Theater

Spongebob: The Musical

SYNOPSIS: A one-hour edition of the hit musical, specially tailored for young actors! The stakes are higher than ever in this dynamic stage musical, as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world. Chaos erupts. Lives hang in the balance. And just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage. The power of optimism really can save the world! The SpongeBob Musical is based on the beloved animated series created by Stephen Hillenburg and features a book by Kyle Jarrow, with original songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady A, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants and T.I., and songs by David Bowie, Tom Kenny and Andy Paley. Additional lyrics are by Jonathan Coulton, with additional music by Tom Kitt. The musical production was conceived by Tina Landau.

Once Upon Pandora’s Box

SYNOPSIS: A summer intensive for young actors to flex their theatre muscles in a full production. Once upon a time in New York City, Tabitha and her brother Louis discover a box sitting in the hall of their apartment. Curious, Tabitha opens the box, allowing five imprisoned fairy tale villains to escape. Free at last, the dastardly villains begin to wreck the apartment, but when they discover that writing in Tabitha’s notebook will give them control of other fictional characters, things really get dicey. Will Tabitha harness the power of her storytelling? Or will the fairy tale villains run wild in New York? A clever comedy that demonstrates the importance of villains in every story.

Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

SYNOPSIS: Inspired by a simple, poignant letter written over 100 years ago by 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon to the editor of the New York Sun—and by the timeless editorial response printed on the front page of the Sun. Virginia wondered and wrote: “Dear Editor, I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says if you see it in the Sun, it’s so. Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?” Ed Mitchell, the Sun’s editor, gives the assignment of answering Virginia’s letter to Frank Church who, until his wife and baby died last Christmas Eve, was the Sun’s best and most dependable reporter. Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus is a play for young and old, magically reaffirming life’s highest beauty and joy—”the eternal light with which childhood fills the world.”

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

SYNOPSIS: Based on Robert Fulghum’s best-selling books, Kindergarten takes a funny, insightful, heartwarming look at what is profound in everyday life. This tightly woven adaptation has earned standing ovations from Singapore to Prague— from L.A. to D.C. It’s an evening of theatrical storytelling in revue format, with monologues, dialogues, and multiple voice narration, enhanced through the use of live piano underscoring, which provides fluidity, charm, and emotional texture, and seven optional original songs. The delightful stories feature colorful characters such as: a shy little boy who insists on playing the “pig” in his class production of Cinderella and steals the show; a man whose dream of flying carries him high over Los Angeles … in a lawn chair buoyed by surplus weather balloons; a “mother of the bride” who’s staged a perfect wedding—until the bowling ball of fate rolls down the aisle; and a modern-day Greek philosopher who finds the meaning of life in a piece of broken mirror from World War II. These stories celebrate our very existence, from the whimsy of childhood to the wisdom of old age. 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

SYNOPSIS: A cleverly compressed version of Shakespeare’s classic comedy, this adaptation preserves the original poetry while simplifying the language and adding practical stage directions. The story is framed by the Dreamer, a modern student frustrated in her attempts to memorize (and make sense of) a Midsummer monologue. As she begins to nod off, the Dreamer is visited by Puck, an impish fairy who sweeps the sleeping girl into the play itself — a world of mischief, magic, and love. 

A Seussarific Christmas Carol

SYNOPSIS: An imaginative twist of Dickens’ Christmas story classic in wacky rhymes. Will Tiny Tammy Hoo and all her Seussariffic friends be able to change the cold heart of Ebenezer Scrooge? This family fun tale brings holiday cheer to every heart young and wise.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

SYNOPSIS: A progressive white couple’s proud liberal sensibilities are put to the test when their daughter brings her black fiancé home to meet them in this fresh and relevant stage adaptation of the iconic film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Blindsided by their daughter’s whirlwind romance and fearful for her future, Matt and Christina Drayton quickly come to realize the difference between supporting a mixed-race couple in your newspaper and welcoming one into your family–especially in 1967. But they’re surprised to find they aren’t the only ones with concerns about the match, and it’s not long before a multi-family clash of racial and generational difference sweeps across the Draytons’ idyllic San Francisco terrace. At the end of the day, will the love between young Joanna and John prevail? With humor and insight, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner begins a conversation sure to continue at dinner tables long after the curtain comes down.

Akeelah and the Bee

SYNOPSIS: Akeelah has a crazy passion for words: the more abstruse and labyrinthine, the better. But this gift is almost overwhelmed by the challenge of her daily life in a tough, Chicago neighborhood. Akeelah’s aptitude earns her a spot in the National Spelling Bee, which inspires the people in her neighborhood with her courage and tenacity.

Glory Bea: A Shenandoah Christmas Story

SYNOPSIS: It is 1930’s in the Shenandoah Valley and the Depression has hit the Valley residents hard. Families need work and the CCC is providing jobs creating the Skyline Drive on the Blue Ridge. Promises are made. The Pineville Christmas Eve pageant will not be complete without its Christmas Cedar Tree. But, the blizzard of ’33 is causing havoc on the family members trying to get home for Christmas through the blinding snowstorm. It’s Christmas Eve – anything is possible on Christmas Eve. Hard times, an argument over a tree, a baby born at Christmas, a little girl lost in the snow, redbirds and angels…and a miraculous homecoming.

Terms of Endearment

SYNOPSIS: Challenges in life and love test the resilience of a mother-daughter relationship in Dan Gordon’s adaptation of Terms of Endearment, based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Larry McMurtry and James L. Brooks’s screenplay of the Oscar-winning film. Though Emma is often exasperated by her highly-opinionated mother, Aurora, they talk every day about their problems, from Aurora finding unexpected love even as she becomes a reluctant grandmother, to Emma’s struggle in her troubled marriage. But when they need one another most, will they be able to find courage in each other? This funny and touching story captures the delicate, sometimes fractured bonds between mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and lovers, both old and new.

4-Part MasterClass: Acting, Level 1

In this master class, actors explore the art of acting while developing their physical and
vocal awareness. Discovering oneself as an actor, builds a strong foundation of basic
acting skills. There are three levels to this master class.

2-Hour MasterClass: Alexander Technique

The Alexander Technique is a mind/body method that teaches actors how to release
unnecessary stress and tension in themselves, thereby allowing for availability of their
most natural and authentic responses in performances and in daily living. Actor’s become
familiar with their body, breath and voice to better adapt or embody a characters’ unique
expressions.