American Girl Live on Tour
Perhaps it was inevitable that, having conquered nearly every other medium, American Girl dolls would finally make their way to the stage. The new Broadway-style musical American Girl Live is a natural extension of The American Girl Revue, which was performed in American Girl stores in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles during the early 2000s.
Beloved by children and adults alike since the company was founded by Pleasant Rowland in 1986, the 18-inch American Girl dolls and their accompanying book series have evolved from an independent start-up operating out of a rented warehouse into a thriving Mattel toys subsidiary, with more than 32 million dolls and 157 million books sold to date.
The American Girl Revue told the back stories of the company's Historical Characters line, and American Girl Live expands upon that concept in an even more entertaining way. The setting is Camp American Girl, a fictitious sleep-away compound where five campers, a counselor, and their doll friends interact with six iconic American Girl characters — Rebecca (1914), Nanea (1941), Maryellen (1954), Melody (1964), Julie (1974), and Luciana (2018's Doll of the Year) — through song and dance.
In keeping with American Girl's commitment to female empowerment, The American Girl Review was created by an all-woman creative team consisting of producer Simone Gianfrancesco, director Gina Rattan, writer and lyricist Sandy Rustin, composer Meg Zervoulis, and choreographer Emilie Renier. (Actress Julia Roberts' Red Om production company created the brand's first movie, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday, in 2004.)
In 1995, American Girl expanded its line beyond historical dolls to include characters and situations from contemporary life. Pleasant Rowland wanted her characters to take themselves seriously and to participate in American life, so her books covered important historical topics such as child labor, poverty, racism, slavery, and war. American Girl characters support equality in all its forms. And the limited-edition release of the homeless American Girl character Gwen in 2009 revealed that the company wouldn't avoid controversy, either.
Ticket holders are welcome to bring their own dolls to American Girl Live. Whether they do or not, the interactive experience will fuel the audience's imagination and promote the positive power of girlhood with or without their smaller companions.