LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES
2006-2007 YOUTH THEATRE SEASON!
West Coast Premiere!
THE GREAT SQUIRREL UPRISING
October 25 – November 5, 2006
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
May 9 – May 20, 2007
THEATRE FOR A NEW GENERATION Presents
EVERYDAY HEROES
May 15 – May 17, 2007
PLUS A SPECIAL BONUS!
AN EVENING OF IMPROVISATION
October 31 – November 2, 2007
LAGUNA BEACH, CALIFORNIA – April 20, 2006 - Laguna Playhouse announced today their 2006-2007 Youth Theatre Season, including the west coast premiere of THE GREAT SQUIRREL UPRISING, Book, Music and Lyrics by Dan Elish and directed by Donna Inglima; ANNE OF GREEN GABLES written by R.N. Sandberg; EVERYDAY HEROES written by Laurie Brooks and directed by Donna Inglima and AN EVENING OF IMPROVISATION. The Youth Theatre Season will perform at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.
West Coast Premiere!
THE GREAT SQUIRREL UPRISING
October 27 – November 5, 2006 (Previews October 25 & 26)
Book, Music and Lyrics by Dan Elish
Based on the novel, The Great Squirrel Uprising, by Dan Elish
Directed by Donna Inglima
School Day matinees are available to groups.
Tired of the humans’ rudeness and their trash, Scruff the squirrel mounts an uprising in N.Y.C.’s Central Park beginning when, to the humans’ astonishment, a line of squirrels successfully blocks traffic at one entrance. Nearly captured by the police, Scruff is rescued by ten-year-old Sally March, who is taken with the squirrels’ efforts. Believing that Sally could aid their cause, Scruff’s comrade, Franklin the pigeon, tries to communicate with her using words torn from a newspaper by his bookish friend Mort, a mouse. An absolute purist, Scruff refuses to have anything to do with humans; still, time and again, Sally comes to the animals’ aid. She even comes up with the key to their success: country birds are recruited to line the walls bounding the park, blocking all human access. It’s also Sally who mediates the final resolution to the standoff, saving the animals from physical harm as the humans try to reopen the park, and finally gaining Scruff’s grudging respect. THE GREAT SQUIRREL UPRISING is appropriate for ages five and up.
Dan Elish is the author of the novel “Nine Wives” and a forthcoming novel, untitled, also to be published by St. Martins Press. Dan is also the author of, “Born Too Short, Confessions of an 8th Grade Basket Case,” which was picked as a Book for the Teenage 2003 by the New York Public Library and won a 2004 International Reading Association Students' Choice Award. He has also written several other novels for young adults including, The Worldwide Dessert Contest, Jason and the Baseball Bear and The Great Squirrel Uprising, all edited by Richard Jackson. Currently, he is working on a musical, 13, with Tony Award winner, Jason Robert Brown, that is slated to be produced at the Los Angeles Center for the Arts in 2006. In his career, Dan has also written non-fiction books for young adults, scripts for kids' TV shows (most recently “Cyberchase”), music and lyrics for six musicals, funny corporate videos, and played piano for various Off-Broadway productions. He has received fellowships and scholarships to the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, and is a member of the Dramatist Guild. Dan lives in New York City with his wife and young daughter.
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
May 11 – May 20, 2007 (Previews May 9 & 10)
Written by R.N. Sandberg
From the novel by L.M. Montgomery
Produced by special arrangement with Anchorage Press PLAYS, Louisville, KY, USA
School Day Matinees are available to groups.
This wonderful family classic tells the poignant and funny story of a freckle-faced, red-haired orphan named Anne Shirley, who arrives at the Bright River Railway Station, full of hope for a new life. Her destination is the home of brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert in Avonlea. When she arrives at Green Gables, she is devastated to discover that the elderly couple was expecting a boy from the orphanage, and then ecstatic when they decide to keep her. With her fiery temper, love of melodrama and romance, and penchant for misadventures, she brings laughter and happiness to the home she has longed for all of her life. ANNE OF GREEN GABLES is appropriate for ages five and up.
R. N. Sandberg is a playwright, director, screenwriter, and teacher. Over two dozen of his plays have been presented by theaters such as the Dallas Children's Theatre, The Empty Space, Fulton Opera House, Houston's Stages Rep, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Intiman Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, Louisville's Stage One, Nashville Academy Theatre, New City Theatre, Pennsylvania Stage Company, Provincetown Playhouse, Seattle Children's Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Yale Cabaret.
His most recent plays are In Between for George Street Playhouse, Frankenstein's Children for Metro Theater Company, Can't Believe It for the McCarter Theater, The Odyssey for Tales and Scales, and Done, which has received readings at the Abingdon Theatre, The Barrow Group, Kitchen Dog Theater, and Twelve Miles West. Other plays include A Woman of Means, Anne of Green Gables, Convivienca, Jarpteetza/The Firebird, Frankenstein , The Moonstone , Robinswood, Sara Crewe, This Land, and Evenings In, Evenings Out. He has been a Lecturer in the Program in Theater and Dance at Princeton University since 1995. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Philadelphia Dramatists Center.
Theatre for a New Generation
SOCIAL ISSUE PLAYS FOR TEENS & THEIR PARENTS & EDUCATORS
For ages 13 and up and parents and teachers. Parental guidance and attendance is recommended.
