Spokane Children’s Theatre brings spunky first grader Junie B. Jones to the stage

Smart, sassy, curious and willing to try new things – Junie B. Jones is the spunkiest kindergartner (and eventually first grader) around.

The creation of writer Barbara Park, Jones has appeared in dozens of books, experiencing everything from first day of school jitters, birthday parties and first crushes to monsters under her bed, losing a tooth and having fun on vacation.

Park’s “Junie B. Jones” books have been challenged by parents in the past because of bad grammar and how Jones sometimes speaks before she thinks, but the character remains largely beloved nonetheless.

Though Park passed away in 2013, Jones is still taking up new space on bookshelves. Just last year, the first in a series of “Junie B. Jones” graphic novels, adapted by Colleen AF Venable and illustrated by Honie Beam, was released.

Since the first “Junie B. Jones” book, “Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus,” the character has appeared in several theatrical adaptations, including “Junie B. Jones the Musical,” which runs Friday through March 22 at the Spokane Children’s Theatre.

The musical, by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, combines three of Park’s books: “First Grader (at last!),” “Boss of Lunch” and “One-Man Band.”

After graduating from kindergarten to first grade, Jones realizes her friends from kindergarten aren’t interested in being her friends anymore, so she gets the chance to meet new people. She also gets the opportunity to help during lunch and quickly schemes to become the boss of the cafeteria. Jones is also excited about a kickball game, but things don’t exactly go as planned and she must participate in a different way.

“She has to adjust her expectations, and she’s got a lot of anxiety about it,” director Craig Hirt said.

Spokane Children’s Theatre’s production of “Junie B. Jones” stars Kaya Koch as Jones. The musical also features Raya Bibby, Sarah Bibby, Nyah Bischoff, Caroline Brabeck, Clara Carrell, Emily Chartier, Julianne Chartier, Torin Davis, Penelope Donahoe, Windy Foster, Hope Galster, Sawyer Hahn, Vivienne McDonald, Abbie Jones-Neubauer, Laura Kaczor, Cora Knudsen, Eldrek Koenig, Sienna Miller-Thomas, David Morton-Burris, Ramona Murphy, William O’Banion, MacKenzie Parks, Jeff Riddlington, Zach Rushing, Maranatha Sims, Mia Sims, Maisy Stombaugh, Mara Stombaugh, Maddie Spear, Ollie Spear, Lacy Stoyko and Ammbellina Troup.

The musical is directed by Hirt, assistant directed by John Jacob Bernal, musical directed by Andrea LaPlante, choreographed by Dahlia Kothare and stage managed by Mike Donahoe.

If you’ve happened to look for “Junie B. Jones” books in the last couple months but struck out, you can blame Hirt for the shortage. Hirt didn’t read the books to his daughter while she was growing up, so he wasn’t aware of Jones and her antics. He bought all the books he could find at local bookstores in preparation and found her to be hilarious.

“She gets in so much trouble. She’s so precocious, and she made me laugh out loud so many times,” Hirt said. “I was so glad that I had agreed to do it, and I wish we had read them to my daughter when she was little.”

Koch has read a few “Junie B. Jones” books, including “Toothless Wonder,” and remembered thinking that she and the smart, spunky Jones were a lot alike. She has also had the opportunity to take on new responsibilities, like watering plants, just like Jones had when helping out in the lunchroom for the first time.

Koch auditioned because she knew it was going to be a really fun show and she was excited about the chance to spend more time with her friends.

“It just seemed the role for me and I thought it was going to be super duper fun because Craig’s shows are always super fun and silly,” she said. “I thought it would all come together as one.”

To create a set that would accommodate the three stories told in “Junie B. Jones the Musical,” the production team crafted a jungle gym made out of school supplies including crayons and rulers and toys like wooden letter blocks. There is also a giant lunchbox that the actors run out of at one point and a slide some of the actors go down.

As Jones is writing in her notebook throughout the show, the floor has been painted to reflect the black and white cover of a composition notebook.

Hirt didn’t initially have a set design in mind aside from wanting lots of color and levels the actors could play with. He reviewed what other theaters had done before Bernal, his assistant director, asked Hirt to let him do some brainstorming.

“Overnight, he drew it up and sent it to me, and it was what we went with,” Hirt said. “It’s perfect. I love it.”

Costume-wise, the actors wear casual, comfortable outfits that could be found in any first grade classroom, though Koch definitely stands out with her purple skirt, pink shirt, purple striped stockings, pink shoes, purple glasses and yellow bows in her hair.

Hirt is used to working on shows that feature more teenage actors, so he was interested in the challenge of doing something new and working with younger performers aged between 8 and 13 but it turns out he had nothing to worry about, saying they’re responsive performers who don’t often need to be told to focus.

Because the actors on stage are close in age to Jones and her friends, Hirt thinks younger audience members will love “Junie B. Jones the Musical.” There is a lot of fun, organized chaos on stage, he said, that will be visually engaging for young viewers.

“It’s a great show for everyone, including kids who are pretty young and haven’t gone to a theater performance before,” he said. “If parents who are wondering if their kid can sit through one, it’s not a long show, and it’s a pretty exciting show, and it’s for kids. It’s about a kiddo that’s not that much older than they are, so it’s a great show for that age group.”