SEATTLE
CHILDREN’S THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2006-2007 SEASON LINEUP
Upcoming
season features four world premieres by innovative playwrights
(
Seattle
,
WA
)—Seattle Children’s Theatre (SCT) announces its 2006-2007 season of plays,
which run September through June. The season will feature an ambitious
lineup with four world-premiere productions: OyamO’s
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice; Chad Henry’s Goodnight
Moon; Bret Fetzer’s Everyone
Knows What a Dragon Looks Like; and Cheryl L. West’s Addy:
An American Girl Story. SCT will also stage Ann Schulman’s Harriet’s
Halloween Candy, set to new music by Chad Henry; John Olive’s Jason
and the Golden Fleece; and, in a special addition to the season, the
Windmill Performing Arts production of Afternoon
of the Elves, written by Y York.
“At
Seattle Children’s Theatre we honor and celebrate creativity, fantasy and
storytelling,” said SCT Artistic Director
Linda Hartzell
. “This year we will journey into imagination and travel throughout time
and around the world—into such places as ancient
China
,
Greece
and the American South during the Civil War. Our season of adventure
truly has something for everyone.”
Various
subscription packages are available beginning April 3 through SCT’s ticket
office by calling (206) 441-4488 or visiting by www.sct.org.
Single tickets for SCT’s first show of the season, Harriet’s
Halloween Candy, will go on sale to the public August 1. Following
is
info
rmation about Seattle Children’s Theatre’s 2006-2007 productions:
Harriet’s
Halloween candy
Script
and Lyrics by Ann Schulman
Adapted
from the book Harriet’s Halloween Candy
by Nancy Carlson
Music
by
Chad
Henry
Directed
by Kathleen Collins
September
22 – November 12, 2006
Seattle
Children’s Theatre will launch the 2006-2007 season in September with the fun
and energetic musical Harriet’s Halloween
Candy, based on the fifth book in a series by children’s author and
illustrator Nancy Carlson. Adapted
by Ann Schulman, who is making her SCT debut, and set to new music by Chad
Henry, Harriet’s Halloween Candy
is the story of a young girl’s obsession with Halloween candy and the dread of
having to share it with her younger brother. After she hoards all her
candy, Harriet learns that things are even better when you share them with those
you love. Harriet’s Halloween Candy,
recommended for ages five and older, will be performed in the
Charlotte
Martin
Theatre
.
jason
and the golden fleece
By
John Olive
Directed
by
Rita Giomi
October
13 – November 26, 2006
John
Olive’s adaptation of the ancient Greek myth Jason
and the Argonauts keeps the hallmarks of the original
tale—betrayal, struggle, vengeance and Jason’s dangerous journey seeking the
famed Golden Fleece to prove his right to be King of Thessaly. With help
from an inexperienced but enthusiastic crew—the untried Hercules and budding
poet Orpheus—Jason passes through a series of
test
s, failures and successes to find out that his strength lies within.
Olive, a widely produced and award-winning playwright, adapted The
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Our Only May Amelia and Sideways
Stories From Wayside School for Seattle Children’s Theatre.
SCT commissioned Jason and the Golden Fleece
but granted People’s Light & Theatre Company in
Pennsylvania
the opportunity to premiere the show in 2005. Jason
and the Golden Fleece, recommended for ages 10 and older,
will be performed in the Eve Alvord Theatre.
The
sorcerer’s apprentice
By
OyamO
Music
by Carman Moore
Directed
by Linda Hartzell
December
1, 2006 – January 27, 2007
For
its holiday play, Seattle Children’s Theatre will produce The
Sorcerer’s Apprentice with a talented artistic team at the
helm—celebrated playwright OyamO (Pink and
Say) and noted composer Carman Moore.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
has had many incarnations—a poem by Goethe, a 19th-century concert
piece by French composer Paul Dukas, and Walt Disney’s Fantasia—but
SCT’s world-premiere production is based on the original ancient Greek tale.
The play will use magic realism to bring to life an enchanted forest with
talking plants and animals. When young Charles comes across the queen of
the forest and witnesses her magical powers, he vows to become her apprentice.
However, his arrogance and disrespect all but ruin his chances, until he learns
his lesson and bravely aids the sorcerer in a battle against her villain. The
Sorcerer’s Apprentice is recommended
for ages six and older and will be performed in the
Charlotte
Martin
Theatre
.
Goodnight
moon
Script,
Music and Lyrics by
Chad
Henry
Adapted
from Goodnight Moon by Margaret
Wise Brown; Illustrations by Clement Hurd
Directed
by
Linda Hartzell
January
12 – March 10, 2007
Seattle
Children’s Theatre is thrilled to produce the world-premiere adaptation of a
book that has delighted children for over half a century, and SCT will present Goodnight
Moon just in time for the book’s 60th anniversary.
The crowning achievement of author Margaret Wise Brown, with adored
illustrations by Clement Hurd, this long poem of goodnight wishes will be
brought to life on SCT’s stage with fanciful song, dance and puppetry.
