Book, Music and Lyrics by Joan Cushing
Adapted from the book by Mike Artell, illustrated by Jim Harris
Runtime: 75 min.
Cast: 6 (3M, 3F)
All Ages, 4+
Originally Commissioned & Produced by Imagination Stage, Bethesda, MD (2005)
When the Big Bad Gator spies tasty duck Petite Rouge and sidekick cat TeJean heading down the bayou, Petite leads him on a wild duck chase through New Orleans and Mardi Gras all the way to a surprise ending. A Swamp Chorus sings back-up to the Zydeco-driven score in this foot-stomping, family-friendly musical soaked in Cajun hot sauce! Saucy and colorful, as you’d expect, from the creator of the blockbuster hits Junie B. Jones and the Miss Nelson musicals!
Orchestrations for 6 piece band or Orchestration/Accompaniment tracks available.
“Almost everything about the show is hot: (the Louisiana bayou), the music (with peppy zydeco and steamy jazz), the dancing (lots of tango moves) and, most of all, the fiery Cajun sauce…a musical with heart,” – The New York Times
“With the exuberance of a Mardi Gras float wheeling through the Big Easy, writer and composer Joan Cushing has turned a 2001 picture book into a clever stage production whose tunes explode with Louisiana zest!” – The Washington Post
“As snappy as a string of cayenne peppers!… Miss Cushing’s show luxuriates in the music of New Orleans – Cajun, zydeco, Dixieland, gospel, jazz and the blues…and her talent for infectious rhymes [is] as sharp as ever… Petite Rouge is a feast for the senses and the appetite, as Miss Cushing’s adaptation revels in the sights, music and food of Cajun country,” – The Washington Times
New York Musical Theatre Festival 2007
Honorable Mention, Best in Script/NY Theatre Festival Awards for Excellence
London Production 2008, directed by Phil Willmott
Edinburgh Theatre Festival 2010
Take a look at the script here: PETITE ROUGE: A Cajun Red Riding Hood perusal copy (sample)