real, which is uncovered through themes still relevant today.
“What do you hope people take from this performance,” News 5 Anchor Katie Ussin asked Yoder.
“That you are real,” he said. “That you are enough.”
A kid from rural Ohio following his dreams, Yoder said he hopes others feel inspired too and know that self-worth isn’t found online.
“So often, we get lost in that comparison and we go down a rabbit hole of one algorithm or another,” said Yoder, who is also an art teacher. “This is just pure, raw, realness. Understanding who you are. You are enough, and that you have to go through all the real things in life and experience those to create the building blocks that become who you are.”
For Playhouse Square, Velveteen is a dream that’s finally real.
“We think we’ve got something really special,” said Daniel Hahn, vice president of education at Playhouse Square.
He told Katie he’s been working to make this a reality for several years and it’s the first time Playhouse Square has self-produced a family show.
Katie asked why it hadn’t happened before. Hahn said it takes a long time to produce work. He said they wanted to do it right and do it well, and he feels it’s the right time and story for it all to come together.
“This beautiful 50-minute play with just toe-tapping, heartwarming songs, it’s going to bring it all home,” said Hahn about the journey to get here. “It’s going to be truly magical for Cleveland.”
Velveteen is also an all-Cleveland production. Everyone is local, both on stage and behind the scenes.
“It’s just thrilling,” said Hahn. “There’s a buzz in the air!”
CorLesia Smith, who plays Gran/Clover and does a lot of work at Karamu House, said Velveteen shows the breadth and depth of Northeast Ohio’s talent in the industry.
“It’s been magic,” she smiled.
Smith told Katie that she could not wait to see the magic on children’s faces in the audience.
“They bring a whole other level to how fun and magical the production is because they bridge that gap with the imagination, and just seeing them out there grooving- it’s beautiful,” she said.
Smith said her son has seen parts of the show and loves the music.
There are plenty of songs that are earworms and will have you singing them after you leave the theater.
“It’s surreal and it’s beautiful,” said Molly Andrews-Hinders, the composer of Velveteen. “It tells me there’s something here and something that’s going to go home with families and going to live on.”
During her interview, at her piano sat her childhood bunny, a gift from her grandmother who she said inspired her during the song-writing process.
Especially when writing a song entitled, You Know I Know You Know.
She said it’s about the strong bond between Velveteen and the child.
“I remember as a young child having these really big emotions and not being able to articulate to adults in the room why I was feeling that way,” said Andrews-Hinders. “And the stuffed animal was that witness. That entity to accept me just as I was. So, the song is all about saying the child saying to Velveteen, ‘I know you know what I’m thinking. I know you know why I’m giggling. I know you know what I’m feeling, and it’s a cool kind of feeling when you know I know you know.’ That sense that I don’t have to explain anything, and you’ll just accept me in whatever state I’m in.”
She said she hopes her music moves people.
The catchy lyrics and tunes bring life to the timeless story that reminds us of what it means to be real and the real power of love.
“To have these local artists coming together on this piece, to really show Cleveland and the nation who we are and what we have to say- it’s just such a huge gift,” said Andrews-Hinders.
Hahn said the hope is that Velveteen could be the first of more self-produced shows to come for Playhouse Square.
Also, he said he’s invited some top family show agents to provide feedback about possibly taking Velveteen on tour.
