There were many dance gags, particularly surrounding the diva ballerina Duck. I loved how the Central Park Lake water was so cold she promptly did a barre to warm up after she dove in. But she also did “the swim,” a cute touch. I enjoyed how Heginbotham’s choreography operated on Mizrahi’s punny wavelength. The Birdie, an engaging Paige Barnett Kulbeth, also demonstrated some ballerina humor in when she bopped the Wolf’s head with Odette’s double ronde de jambes after he was tied up. And she and Peter, danced by Kara Chan, amusingly synced up for Italian fouettés in their sneakers in the finale.  

Heginbotham got in some swipes at Bob Fosse too in the choreography of the Cat. Mykel Marai Nairne was great at the stylized chugs and swirled wrists. She earned laughs for pausing to lick her leg during a jazzercise floorwork passage. And Daniel Pettrow was a terrific Wolf. Though he was frightening, he was also hammy and hapless—enough so to regain the children’s sympathy when he was going to be shipped off to the Bronx Zoo. Or worse: Staten Island, Mizrahi’s ultimate, hilarious threat.

The New York humor was biting throughout, from the borough-shaming one-liners to the arch costumes and sets. A NYC trash can proved multifunctional, doubling as a dining table when the Wolf overturned it and set it with a checkered tablecloth and a bottle of Chianti as he prepared to dine on the Duck. And Mizrahi’s Birdie was less of a sparrow and more of a pigeon/baseball coach, wearing hot pants and a whistle around her neck. Derrick Arthur’s Hunter was depicted as an overgrown boy scout who was completely inept with the Wolf’s rope.