It is a tough act to follow…
Yet, when the oboe croons her arrival and the tutu clad duck (Marjorie Folkman) emerges on the stage with her oversized webbed feet, she too wins our hearts.
The duck follows the flawless performances by beanie clad Peter (Kara Chen) athletically flying across the stage to the accompaniment of strings singing his signature. The ever-so graceful birdie (Paige Barnett Kulbeth) flits lighter than air ballet style to flute accompaniment. Before the duck drops into the orchestra pit to show us her dance moves bubbling up from the imagined water, Creator/Director/Costume Designer/Narrator Isaac Mizrahi quips in Borscht Belt comedian style a reference to the duck’s recent facelift aka trip to France. This is one of many Simpsons-like moments in this children’s book-come-to-life adaptation of Prokofiev’s masterpiece. We are children of all ages ogling Mizrahi’s fun costumes, while the story unfolds flavored like the best Simpsons episode, with an adult track and children’s track playing in simulcast stereo.
How fun!
Works & Process Gets in on The Ground Floor Creating New Audiences
There is no shortage of doting grandmas and parents beaming with joy as they point out the kettledrum, strings, and other instruments assembling on the stage before the performance. Most of the young audience members seem no older than five, and quite a few are sporting outfits that accommodate diapers and the stumbling strides of toddlers.
Amazingly, there is not one cry or other troublesome outburst during the hour or so performance. Mizrahi’s costumes, the flawless performances by Dance Heginbotham, Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, and Prokofiev’s brilliant score and libretto enchant. We— the children of all ages— can’t stop smiling.
Enchanted, exalted, and mesmerized…
If you want your child to share your love of classical music and dance, you won’t find an opportunity better than this.
And, if you take in the Guggenheim exhibit upstairs in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed spiral climb, your walk-on-air exaltation continues. While this expansive one-man show mainly ploughs deep into racism in Rashid Johnson’s A Poem for Deep Thinkers, its precariously angled plants along the spiral climb gob smacks with whimsy. It’s as if Mizrahi’s playful spirit is so strong it seeps from the basement performance hall to above.
Performance below, Guggenheim above—HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
WHEN:
December 5 - 14, 2025
WHERE:
Peter B. Lewis Theater
Guggenheim New york
1071 Fifth Avenue
NYC
TICKETS:
$25+
For more information and tickets visit the Works & Process website.
Photos: Works & Process/Elyse Mertz, unless otherwise indicated
Click here to read more Picture This Post Works & Process stories.
Find more Picture This Post dance reviews in the latest roundup — CHOREOGRAPHERS WE LOVE. Also, watch a short preview video here —
NB: Errata -- Proper spelling is BalletX (not Ballet X).
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
