An international adventure awaits in the latest Itsy Bitsy Broadway performance -- no passport needed.
The youth-oriented theater is performing "Around the World in 80 Days" at 6 p.m. Feb. 24-25 and 2 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Capital Mall theater. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children and can be bought at the door or through www.itsybitsybroadway.com.
Director Jon-Michael Rutter, who owns Muse Theatre Company's Itsy Bitsy Broadway with his wife, Kira, said the upcoming show closely follows the adventure novel of the same name written by Jules Verne.
First published in 1872, "Around the World in 80 Days," tells the story of a British man and his French valet as they attempt to circumnavigate the world on a wager set by friends.
Rutter said the show travels across numerous locations around the world, making for lots of costume changes, visual effects and different accents -- all complete with comedy and a steampunk theme.
The cast features 14 members playing 39 roles, requiring lots of coordination for first-time director Rutter.
"There's a lot of moving parts with this show in particular because we visit so many different locations," he said. "There's 39 characters and there's also 39 scenes, and each scene is a completely different location. There's a lot of orchestration to make sure there's not dead time between transitions. It's been a challenge, but my cast has been awesome and really stepped up to it."
Rutter credits his wife, who's performing in the show and is an experienced director and theater teacher, for helping him navigate the process as he switches from the technical side of things at Itsy Bitsy to the director's chair.
"It's quite a spectacle, all of it coming together," he said. "I know that the transitions alone give me chills when we're practicing, just seeing how all these scenes flow from one thing to another. ... It's going to be a lot of fun, and I hope as many as possible come to see it."
While some shows at Itsy Bitsy feature a cast of children, this production is comprised of teens and adults, many of whom will be familiar faces from community theater stages across Jefferson City. All Itsy Bitsy performances, though, are meant for a young audience.
Up next at Itsy Bitsy are two original shows: "Dinosaur Daze" featuring a cast of 3- to 6-year-olds and "Time Machine Trouble" with 6- to 12-year-olds. Both shows run March 18-19. The Rutters typically write a large percentage of the eight or so shows each year at Itsy Bitsy to keep costs low, wanting seeing a show to be a budget-friendly family outing.
"More than anything else we want to gear everything to make sure kids have a wonderful experience either coming and seeing the show or being involved in the show," Rutter said.