Mo Willems is a prolific children’s author and if you are a parent, you probably have at least one “Elephant & Piggie” book lying around your house; if you don’t, you really should. I cannot recommend them enough. They are smart, and funny and teach valuable life lessons.

Not surprisingly Elephant & Piggie have a very loyal following of fans and now their own stage show. This past weekend I took my boys (7 and 3) to see Elephant & Piggie We Are In A Play at the Wychwood Theatre in Toronto, Ontario.

Written by Mo Willems, “We are in a Play” blends a handful of different Elephant and Piggie books into a sixty-minute musical performance. The acting, the jokes, the storylines it’s all aimed at kids and I assure you all the children (and most of the adults) in attendance were entertained.

I give extra credit for not having many jokes aimed at adults. There are no double-entendres and very few jokes that will go over your youngsters’ head.

At a brisk 60 minutes my 7 and 3-year-olds were able to keep their attention spans until the very end when I could see my 3yo starting to waiver a bit so it definitely gets points for helping me keep them screen-free for an hour.

Finally, the leads. Dallis Brinkman (Piggie) and Evan Sokolowsky(Gerald) were solid. It’s an intense hour with kids talking and yelling at the performers throughout the entirety of the show. (It’s not encouraged, it just happens) I could not help but see Martin Short in Evan’s portrayal of Gerald. I don’t know if it was intentional or not but my wife said afterward “That’s exactly how I pictured Gerald acting.”

For me the star of the show is Dallis. Her voice was strong throughout the musical numbers and her presence could be felt when she was on stage. While I’m no theatre aficionado she definitely had that “it factor”. It would not surprise me at all to find out that she’s gone on to bigger and better things in a few years.

Finally, this a cute show, in a cute theatre that will give you and your child a chance to get out of the house and spend some quality time together and maybe make a memory or two along the way.

Check it out while you still can as tickets are going fast.