The Velveteen Rabbit

An Synopsis of the 2025 Musical Adaptation by Mya Leworthy, Naomi Jijina, and Lucy Ellis Christmas Eve: A young boy has waited all night to find out if he’s gotten the new toy rocket, that flies just like the “real thing.” His grandmother, who catches him snooping through the presents, decides to let him stay up later… As long as he listens to a story she has to tell - about a toy called the “Velveteen Rabbit.” The grandmother narrates to life a Christmas morning years ago where a little girl opens her presents and finds just what she wanted - an Astronaut Space Explorer and the Three Chimes Cuddle doll. Her final present ends up being… Just a regular stuffed bunny? Cuddle and Astro interrogate the Velveteen Rabbit - trying to find out what makes him unique, like a real rabbit (“Do Something Fun”). But he can’t do cool tricks like they can. They’re interrupted by another toy that approaches them: Raggedy Ann - an inherited toy who’s been around a long time. Raggedy tells the Velveteen Rabbit what being “real” actually means: Not having cool gadgets or buttons that make sound, but being truly loved by the child that takes care of you, and making memories together. (“Realer than a Rabbit”). We first hear from the Velveteen Rabbit when he discovers that’s exactly what he wants, to love the little girl, and be loved in return; to become “real.” Through the story, the girl and the Velveteen Rabbit become best friends. Memories are made, and the rabbit grows very loved, and as a consequence, very shabby. The little girl tells him he is real to her! It’s all he’s ever wanted. But one day… The little girl grows ill and must be isolated from everyone - the only one to keep her company is the Velveteen Rabbit. Once she recovers they are excited to play together again, but the doctor informs her that all “infected” toys must be thrown away - including the Velveteen Rabbit! From the garbage in the garden, the Velveteen Rabbit wonders what the point of being real is if you can’t be together forever? (“How it Ends”). When a real tear escapes from the rabbit, something magical happens: a light begins to grow out of the ground. It grows larger until it fills the whole room. The grandmother explains it is a magic that comes from toys that are truly loved (some of whom are sitting in the audience with the children! The audience member’s toys and memories are named out loud, different every show - because audience members fill out cue cards in the lobby prior to every performance). From all these memories emerges the Toy Fairy, who explains to the rabbit that when toys get worn out from love and when the children don’t need them anymore, she comes along and turns them into “real.” And not just real to the girl - real to everyone! She takes the Velveteen Rabbit away and he sings about how as a real rabbit, he will always return to the little girl who loved him for nothing but who he was (“How it Ends Reprise”). Back to Christmas Eve in the present: The little boy decides he wants a forever friend like the Velveteen Rabbit. The grandmother pats a present knowingly and tells him he might find one in the morning. The play ends with a moment between the Grandmother and Raggedy Ann that reveals Grandma was the little girl in the story all along.