MSU Riley Center, Mississippi Children's Museum-Meridian partner for upcoming family series presentation … Enchantment Theatre Company's The Phantom Tollbooth

Before becoming engaged with the puppetry and other scenic effects of the upcoming Enchantment Theatre Company presentation “The Phantom Tollbooth” at the MSU Riley Center, families attending the performance will have the opportunity to engage in pre-show activities hosted by the Mississippi Children’s Museum-Meridian.

The Family Series show “The Phantom Tollbooth,” will be presented Feb. 15 at the downtown Meridian education and performing arts center. Pre-show activities will begin at 6 p.m., with the show beginning at 7 p.m.

If You Go

Tickets to “The Phantom Tollbooth” are $20 and $12 and are currently available at the MSU Riley Center Box Office. This performance is especially for fans of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

Box office hours are Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at the MSU Riley Center, 2200 Fifth St., downtown Meridian. For more information, call 601-696-2200 or visit info@msurileycenter.com

“This is our second year partnering with the MSU Riley Center and their Family Series; it has been a great fit for the Meridian campus before we’re operational,” Elizabeth Wilson, executive director of the Mississippi Children’s Museum-Meridian said.

“We’ve really enjoyed this opportunity and the synergy of what they are doing with the Family Series and what we’re going to offer to the area’s residents,” Wilson said.

During the pre-show activity, children will build their own vehicle using the Mississippi Children’s Museum’s newest traveling exhibit Rigamajig and set off on an amazing journey, just like Milo as he traveled to worlds unknown through his magical tollbooth. Before hitting the road, they will make their own clocks to ensure they stay on schedule.

“This creative world of pretend play and inquiry-based activities will awaken the imagination and send the children on an adventure well worth documenting,” Wilson said. 

Adapted by Jennifer Blatchley Smith, Leslie Reidel and Landis Smith with music by Charles Gilbert, the Enchantment Theatre Company presentation is based on the 1961 book “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer by Arrangement with Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based company uses puppets, masks, inventive scenic effects, and original music to create a unique, captivating style of children’s theater.

According to a release provided by the theatre company, Enchantment Theatre Company has “applied its magic to creating an entirely new production of the legendary children’s book … Kids devour the story of a bored boy who drives his toy car through a magical tollbooth into a strange land that teaches him about friendship, curiosity, and the endless possibilities of life. Adults relish the puns and wordplay about such characters as Princesses Rhyme and Reason and Tock.”

About Phantom Tollbooth

The Norton Juster fantastical presentation begins with an introduction to the story’s hero: “There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself — not just sometimes, but always.”

One day a mysterious tollbooth appears in Milo’s room and having nothing better to do, he drives his toy car through it. To his astonishment and increasing delight, he finds himself in a peculiar new world, where everyone he encounters is literally an embodiment of their name, from the ticking watchdog, Tock, to the loveable but nonsensical Humbug.

Milo soon finds himself on an eventful and dangerous quest: he is tasked with rescuing the Princesses Rhyme and Reason, who, in the war between words and numbers, have been banished to the Castle in the Air.

Along the way, he meets Azaz the Unabridged, the king of Dictionopolis; his brother the Mathemagician, the ruler of Digitopolis; and Faintly Macabre, the not-so-wicked Which. Milo travels through the Forest of Sight where he experiences different Points of View, accidentally leaps to the Island of Conclusions and travels through the Mountains of Ignorance, where he must escape its Demons in order to save the Princesses. With the help of his steadfast companions, he perseveres and brings Rhyme and Reason home, restoring peace to the realm.

Along the way something magical happens to Milo; he discovers the delights of friendship, curiosity and knowledge, and that life — his own life — is filled with endless possibilities.