Boston Theater Production Brings 2,500 Students to ‘Library Lion’ Musical for Free
A Boston stage adaptation of Michelle Knudsen’s Library Lion is being reimagined as a professional theater production by Adam Theater. This program will run Jan. 10–25 at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527…
Stock Photo
A Boston stage adaptation of Michelle Knudsen's Library Lion is being reimagined as a professional theater production by Adam Theater. This program will run Jan. 10–25 at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St. in the South End. The show runs 70 minutes with no intermission and is suitable for audiences ages 4 and older.
Every ticket sold supports free performances for Boston schoolchildren, with 2,500 children set to attend this year.
According to a CBS Boston (WBZ) report, this year marks two decades since Library Lion was published. The Adam Theater production features five actors, three musicians, and three puppeteers, exploring themes of accepting the unfamiliar and questioning rules.
In the story, a lion tries to visit a library peacefully. At first, other library patrons are disturbed, but over time, they begin to appreciate the helpful lion.
The main character in the production, Library Lion, was created with the help of the Jim Henson Company. Karin Sharav Zalkind, co-founder and executive director at Adam Theater, explained to CBS Boston, "We were in the design process through all of it and kind of picking out the colors and the mane and the eyes and deciding how it walks, how it sits, how it operates."
"While we each get to hold our individual pieces, they all come together and are linked so we can feel each other moving and breathing and create something that is alive," said Sydney Grant, one of the three puppeteers who will bring Library Lion to life.
According to a Fig City News report, Adam Theater led the U.S. theatrical debut of Library Lion at the Boston Public Library in September 2024. The theater company used the original script adapted by Eli Bijaoui and commissioned music by Israeli composer Yoni Rechter.
Sharav-Zalkind sees the performance as a way to support arts education among young audiences, inspiring her to create Adam Theater. “In many ways, the idea of creating high-quality art and making it accessible for kids was very appealing to me as a parent, but also as an art maker myself,” she said.
