Missed “The Velveteen Rabbit”? Here’s an insider look:

Cretin-Derham Hall’s children’s show is an opportunity for actors who have not played a major role in a school production to get involved in CDH Theater. In this year’s show, The Velveteen Rabbit, the lead, Tyler Mader ’22, who portrayed the Velveteen Rabbit, and Joe Peterson ’23, who played Steve, hadn’t previously been in any CDH plays. The show is a great opportunity for upperclassmen to have a lead role, especially with a script geared toward young audiences. 

In the story, Steve had a stuffed rabbit that he played and went on adventures with until Steve became very sick. Afterward, his family had to get rid of the Velveteen Rabbit to eliminate all germs and disease. Steve is heartbroken that he lost his stuffed rabbit until the rabbit comes back to life, not in stuffed form, but instead as a happy, healthy real rabbit.

“Chris Hill (CDH Theater Director) made us a part of organizing the show,” said Peterson.

The crew was able to offer ideas on how to plan, stage, and portray certain parts of the play.

Their ideas were a big help to Hill ’01, who is in his first year of directing the CDH Theater.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, you are there to have fun and put on a show,” said Clare Lasure ’25.

The cast and crew gravitate to one word when describing the CDH Theater community: welcoming. From rehearsing lines together to helping each other get ready for the show, the community always has each other’s backs. Upperclassmen and underclassmen really integrated and worked together, so they were able to really bond across different grades. The cast has many great memories together from the short two months that they rehearsed together.

Lasure and Peterson both said their favorite parts of the play were creating friendships with their fellow cast members.

“My favorite part was getting to know some people I hadn’t before. I got close with some underclassmen, and Tyler and I became really close in a short period of time,” said Peterson. 

With the combination of astonishing acting skills and a stunning setting, the play was a success, not only for the students involved but their child audience as well. The play made them laugh, sad, and even get scared at parts. They really engaged in the play and made it more fun for actors and actresses to play their characters. 

“It was really fun hearing the kids laugh and understand the story. There were even some parts where kids got scared,” said Peterson.  

When the cast came out to see the children, they were overjoyed and gave the cast tons of high fives. Overall the children’s show appealed to children, adults, and everyone in between. Again, the CDH Theater has put on another marvelous production.