The 1941 children's book “Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey is about as Boston as it gets. It tells the story of a family of ducks living in the city, eventually making their way to the Boston Public Garden and passing storied landmarks along the way. The book captured the hearts of readers and even inspired statues of a mother duck and her ducklings that were placed in the Boston Public Garden in 1987.
Now, the story is being brought to life in a new way through “Make Way for Ducklings: The Musical” adapted for the stage by Sandra Eskin and Michael Bobbitt with music and lyrics by William Yanesh. The show had its world premiere last week at Boston University's Wheelock Family Theatre and will be running through March 12.
GBH's All Things Considered host Arun Rath spoke with Emily Ranii, the artistic director of the Wheelock Family Theatre and the director of Make Way for Ducklings. She discussed how the musical started to take shape about a year before the pandemic. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.
Emily Ranii: In the summer of 2019, I got an email from Michael Bobbitt, around about the time he was moving to Boston from the D.C. area, and he had gotten the rights to adapt ‘Make Way for Ducklings” into a musical. And Adventure Theatre was commissioning it and the question was, did Wheelock Family Theatre want to join in on a co-commission? And the only logical answer to that question is yes. It's the most Boston story ever, and so we jumped right on board.
Arun Rath: This story goes all the way back to 1941. When you set about adapting it for stage, both in the look and the sound of it, were you going for a 1941 feel? Or what was your approach?
Ranii: This is a really terrific question because the music that was written by William Yanesh is really inspired by the golden age of musicals, which is around that time. And the end the story certainly has all of the heart of the original, and the epic journey of these parents on their quest for home.
[pre-recorded audio of “Make Way for Ducklings: The Musical”]
There are also contemporary updates to make sure that it resonates with our contemporary audience. As you mentioned, the sculpture in the Common is a sculpture of Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings, and Mr. Mallard is not present at that point in time. He's off searching for another home. And in this story, this is a story where Mr. Mallard really stays, and Mr. and Mrs. Mallard have to learn how to co-parent together. That's just one of the contemporary adaptations — that it's not only mamas raising their brood of ducklings on their own, it's two mallard ducks trying to figure out together how to raise ducklings. So yes, it's very much influenced by the original, but we're also taking our contemporary world into account.
Rath: Tell us about how the story is represented, especially the city and its landmarks.
Ranii: Well, the story opens with this song called “When You've Got a Park,” and that is really a celebration of the Boston Public Garden. And the finale of that song is "When you've got a park, home's there" — or "When you've got a park, you'll stay." This idea that a park is a place for a community to gather. It's an oasis in the middle of a super bustling city. And it's where nature and animals and humans all come together.
[pre-recorded audio of “When You’ve Got a Park”]
Ranii: The story opens in a really big way with a celebration of our city and of the Boston Public Garden. We get to meet a lot of Bostonians there. That was one of the particularly fun parts about it. As the story is written, it says “Bostonians.” But living in Boston, we know that the Boston Public Garden is inhabited by Freedom Trail guides, and there's a newsie — which is actually a little bit of more of a historical reference — and some sports fans are on the Common and thinking about just the specifics of who we meet in the Boston Public Garden.
Rath: This is maybe the hardest question. Do you have a favorite in terms of the songs or numbers in this musical?
Ranii: I really love "The Water Is Wide." Perhaps it's because "The Water Is Wide" has gone on the longest evolution in the development process.
Way back when, in 2020, when we were doing a virtual workshop, the song was called "One with the Water," and it was to an entirely different tune. But now it is this swashbuckling romp on the Charles River with Captain Mike, who's a bit of a pirate serving as a tour guide to Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their brood of ducklings — and all of the adventures that they encounter and all of the boats that they encounter along the way.
[pre-recorded audio of “The Water Is Wide”]
Rath: Tell us about the audience response you've had so far.
Ranii: There are so many references to Boston — and Michael Bobbitt and Sandra Eskin, the two co-writers, have really written in so many Boston jokes. And it's really fun to hear Boston audiences identify with the references.
There's this whole bit on two Bostonians fighting over a parking space — and we all know that experience pretty intimately living in Boston. But the audience here just really erupts in response to that. And there are references to Dunkin’ Donuts or Harvard and MIT and Boston University. I don't want to give it all away, but we do have a lot of fun. I will go so far as to say that the script is wicked smaht.
Rath: I mean, you probably have people shouting out in the audience with those references.
Ranii: Well, there is one moment where everyone does shout "ducklings!" and that is written in. But our performances are also designed for the whole family, and particularly for young people. That does naturally always invite a certain level of audience response.
Rath: Emily, it's been great fun talking with you. Thank you. This is great.
Ranii: Likewise. Thank you so much.
“Make Way for Ducklings: The Musical” is now playing at the Boston University Wheelock Family Theatre until March 12.
