Video: Anika Larsen is Advocating for a Better Tomorrow with THE POCKET PARK KIDS

Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge

Tony Award nominee, Anika Larson, has made the leap to playwriting and directing with a mission dear to her heart

As part of New York City's Children's Theater's 28th season, she's premiering the Pocket Park Kids

a new play with puppets and music inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Divor

development goals. It is currently playing at Theater Row, now through March 16th. Please welcome

Anika Larson. Hey, how you doing? Well, first of all, thank you for joining me today

Thank you for having me. Well, listen, this is all very thrilling. Congratulations. How excited are you

about this brand new project that you're working on? I honestly couldn't be more excited and it

couldn't feel like it was more at the right time. I think we all need a little positive uplift. I think

we need active hope, which is actually, I am also on the board of the Broadway Green Alliance

It all ties together, and that is our theme for the year and for our Earth Day concert this year

And it's, you know, climate crisis is a topic we need to be discussing, but it's a hard one

and nobody really wants to be, I honestly would rather not be thinking about it if I could

But I think that we artists are uniquely qualified to talk about stuff that's tough or

scary or distressing in ways that are uplifting and activating and inspiring and entertaining

I mean, at the end of the day, we really wanted this play to be sort of silly and funny and

full of joy and hope. So I really do feel like we've achieved that and I couldn't be more delighted

Well, I love the title, The Pocket Park Kids. So what is the story of the play

Sure. So it's set in a little pocket park, which is just a tiny park squeezed between buildings

like we have all over New York City. And there's five kids and each one of them

has a very fiercely differing idea for what should happen to the park

And we don't know if they're ever going to be able to work together and figure it out, but a parakeet arrives who can speak and spouts my favorite inspirational environmental wisdom

And so the question is, will the kids ever listen to the parakeet and be able to make better exciting choices

work together and figure out how everybody can win? I love this. Now, let's talk about your collaboration. Who did you write this with

Well, so it was sort of crazy. It feels like I slipped and fell and suddenly here I am

I didn't really mean to do this. I just, I was so worried about this topic

I've kids now. And I really, it feels like you have more skin in the game. So worried about their planet and their future

And but I know that all any of us can do is what we can do locally. But my local is Broadway and Broadway gets attention

So that's why I joined the board of the Broadway Green Alliance. And that's why I really felt like theater should be my medium for taking action

It's my lane. It's what makes sense for me. So, but actually I'm on the board of the New York City Children's Theater, too, and I just went to our artistic director, Barbara Zincreger, and I said, I think we should have a sustainability committee of the board

And she said, yes, and we should do a play about it, which somehow turned into her and me writing a play about it, which somehow turned into I'm writing the play about it

And then I realized I was in a little over my head. So I called a friend from college, Orlando Bishop, who we were in an a cappella singing group together in college

And we've collaborated and written together over the years. And so I brought him in to sort of help me revamp the script and punch it up

He's also a stand-up comic besides being a screenwriter out in L.A. And so he and I, yeah, have landed on the script we're at now

And I really, I'm really happy with it. And also our cast, you have no idea, this young cast of actors, they're all going to be stars

And they're so talented and they're so charming. And they just, you just, it's so hard in theater to make people care

Like how quickly in a show can you, how much. many minutes in can you get people invested in care? And they so quickly, the audience is kids and

their grownups cares so much about these five kids and this parakeet. See, I love children's

theater because I think teaching, you know, children are the smartest people in the world

I think they're even smarter than adults. I think they have these incredible conversations after

seeing something like this. I'm sure your kids have had conversations with you. Oh, yeah. I mean

it totally meant to spawn conversations after but there conversations during I mean the beauty of children theater is kids aren going to be quiet in the audience so why not embrace that So we as soon as you walk into the theater people are saying hey neighbor welcome neighbor and you meant to feel like you a neighbor in our

neighborhood. And then the characters on stage are talking to the kids throughout and trying to win the kids

onto their side and make them want their idea for the park. And then ultimately, it's kids in the

neighborhood who help us, you know, get to get to where we want to go. And I really felt strongly that I

didn't want to just do a play that even just a play, just a play that's inspiring. But I didn't

just want to entertain and inspire and then say, now go do it. Go fix the world. Because even

grownups don't know how to do that, right? And so it really mattered to me to make sure that we have

on our website resources and links and just basic, just a simple list of ideas. We say in our play

we say small people can get big things done is sort of the tagline of our play. And so it's just

a list of small things anyone can do to help get big things done. But so at the end

of our play in bows, right out of bows, our actors break character and say who they are

and then talk about what global goal each one of them represent. I represent zero hunger. I

represent climate action. I represent clean water and sanitation. And that's why I was choosing

to do what I was choosing to do in the play. And then we share with the audience that we have

all of these resources out there and that we want to hear from people. We want them to send us

