Dear Edwina is an "Advice-a-palooza" for All Ages

By Benjamin Nockles

"As a mom who has been in theatre so much and to have had my kids back stage and had them see everything," says Brooke Shields at the opening of Dear Edwina, "they are so excited that there is something geared for them, but with respect."

Dear Edwina, now in its third year running seasonally at the DR2 Theatre in Union Square, will be showing for children and families from now until February 15th.

"This is something different. It's smaller, it's more intimate, and I think it just feels comfortable and welcoming," remarks producer and theatre owner Daryl Roth. The DR2 Theatre, which was added to the Daryl Roth Theatre in 2002, seats an audience of only 99, lending to an especially inviting experience for the newest generation of theatre-goers.

"I think it's a wonderful part of any childhood to see music and action coming together right in front of you, right before your eyes.[...] It's happening as you see it, so it feels very real," says composer Zina Goldrich.

The 70-minute musical is centered around thirteen-year-old Edwina Spoonapple who, determined to earn recognition worthy to be posted "Up on the Fridge," has set her sights on attracting the attention of a talent scout and winning an invitation to the Kalamazoo Advice-a-palooza. But the young girl's efforts to perform her staged song-and-dance responses to letters requesting advice on topics ranging from party etiquette to being friendly are undermined by the neighbor boy's attempts to present his own letter, publicly confessing his not-so-secret admiration.

Author and lyricist, Marcy Heisler, when asked why parents should choose Dear Edwina over other children's production responds, "I would say it is packed full of talent, there's all kinds of musical numbers and it's a wonderful cast – the cast is absolutely amazing."

Dear Edwina is not the only product of writer-composer team Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich. Aside from their individual accomplishments in television and film, the duo was awarded the Fred Ebb Award in 2009 for excellence in songwriting. Dozens of their collaborative pieces have been published in songbooks and their other musicals include Junie B Jones and, recently, Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), which premiered at the Kennedy Center in D.C. this year.

Marie Louise Parker, from Showtime's Weeds, was also at the opening with her two children, who were excited to attend another production of Daryl Roth, saying, "Daryl Roth is one of my dearest friends, so if she's producing it, it's got to be good."

"It's just so wonderful to have young people come and experience a great little musical that speaks to them, sings to them – you know – isn't talking down to them," says Roth, whose enthusiastic awareness of younger audiences has made this opportunity possible. "And I feel like it introduces them in a wonderful way to musical theatre."

"I think they're non-judgmental" says Shields, commenting on the audience response. "They don't sit there, waiting to judge. They sit there open to be entertained and that's what you want from an audience […] somewhere along the line, we lose that as people."