Review: Tacoma musical playhouse’s ‘Rainbow Fish’ charms with color, creativity and a lesson in kindness

Tacoma Musical Playhouse opens its family theatre season with a lively adaptation of the beloved children’s story “Rainbow Fish.”

By M.J. Cameron

Tacoma Musical Playhouse (TMP) began its 32 mainstage season in September beginning with “Annie.” While their next production is in November, last week was the beginning of their first family theater production, “Rainbow Fish.”  

While I’ve seen a handful of their education camp shows, both as a performer and audience member, this was the first family theater production I’ve experienced. 

Directed by Kayla Littleton, TMP’s education director, “Rainbow Fish” is a musical adapted from the children’s book. It follows Rainbow Fish, the most beautiful fish in the ocean with multi-colored scales. When they refuse to share their vibrant, shimmering scales, the whole ocean turns against the vain creature. 

Unhappy that nobody admires them anymore, the Rainbow Fish seeks out the wise Octopus, who helps him learn that it’s far better to be admired for being kind than for being beautiful. 

TMP’s production of the book is charming. The immersive set combines a projected ocean backdrop with detailed coral, kelp and sea anemone props that create an engaging underwater scene. 

Being a musical, songs are an important part of storytelling on stage. “Rainbow Fish” has lively and expressive songs that convey the main plot of the story. The actors harmonize and vocally mesh with each other beautifully while also telling the story through facial expressions and body language. 

TMP’s mainstage shows are Broadway-style musicals with orchestral backing, but family productions go through the same auditioning and callback process, which is the main difference between the education camps where everyone who is in the camp gets a role.  

It’s fun to check the program and then see the cast perform on stage. In “Rainbow Fish,” you can see why each actor, new or experienced, was chosen for their role. 

Every character in the musical has a distinct personality the actors choose to portray them as, and it breaks the lead and ensemble separation that’s usually seen in theater. 

While Rainbow Fish is the obvious main character, I enjoyed watching every portrayal.  

The Starfish is goofy, whimsical and has a bit where they forget they tell Rainbow Fish that Mackerel owes them a sand dollar. Hermit Crab is comically exaggerated, and Octopus is sassy and knowledgeable.  

The actors show a lot of their personalities through exaggerated facial expressions, body movements or voice, which makes the experience immersive and sets the tone for each scene. Every character stands out and is memorable. 

Coming into the show I expected themed costumes. Instead, the show uses puppets to portray the characters. The puppets were detailed and well designed, most having a string or hand gesture to make the mouth move, excluding Starfish and Octopus where body gestures are used. 

However, the fish puppets were on long poles, making the puppet sit higher than the actor’s head. After a while it got confusing to figure out what to pay attention to, and audience members may find that themed costumes would’ve made the show more engaging. 

The actors wear black to keep attention on the puppets, though their visibility occasionally distracts from the illusion. Despite this, the energy and music maintain engagement, especially for younger audiences. 

“Rainbow Fish” matches the quality of TMP’s larger productions. It’s a brief, affordable and heartfelt musical suitable for audiences of all ages. TMP’s family productions are great for a small weekend activity for anyone. 

TMP’s next mainstage show, “Holiday Inn the Musical,” runs Nov. 21–Dec. 14. The honor camp production, “Elf the Musical Jr.,” runs Dec. 19–24, followed by education camps Jan. 2–4, 2026.