The Gingerbread Kid

The Gingerbread Kid at Coterie Theatre

When you're born with magic and your parents run a bakery, temptation sits on every counter. Allspice is no ordinary child—sweets call louder than common sense, and one sugar-fueled spree sends this magical youngster running from trouble straight into a folk-tale wilderness where anything with teeth might be hungry.

The Gingerbread Kid at the Coterie Theatre follows Allspice through an hour-long musical escape packed with nursery-rhyme faces gone slightly dangerous. Henny Penny shows up with her gang. Little Boy Blue wanders in. Foofinella—better known as Little Bunny Foo Foo—hops through. And shadowing them all, a fox who hasn't eaten in far too long. Jodi Marr's music and Abe Reybold's lyrics turn this chase into a pop-musical romp where magical mischief meets real consequences and the characters Allspice meets aren't just decoration—they've got their own agendas.

The story doesn't soft-pedal the fox's hunger or Allspice's predicament. Running away solves nothing when you're small, sticky-fingered and lost. The Coterie stages this all-ages adventure in Kansas City with the understanding that young audiences know what it feels like to bolt first and worry later, and that a fox with an appetite makes every friendship a gamble. Grab your tickets and meet a kid who thought escape would taste sweeter than it does.