We want eventually a neighborhood of pocket park kids all over the world who have seen this play

and who are affecting change in their neighborhoods in the way that makes sense for them and their families

And we want them sending back their videos and photos and stories of what they're doing

So we tell them that. And this is exciting because this is actually one of the parts that's really fun for, especially for Broadway lovers

is that we were really determined to make the play and not just talk about it

but make the play as sustainably as possible. So as much of our sets and costumes and props and puppets as possible are made from reused materials

And we had extra fun in making as much of it out of Broadway trash as we possibly could

So a friend of mine is stage manager at Hades Town, and I asked them to collect cardboard from stuff that was being shipped to the theater

So the sets, the props, there's cardboard that's used as dressing and as props, and that is Hades Town cardboard

There's newspaper that litters the park, and that is prop newspapers from back to the future after they closed

My buddy's the props guy there. So I went over and got so. You don't know it looking at it, but it's an Easter egg for anyone who's in the know that that's back to the future newspaper

And then the spoiler alert, we beautify the park at the end

And the flowers that beautify the park are all made from discarded playbills that we sort of origami into flowers

and we had a flower-making party to have fun making those. But just that idea of really trying to model that it often seems like it's a constraint

trying to be sustainable in our business and that it really doesn't have to be

And it can be really joyful. And it also can be really cost-effective

Those flowers in their pots didn't cost us anything. So, yeah. So that's exciting

And what's also exciting is we did, we're doing an audit of our carbon emissions

and then once we know how many, like what our carbon emissions are

we are partnering with the Broadway Green Alliance and with New York Restoration Project

to do a tree giveaway, because as we say at the end of our play, what's the best machine to take the pollution we've created today out of the air

A tree. And so in Schubert Alley on April 6th from 10 to 12, we are giving away trees

And you can sign up on our website to you have to register to get a tree. And you have to plant it somewhere in New York City

But we are, yes, we're giving away trees to often. set the carbon emissions that our show put out there

This is incredible stuff because I remember back in the 1970s, I think when No No Nanette was

playing at the 46th Street theater, they finally got trees on West 46th Street

And I remember their ad was like, oh, when you walk down and get a ticket to No, No

Nanette, we now have trees on our block. I mean, this was a big deal of entering back into the fold again into New York and what a big

deal it was to have trees and what trees do to the air. Yeah, well this is not a new problem and it's not something we're newly aware of

And so it's yeah, it's time to step up our game and we're hoping the pocket

park kids does that, you know, in our little niche. We want to create a family size niche in the climate movement

We want this to be a springboard for something much larger and I just can wait to see what next So not only did you write it you also directed the show Now you have worked with some of the most amazing directors throughout your career What was it like taking on this project as the

director? You know, I was much more sure of myself as a director than I was as a writer, which is why I

asked for way more help with the writing. I've always felt there was a director in me, but I haven't

ever, I guess, honestly, had the fire under my behind to like try and do it. I mean, like, it's hard enough

trying to be an actor that like to try and do that just felt like sort of overwhelming

And so I have directed a little bit here and there and I've taught a lot, which is, you know

teaching a scene study class is directing. But yeah, but it wasn't really, this is my real professional debut and certainly my New York

City professional debut, I guess I should say. And it has felt so good that it does make me think about wanting to do it more

I've really enjoyed it. people seemed to enjoy being directed by me, I think. And yeah, I've had such a lovely time at it

that I think, yeah, I think I might have to do it again. So how old are the cast members in the show

Yeah, they're in their 20s. They're young actors, playing kids, but as I told them, I don't want

them acting like children. I don't like watching people act like children. I said, you just

play somebody who's childlike is, you know, eager or feels emotions intensely, or

doesn't have any guile. So they do a really beautiful job of like not doing cringy kid acting

They're just like they're really lovely, honest, just charming as the day as long performers

Now let's talk about the audience that's been coming to the show already. I'm sure it's all diversified

And where is your audience coming from? I'm sure you have kids and families. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah

Well, the beauty is we do during the week we do matinees that where we bus in New York City

School kids. So those are wonderful. And those are like 90% children, so they're raucous

When they're asked to give feedback, boy, do they give it and loud

And then on the weekends, that's families and that's parents and kids. So the ratio parent to kid, they're better behaved on the weekends

But they come from all up. New York City Children's Theater's audience comes from all over the five boroughs

And yeah, no, it's been really lovely to see. And also, you know, bridge and tunnel

There's been people coming from really everywhere around the area. And the main feedback, because I've just

tried to be at every performance. The main feedback I've gotten from parents is, this should come to

my school or how can I get this to come to my town? So yeah, so a tour would be a lovely next step

