DANDELIONS AND DARK CLOUDS

A deceptively simple children’s story
delivers a powerful emotional punch
for grown-ups and youngsters alike

The Chicago Children’s Theatre opens its 21st season with a revival of Carmela Full of Wishes. Adapted by Alvaro Saar Rios from the children’s book written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson, Carmela had its world premiere at CCT in 2022, and in 2026 it is, sadly, as relevant as ever.

As is expected by now at CCT—but never taken for granted—the set is gorgeous: Regina Garcia’s scenic design involves a long street with a lavandería at one end and a bodega at the other. Strategically placed doors lead into other (offstage) locations. The ceiling is festooned with streamers, and the colors are bright and summery. It’s all delightful.

Note: Prior to the show, the staff will offer handmade dandelions to audience members who are dandelion-bereft. These are made prior to the show by the mini-adults in attendance. If you do not have a dandelion, I urge you to accept one. It’s important that you do.

It is Carmela’s (Isadora Coco Gonzalez) birthday, and she has turned seven. There is a special birthday breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes with a candle in them. For her present, she receives a bracelet that jingles when she moves, much to the annoyance of her older brother Miguel (Jose M. Cervantes). But more than anything else, Carmela is thrilled to turn seven because now she is old enough to accompany her big brother to the neighborhood laundromat where the family’s clothes are washed. On the way, Carmela finds a dandelion, and Miguel informs her that if you make a wish when you blow on the dandelion spores, that wish will come true. Carmela’s Papi has been away for a while. There was something wrong with his papers. She doesn’t quite know what, but she’s sure her Papi will call today to wish her a happy birthday—at the mention of his name, a look passes between Miguel and her Mami (Claudia Quesada, wonderful in all her parts), a look that registers with the adults in the audience but not the children.

As the siblings make their many stops on the way to and from the laundromat, Carmela thinks up wishes to make, and then changes her mind. She only gets one wish; she can’t afford to waste it. So rather than using it on her less important wishes, she decides to imagine them into existence, each wish providing an opportunity for the talented technical team to dazzle and delight the audience with their inventiveness.

Making her directorial debut, Sonya Madrigal works magic with Cervantes and Gonzalez. Their sweet familial chemistry forms the backbone of the show as they bicker, argue, fight, and make up, just like siblings do. There are too many exquisite little moments of interaction for me to list, but Carmela’s inhaling the smell of the laundry soap while Miguel rolls his eyes had me smiling from ear to ear, dredging up memories of how a chore seems like a treat the first time you were allowed to do it.

But for all its colorful pleasures, Papi’s absence is a dark cloud hovering over Carmela Full of Wishes. Eduardo Curley-Carillo plays all the adult males in the show, and Carmela’s bonding with the assorted kindly father figures she encounters en route took on an incredible poignancy for me when Curley-Carillo finally embodied Papi in a fantasy/memory scene; the subsequent lullaby almost pushed me over the edge.

For a story featuring numerous flights of fancy and targeted to a fairly young audience, Carmela is surprisingly mature and realistic in its depiction of a family disrupted by forces beyond their control, right up to its ending. It is rare to see such emotionally complex characters in a play like this. Cervantes, who is mostly comic relief in the early going, gets a devastating monologue where he apologizes to a crying Carmela and explains why he’s been so much more irritable and cranky of late. It’s a sweet and sad moment, with the two children comforting each other in very different ways.

“Our Papi’s smell isn’t in the house anymore.”

At that line, a small gasp from a parent next to me broke the spell, and I looked up at the audience to see tears running down several adult faces. The kids were transfixed; I wondered how much, if any, of the exchange got through to them, but on an emotional level, I’m certain they understood. Even by CCT’s high standards, Carmela Full of Wishes is a remarkable achievement. It manages to be extremely political without explicitly mentioning politics. It delights its younger audiences while subtly informing them of the unfairness of life, even while it devastates their parents. And in the ballsiest move of all, it refuses to give us a happy ending, choosing instead to give us a hopeful one.

Because without hope in the face of adversity, where would we be?

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photos by Joe Mazza / Brave Lux Inc.

Carmela Full of Wishes
Chicago Children’s Theatre
The Station, 100 S. Racine Ave. in Chicago
approximately 60 minutes, no intermission
Sat & Sun at 9:30 & 11:30 (Oct. 25 at 9:30 only; Nov. 8 at 11:30 & 2)
ends on November 15, 2026
recommended for ages 6 and up
for tickets ($42), call 312.374.8835 or visit Chicago Children’s Theatre

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