The Gingerbread Kid

The Gingerbread Kid at Coterie Theatre

A magical child born to bakers discovers that raiding the family pastry shelves carries consequences beyond a stomachache. When Allspice bolts from trouble, the journey spills into a storybook landscape where familiar nursery-rhyme faces turn up with their own complications—Henny Penny and her anxious gang, Little Boy Blue, a bunny with attitude trouble, and one very hungry fox circling the edges.

Jodi Marr's score drives this pop musical adventure with melodies written for voices young and old. Abe Reybold's book and lyrics stitch together the runaway premise and the parade of characters Allspice meets, letting the music carry the mischief and the stakes. The Coterie stages the roughly hour-long show with enough room for a child's attention span and enough story to keep parents from checking their watches.

The appeal here is watching a sweet-toothed troublemaker navigate a world where fairy-tale logic bends around consequences. Allspice's flight from a raid on the dessert inventory turns into encounters with characters who each bring their own chaos—nervous hens, a distracted shepherd boy, a bunny whose name alone hints at trouble. The fox adds genuine tension to a story built on whimsy.

The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City offers this all-ages production, clocking in at approximately sixty minutes. Choose tickets for a sweet-toothed runaway’s very hungry new problem.