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The classic stories about “the doctor who can talk with the animals” are now at the Pleasanton Firehouse Arts theater in musical form in “Doctor Dolittle Jr.,” running through Oct 5.
The performances are presented by the Pleasanton Civic Arts Stage Company in partnership with Bay Area Children’s Theatre.
“‘Doctor Dolittle’ seemed like the perfect season-opener for the Civic Arts Stage Company,” said director Rachel Robinson of Bay Area Children’s Theatre. “We are fortunate to have a number of students returning from last year, and we wanted to pick a piece that would both excite and challenge them as theater artists.”
Author Hugh Lofting invented Doctor Dolittle and his adventures to fill the letters he wrote home during his time in the trenches in World War I. He later explained that the actual news was “either too horrible or too dull.” In all, Lofting wrote 12 Doctor Doolittle books, winning the prestigious Newberry Award in 1922 for the second volume, “The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle.”
The stories are set in early Victorian England, where the wacky but kind Dr. John Dolittle lives in the fictional village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. He shuns human patients in favor of animals, with whom he can speak in their own languages. In later stories, he uses his unique ability to better understand the nature and history of the world.
His animal gang includes Polynesia, a parrot; Gub-Gub, a pig; Chee-Chee, a monkey; and the llama-ish Pushmi-Pullyu.
Dolittle has a few close human friends, too, including Tommy Stubbins and Matthew Mugg (changed to Madeline Mugg for this production).
“The actors are taking on the challenges of playing more mature adult characters as well as non-human ones,” Robinson said.
The cast for this production was selected through a series of auditions and callbacks. Actors did their own song selections as well as monologues to showcase their singing and acting skills. Then the artistic team invited actors back to sing and read cold for specific roles. Everyone also participated in a dance callback.
“We not only consider who is best for each role, but also which roles will be best for our actors in terms of giving them an opportunity to stretch, grow and try something new for each personally,” Robinson said, explaining that the artistic team then spends literally hours deliberating over where to place each actor.
Robinson also directed the “Secret Garden” in Pleasanton last season.
‘Doctor Dolittle’ not only touches on the treatment of animals, but also explores wider themes of tolerance and kindness. There have been many adaptations of the stories, possibly the most well-known being the feature films. In 1967, “Doctor Dolittle” starred Rex Harrison. Eddie Murphy starred in the title role in movies made in 1998 and 2001. And an animated version came out in 2011 starring Jane Seymour, Jason Alexander and Tim Curry.
Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 5. Tickets are $12, $15, $18; children and seniors are $6, $9, $12. Purchase tickets online at www.firehousearts.org; call 931-4848; or go to the box office at 4444 Railroad Ave.