The play’s script, music and lyrics are by Chad Henry, who has composed for
and written many plays at SCT, most recently Sleeping
Beauty and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
In the time it takes the little bunny in the green room to succumb to sleep, SCT
will explore the rich world of a child’s imagination. Goodnight
Moon, recommended for ages four and older, will be performed in the
Eve Alvord Theatre.
Windmill
Performing Arts Production of
AFTERNOON of the elves
Adapted
by Y York
Based
on the book by Janet Taylor Lisle
Directed
by Linda Hartzell
February
9 – March 25, 2007
Y
York’s Afternoon of the Elves
holds a special place in Seattle Children’s Theatre history—its premiere
opened the inaugural season in SCT’s
Charlotte
Martin
Theatre
in 1993. In addition, SCT Artistic Director Linda Hartzell recently
directed the production in
Adelaide
,
Australia
, which was co-presented by the children’s theatre, Windmill Performing Arts,
and the state’s flagship adult theatre company, State Theatre. Nearly
all of the critically-acclaimed Australian cast will perform in
Seattle
’s upcoming production. Based on the 1990 Newbery Honor book by Janet
Taylor Lisle, Afternoon of the Elves
is a poignant story about imagination, friendship and responsibility. An
upwardly mobile Hillary has her social standing jeopardized when she befriends
her quirky outcast neighbor Sara Kate. Hillary is drawn in with the secret
of an enchanted elf village in Sara Kate’s backyard. As the two tend to
the village, their relationship grows and the complicated layers of Sara
Kate’s life unfold, including the responsibility and burden she has taking
care of her ill mother. Afternoon of
the Elves is recommended for ages eight and older and will be
performed in the
Charlotte
Martin
Theatre
.
everyone
knows what a dragon looks like
Adapted
by Bret Fetzer
Based
on the book by Jay Williams
Directed
by
Rita Giomi
March
23 – May 12, 2007
For
his Seattle Children’s Theatre debut, local playwright Bret Fetzer adapted the
book Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like
by Jay Williams. In this production, SCT will take its audience into the
ancient Chinese city of
Wu
and will make use of the inspired art form of puppetry. In the story,
Han, a young orphan, longs for a place to belong—sweeping the gates of the
city was not the future he was hoping for. When the marauding Wild
Horsemen come to attack Wu, the bumbling Mandarin decrees that all inhabitants
should pray to the Great Cloud Dragon for help. After a hermit is
ridiculed for announcing herself the dragon, Han shows great generosity that
touches the hermit’s heart and causes her to reveal her true Dragon form.
Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks
Like, recommended for ages five and older, will be performed in the
Eve Alvord Theatre.
ADDY:
AN AMERICAN GIRL STORY
By
Cheryl L. West
Based
on the Addy books by Connie Porter; Adapted by permission of American Girl, LLC
Directed
by Linda Hartzell
April
13 – June 17, 2007
In
her first play for Seattle Children’s Theatre, celebrated African-American
playwright and Seattle resident Cheryl L. West will adapt Connie Porter’s
award-winning Addy books, a series of six historical fiction books in the
ever-popular American Girl
series. This collection of
books focuses on eight girls from different times and places in
America
’s history and has sold over 50 million copies since 1986. Set on a
North Carolina
plantation in 1864, Addy: An American Girl
Story brings to life the tale of a young girl and her mother who flee
the oppressive life of slavery, their terrifying separation from their family
and their journey to freedom. We are afforded a look at the excitement and
challenges brave Addy faces once she has that freedom and strives to reunite her
family. Addy: An American Girl Story is
recommended for ages eight and older and will be performed in the
Charlotte
Martin
Theatre
.
Subscription
AND SINGLE TICKET Information
Seattle
Children’s Theatre has over 15,500 subscribers each year who enjoy benefits
such as special rates on tickets, guaranteed seats, free ticket exchanges, the
first chance to purchase additional tickets, and discounted merchandise and
Drama
School
classes. SCT offers various subscription packages, including a
six-admission “
Flex
Pass
” that allows families the flexibility to choose the shows, dates and times of
their choice, while still getting the benefits of a subscription.
SCT’s
ticket office will begin taking subscriptions, which range in price from $69 to
$182, on April 3. Single tickets range in price from $16 to $32; tickets
for Harriet’s Halloween Candy
will go on sale to the public August 1. For more
info
rmation about subscriptions or single tickets, call the SCT ticket office at
(206) 441-4488 or visit www.sct.org.
Seattle
Children’s Theatre, which will celebrate its 32nd season in
2006-2007, performs September through June in the Charlotte Martin and Eve
Alvord Theatres at
Seattle
Center
. Since its inception, SCT has gained acclaim as a leading producer of
theatre, educational programs and new scripts for young people. By the end
of its 2005-2006 season, SCT will have presented 181 plays, 96 of which were
world premieres, and entertained over 4 million children.
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