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Theresa Walsh, Katherine O’Gara, and Rick Robinson Jr. are puzzled by the juice-drinking bunny in “Bunnicula.”

[from this article published Saturday, October 30, 1993, page D-6 in The Tri-Valley Herald]

'Bunnicula' will have your kids howling

By Jolene Thym

STAFF WRITER

SNOOPY, Lassie, Garfield and other cats and dogs that have scratched their way to stardom would be proud of the performance of "Bunnicula," by Children's Theater Workshop in Pleasanton.

True, the dog and the cat that star in the show are impostors, humans who pretending to be feline and canine. But their performances are hilarious, especially to the preteen set.

Monica Rose Mallory, as Harold, wearing a costume made of 10 yards of shredded curtain fabric, plays alongside Rick Robinson Jr., as Chester, a literary cat with a wacky CubanTransylvanian accent, ridiculous antics and a bad attitude.

A suspicious bunny

The hour-long show, a musical adaptation of "Bunnicula," a children's story written by Deborah and James Howe, tells the story of a family whose two pets are very suspicious of the newest addition to their family, a bunny who sucks the juice out of vegetables at night.

Convinced that the bunny is evil, the dog and cat conspire to kill the bunny by various methods, including a steak through the heart and starvation.

Produced by Scott Guggenheim and directed by Jerry McAllister, the fast-moving play has all of the elements that charm children: naive parents, talking pets and two annoying brats. Bolts of lightning, vampires dancing in the aisles, and a mad chase to get Chester into the bathtub add a bit of excitement that even preschoolers can enjoy.

Pleasant, but not central to the play are a handful of musical numbers, most sung by a trio of vampires who emerge at various times, mainly to sing the praises of Bunnicula. Chester, dressed in fuzzy black and white and sporting a rather long tail, outwits the human characters, belittles the dog and sprinkles his monologues with just the right balance of purring and meowing sound effects. His well-studied feline body language polishes off the character. Curious, and a bit distracting, is why Chester performs on two feet while Harold performs on all fours.

The perfect foil

To be fair, Chester's jokes would be nothing without his foil Harold, whose perfectly timed wiggles, barks and screams keep the audience alert. Brion Sutherland's cameo appearance as the vet is brilliant. He contorts his face and drags himself onstage to diagnose the problems of each of the pets.

The best moment for Mom, played by Terry Amara Boero, comes twice, at the opening of the play, then later, when she discovers evidence that the sweet little bunny is a vampire: Her tomato has turned albino overnight.

While she is casually chopping vegetables at the. kitchen counter, the action halts abruptly. She raises her butcher knife and delivers a chilling scream as the theme music from "Psycho" blares and lights flash on and off.

Seconds later, she continues to slice vegetables as if nothing happened.

Dad, played by C. Conrad Cady, comes off as a complete lunatic, and daughter Patricia, played by Theresa Walsh, delivers two laudable solos, and a convincingly annoying whine about the danger of pesticides in her food and about how her sister, Toby, is always getting better treatment.

After each performance, the company appears on stage to talk to children about the meaning of the play. Children are encouraged to talk about the importance of getting to know people as individuals.