The Berenstain Bears on Stage

The "world's foremost expert on the Berenstain Bears," guitar-strumming Cowboy Joe, is the show's stage director—introducing and commenting on the play's five episodes which are based on five classic Berenstain Bears books. The Berenstain Bears' New Baby: Small Bear is an only cub, and he is a little lonely. But, he is growing—he has outgrown his own little bed. And he is about to become a big brother! Papa Bear builds him a new, bigger bed as they talk about the coming birth of the new baby in the family. When Sister Bear arrives, Small Bear becomes Brother Bear and he finds, to his delight, that he won't be lonely anymore. The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room: All families have a messy room or two in the house. In the Berenstain Bears' tree house, the cubs' room is the messiest. Mama Bear decides it's time for a major cleanup; comic conflict results, which is solved by Papa Bear's neatness plan. The Berenstain Bears and the Double Dare: It's hard to resist someone daring you to prove you're not a chicken! Neighborhood bullies, Too Tall and his gang, put Brother on the spot by daring him to swipe one of Farmer Ben's watermelons. Farmer Ben catches Brother in the act and gives him good advice about dealing with bad influences. The Berenstain Bears Tell the Truth: An impromptu game of soccer inside the Bears' tree house results in one very broken lamp. Brother and Sister concoct a far-fetched story about a bird flying in the window and knocking the lamp over. Somehow, Papa and Mama Bear doubt this explanation. As the truth comes out, Brother and Sister learn that "no matter how you try, you can't make truth out of a lie." The Berenstain Bears Get Stage Fright: Sister Bear is selected to be the star of the Bear Country School production of Grizzlystiltskin. She is very nervous about her role and has trouble memorizing her lines. She practices and practices to get them right. Brother has no such problem—he is supremely confident. But on the night of the performance, Brother gets stage fright and forgets his lines while well-prepared Sister not only has her own part down pat but feeds Brother his lines as well.