EVERYDAY HEROES
May 15 – May 17, 2007 (Press Opening May 15)
Written by Laurie Brooks
Directed by Donna Inglima
Kurt and Win have spent their young lives protecting their alcoholic mother. When an accident leads to a devastating fire, they are catapulted into a media frenzy and Win becomes a reluctant hero. But the brothers harbor a terrible secret. Will Win choose family loyalty or listen to his conscience? Everyday Heroes raises questions about the meaning of heroism and explores issues surrounding the power of the media and the silencing of boys’ emotions in our society.
Laurie Brooks (Playwright) is currently Professor and Playwright in Residence at New York University’s Program in Educational Theatre, and The Coterie in Kansas City, MO, Laurie Brooks is a site reporter for The National Endowment for the Arts, a board member of ASSITEJ/USA, and a member of The Dramatists Guild.
Her Lies and Deceptions Quartet for young adults includes The Wrestling Season, featured at New Visions 2000: One Theatre World, at The Kennedy Center and printed in The American Theatre, November, 2000. The Quartet also includes Deadly Weapons, commissioned and devised with Graffiti Theatre Company, Cork, Ireland, 1998, nominated for a Leon Rabin Award for best new play in Dallas, 2002; The Tangled Web, Irish version commissioned and devised with Graffiti Theatre Company, 2000, American version commissioned by The Coterie, 2002, AT&T Firststage Award from Theatre Communications Group and Everyday Heroes, commissioned and premiered by The Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration and Salt Lake City in conjunction with the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Additional award-winning plays include Devon’s Hurt; The Match Girl’s Gift, commissioned by Nashville Children’s Theatre; Franklin’s Apprentice, commissioned by Stage One: Louisville Children’s Theatre; Between Land and Sea: A Selkie Myth, and A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas, both co-commissioned by The Coterie and Nashville Children’s Theatre.
Brooks has worked with young playwright programs at the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX and The Coterie. Her play, The 12:07, will be developed this year at Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia, directed by Jeff Church. Brooks and The Coterie are recipients of a 2004 National Theatre Artist Residency Program Grant from Theatre Communications Group, funded by by Pew Charitable Trusts.
Brooks has received a 2004 Irish Arts Council Commissioning Artist Grant with Graffiti Theatre Company. Brooks’ plays have received two AATE Distinguished Play Awards and the 2003 Charlotte Chorpenning Cup for a distinguished body of work for young people.
SPECIAL BONUS!
AN EVENING OF IMPROVISATION
October 31 – November 2, 2007 (Press Opening October 31)
A special evening of improv performed live at the Laguna Playhouse by members of the Youth Theatre. 3 Performances Only!
The Laguna Playhouse YOUTH THEATRE and education programs
The Laguna Playhouse has won two national awards for its Youth Theatre programs. The Playhouse offers an array of education and community programs. Donna Inglima is the Director of Youth Theatre, Education and Outreach for the Laguna Playhouse.
From its earliest days The Playhouse has recognized the value of offering plays for young audiences on our mainstage. In the 1980s this commitment was formalized into a popular program called The Laguna Playhouse Youth Theatre.
The Youth Theatre Season offers plays primarily aimed at children of elementary and middle school age. These may be existing plays or musicals based upon well-known, popular books or stories, but we also sometimes commission new stage adaptations. The shows, as many as three per season, are presented in the Moulton Theatre over two consecutive weekends for a total of 10 performances each. Additional performances are often given during the holiday season and a limited number of midweek daytime performances are provided for school groups by advance reservation.
Two things make the Youth Theatre Season unique in the region. First, the productions are directed and designed by theatre professionals and fully-mounted with the Playhouse’s technical resources. Second, the staff for each production is drawn principally from our Youth Conservatory Program. The Youth Theatre has an open casting policy. Casting is almost always “age-appropriate.” Young people play young roles. Local amateur actors generally play the adult roles but fully professional Equity guest artists may also be cast.
The content of the plays is typically similar to G-rated or PG-rated films and is always explained in advance marketing materials and at point of ticket purchase.
YOUTH THEATRE: The program offers exciting fully-staged productions of well-known popular books or stories for family audiences.
THEATRE FOR A NEW GENERATION: Our acclaimed program offers vivid stage dramas about the challenges faced by teens that are intended both to entertain and to stimulate discussion among young people, parents and educators.
THEATREREACH: is a touring program of The Laguna Playhouse that brings professional productions into area schools. The plays are one-hour stage adaptations of books included in the K–6 literature and history school curriculum.
THE LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE CONSERVATORY is unique in the region for its approach to theatre education for young people. It offers talented youngsters a small enrollment,high-level program of instruction in theatre skills, taught by theatre professionals. The curriculum encompasses acting, theatre production and dramatic literature.
The Youth Conservatory is divided into four levels:
Conservatory 1 & 2 (for age 10- 14, Beginning and Intermediate)
Repertory 1 & 2 (for age 14-18, Intermediate and Advanced)
WORKSHOPS: The Playhouse offers a number of workshop classes for children and teens ages six and up. For more information, call 949-497-2787 ext. 207.
Youth Theatre Ticket Prices:
Tickets are available for all audience members 5 years of age and older.
School Day matinees are available to groups.
Two-Play Subscription Series: Adults $40 / Children $32
SPECIAL ADD-ON OPTIONS (non-subscription events)
Theatre for a New Generation: Adults $10 / Teens $5
Evenings of Improvisation: Adults $5 / Children $3
FOR INFORMATION & TO PURCHASE TICKETS:
CALL: 949.497-ARTS (2787) - GROUP SALES CALL 949.460-8676
VISIT: www.LagunaPlayhouse.com
For further information, press photos or to schedule an interview, please contact David Elzer/DEMAND PR at 818-508-1754 or at ElzerD@aol.com.
