Those costumes, designed by Becke Shulman, include such a wide variety of animals not seen since Noah’s Ark including (but not in any way limited to) baby pigs and grown-up pigs, bunnies, birds, and bumblebees, cats and calves, ducks, sheep, geese, turtles, bats, bugs, squirrels, skunks, and a fantastic eight-legged spider outfit. The sets, designed by Louis Vener, were created so that the farmhouse and pigpen could be turned inside out to create a huge and homey-looking barn wherein most of the story takes place.

And then there are all those kids inside those costumes performing among those sets! Jennifer Bendelstein is the loyal Fern who is filled with compassion for her little pig and becomes the human friend to all the farm’s animals – even the rats! That rat, named Templeton (Sophie Vener), is a riot as he ends up rising above his selfish instincts to help save the pig. Although doing so also means he gets the best leftovers, as Wilbur is on a diet and pig slop just happens to be Templeton’s favorite dish!

We meet most of the animals in the big Nice to Meet You scene where the amusing geese (Zoe Katz and Beth Jacobs) who have a tendency toward repetition, some talented tap dancing sheep (Sasha Altschuler, Victoria Tecca, and Brittney Vevana), and the rest of the ensemble welcome the new resident Wilbur the pig, played with charm and humor by Jacob Sampson. The hick-ish humans who become so excited about this peculiar natural phenomenon also turn in some amusing performances. And then, of course, there’s Charlotte. Ali Viterbi plays the special spider who uses all her energy to save her friend Wilbur. Her beautiful Spinning Song solo and her touching duet You’re You sung with Wilbur help spin a web of love and exemplify the true meaning of friendship to which all other animals and humans can only aspire.