But yeah, everybody sees the need for it right now, the need to be talking about it and the need

to be figuring out ways that we can all take action in the ways that make sense for us and feel

right to us. So I was going to ask you, what do you hope audiences take away after seeing it

We have a chance that small people can work as one to do small things to get big things done

And it's just the idea of we all have power. We all have power

And when we join together, we wield even greater power. But that there is no one in the world who doesn't have the power to make change and to make the world better

And starting as young as, you know, we've had some four-year-olds loving the show all the way up to the grandparents bringing them, right

is that everybody, it's on all of us to take responsibility for the world we live in and that we all can

and that it can feel great to do that. But I think it must also make you feel wonderful

that you're introducing a whole new audience to live theater. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah

You know, a lot of my kids, their friends have come, and it's been their introduction to theater

Yeah, no, there's, I mean, there's nothing more important in the arts than making sure we keep, we got to keep our theater

audience is sustainable too, right? We need to keep them, yeah, renewing and reviving and regenerating

So what have you enjoyed the most about working on this beautiful project and creating it

Yeah. You know, as an actor and as a director and as a writer, there's no better place than a

rehearsal room. I just really love being in. I often say it's way more fun to come up with the recipe

than to make the same meal eight times a week. It's so much fun to be in the kitchen

figuring out what ingredients should go in. So that has just been I just love the creativity of that throughout my career I have But the side that I was never on before which is being in production meetings you not in production meetings as an actor and the real fun and joy of talking to all the different

departments and coming up with ideas. And then the ways that there was a very specific way

I don't want to give away because it's the end of the show, but that the lighting designer said something in a production meeting that changed the way we staged the end of the play

and it's one of my favorite parts in the show and just how much fun

I'm one of 10 kids and I just think I was bred for collaboration and I just love working in groups

where everybody listens to each other well and everybody's open to just the best idea in the room

That's how anytime I've been in a show that's successful, that's how you've gotten there

is just taking the best ideas in the room, which I actually think is ultimately the moral of our play too

So it all comes back. I love it. You're one of 10. I'm one of six

So I can understand that. Yeah, yeah, it's definitely the biggest factor in who I am as a human being, as a grown-up

It really has made me who I am in really great ways. But it means I'm really good at sharing and also super bad at sharing

So, you know, both sides of the question. Totally get that. So now that you've written something that's being so well received, do I see something else in the future as you as a writer

I don't know. I mean, you never say no to stuff like this, but this was so personal and it was so

so purpose-led, you know? I don't know that, I mean, I just really felt like I had to try to do this

That, I don't know, never say never, who knows. We'll see. We'll see

What are you the proudest of with this piece? I guess, you know, I was leaving tech rehearsal with my fabulous assistant director, Claire McGinley

who just graduated from NYU. last year and is incredibly smart. And there's so many ideas in our play

that I get full on credit for that I absolutely were player ideas in rehearsal

And we were leaving tech rehearsal and she said, I think this is the vision

And it took me a second to understand what she meant, but I was like, yeah. No, we did it

The thing that we dreamed of this being, it is. And how often can you say that you achieved your goal

in the arts where everything is so, you know, there's so many X factors

and stuff you can't control, how often can you say, we made the play we wanted to make and we're proud

I'm just so proud it's what we all hoped it would be

and that I think everybody involved feels good being in it. That's what you want

Doing good should feel good and making art should feel good. So when you're making art that's trying to do good

that should feel extra good. And I think it does. So yeah, that's what I'm proudest of

is taking care of each other. Because one of the reasons I love the global goals

as a sort of jumping off point for action and that's why they're embedded in this play

is because they hold within them the idea that it's not just that we can't ravage and pollute our

planet. That's not sustainable, of course. But it's also not sustainable if every person

everywhere, if every child everywhere doesn't have food, shelter, safety, clean water and sanitation

quality education, decent work, and equality. That's not sustainable. And all of those problems

are so intertwined that when you're solving any one of them, you're solving many, if not all of them

So I care just as much about the how we did this in terms of taking care of each other as I do

that we did this. See, I love this next step in your life and in your career

The kids are the future that are going to be left with this planet, you know, and thank you

for doing what you've done to sort of let them know that we have to do, someone has to do the work

And I'm so glad it's creative people who are putting the excitement energy into this

I know this is a big undertaking for you. I know it was a big part of love to put this whole thing together

But I am so proud of you. The community is so proud of you too

We're just taking this on and doing this. Thank you so much. And I want to tell our audience that the Pocket Park Kids is running at theater row down

through March 16th. Go online, get some tickets. Take your kids and go have a wonderful time and learn about

about what we can do to save our planet. Anique, it's always wonderful to catch up with you

and joining us here at Broadway World. Back at you, thank you

Take care, everybody, and we'll see you at the theater