Omaha Theater Company

Presented each year by over 60 presenters, OTC is one of the top professional companies touring work for young audiences. From literature that lives in the hearts of children and families, OTC offers three great shows for the 2006-2007 season: two 60 minute works for school and public performances and one main stage holiday event for families.

For complete information on OTC touring including technical requirements
and examples of study guides and promo materials, visit:
www.rosetheater.org

In 2006-07 Omaha Theater Company offers three exciting titles:

BERENSTAIN BEARS ON STAGE!
Adapted by Stan and Jan Berenstain with music by Elliot Lawrence and Jamie Broza

TOUR EXTENDED!!

Berenstain Bears On Stage! is the World Premiere production of an original musical by Stan and Jan Berenstain, written exclusively for the Omaha Theater Company. Back by popular demand for the 2006-07 season, Berenstain Bears On Stage!  is made up of scenes from the five best selling Berenstain Bears books:  “Messy Room,” “Get in a Fight,” "Double Dare," "New Baby" and "Stage Fright." This exciting musical is an unforgettable event for your family and school audiences, a chance to see the famous Berenstain Bears like you've never seen them before.

Most enjoyed by grades preK – 3rd and by Family Audiences
Availability: January – May 2007

BERENSTAIN BEARS SAVE CHRISTMAS!
Adapted by Stan and Jan Berenstain with music by Elliot Lawrence and Jamie Broza

Happy Holidays! Well, maybe not so happy as far as Mama Bear is concerned. She misses Christmas past, when her family gathered together around the tree, with feelings of love and goodwill. But this year it seems as if everybody in Bear Country has gone Christmas-crazy — fighting for the last toy on the shelf, jamming the roadways with honking cars, and covering Bear homes with enough Christmas lights to blot out the stars. Mama Bear isn’t the only one who thinks this Christmas lacks the true holiday spirit. Someone is watching the Bears — someone who knows more about Christmas than anyone and doesn’t like what he sees one bit. It is Santa Bear, of course, and he’s ready to take drastic action! Only the Berenstain Bears can change his mind, but will they be in time to save Christmas?

Most enjoyed by Family Audiences
This fully produced musical with intermission is available for main stage presentation in November and December 2006.

 


If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond. Reprinted with permission from HarperCollins Publishers.

IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE
Adapted by Jody Johnston Davidson from the book by Laura Joffe Numeroff

Who would suspect that a tiny little mouse could wear out an energetic young boy? Well, if you’re going to go around giving an exuberantly bossy rodent a cookie, be prepared to do one or two more favors for it before your day is through. He’ll certainly need a glass of milk to wash down that cookie, won’t he? And you can’t expect him to drink the milk without a straw, can you? By the time you are finished granting all of the mouse’s very urgent requests — and cleaning up after him — it’s no wonder your head is becoming a bit heavy. Laura Numeroff’s tale of circular logic is a sure-fire winner in the giggle-generator category. But underneath the folly rest valuable lessons about life.

Most enjoyed by ages 5 – Adult for public performances
School performances:  pre-k – 2nd
Available: September 2006 – June 2007

Dallas Children’s Theater

Named by Time Magazine as one of the top 5 children's theater companies in the US, and the only one of that group to tour nationally, this critically acclaimed company travels coast to coast with professional large-scale productions designed to stir the heart, stretch the mind and promote education. Each production is selected and designed with a youth and family audience in mind, from materials which reflect the diversity of our world community. They encompass a combination of classic and contemporary literature, mythology, folk tales, storybooks and fantasies. Study guides accompany every production and a variety of curriculum based workshops and residencies are also available to teachers and students.

For complete information on DCT touring, including technical requirements
and examples of study guides and promo materials, visit:
www.dct.org

MIDNIGHT CRY, The Underground Railroad to Freedom
By James DeVita

Dallas Children’s Theater proudly presents A Midnight Cry, a true story based on a slave narrative of a young girl’s journey to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

A Midnight Cry vividly portrays the importance of literacy.  The play is set in mid-Nineteenth Century America, where education is strictly prohibited for African American slaves. Lida, a young slave, is secretly taught to read and write by her uncle. So powerful and profound is the impact of her ability to read, she is compelled to flee the oppression and brutality of plantation life in search of the freedom that she now understands is her birthright. Courageously leaving all that she knows behind, Lida embarks on a dangerous and exciting journey of truth and self-awareness on the Underground Railroad.

Most enjoyed by grades 4th - 8th
Availability: September 2006 – November 2006 & January 2007 – May 2007

Roseneath Theatre
of Toronto, Canada

Artist's Statement:
"We believe young people have as rich an emotional life as adults. They are limited in experience, but their joys and heartaches, victories and defeats, are felt with as much power and passion as adults. In creating theatre for them, we try to find themes that express as many of those feelings as possible. We cast a net wide into their lives (and our own), a net which becomes heavy and full and very hard to pull out of the sea. But we are never alone. There are directors and designers and actors and technicians and when we all pull, the net comes over the side full of ideas and feelings and laughter and recognition. Feast - not Fast Food. Simple - not Simplistic. Involve the audience - don’t distract it. Emotionally powerful - not superficial. Talking to - not talking down to. These are the guiding principles and tremendous challenges in creating a theatre for children." —David S. Craig, Artistic Director

For complete information on Roseneath's touring, including technical requirements
and examples of study guides and promo materials, visit:
www.roseneath.ca

In 2006-07 Roseneath offers two exciting titles for US audiences:

DANNY KING OF THE BASEMENT
Written by David S. Craig

TOUR EXTENDED!!

Danny King of the Basement is a powerful new play that delights audiences with the power of creative thought to change lives.  In two years, Danny “Delco” Carter and his Mom have lived in more places than most kids lose teeth.  But far from being overcome, Danny is thriving.  When Danny moves into a basement apartment on Clinton Street, the kids he meets have more problems than being hungry.   Penelope’s parents won’t talk to each other. And Angelo’s dad sounds like a dinosaur.  But Danny’s imaginative play creates a community that allows his friends to cope with their problems and ultimately to help Danny-because Danny’s problem isn’t losing a home.  It’s gaining one.

Most enjoyed by grades 4th - 8th
Available: Fall 2006

 

SMOKESCREEN
Written by David S. Craig

Young people who see Smokescreen laugh, listen and think, but above all they are amazed at how real it is.

Smokescreen is an exploration of values and of truth and denial between a father and son, with the adolescent drug culture as a backdrop. The story centers on a savvy, charismatic but troubled young man named Trent Dolin. Trent has been convicted of trafficking marijuana and as the play begins, he arrives for a court-ordered drug rehab assessment with Rayzee deGruiter, a newly minted youth care worker assigned to "easy cases." Trent is anything but. He views marijuana use as an innocuous, innocent, peace promoting pastime demonized by a corrupt and hypocritical world. Known as the "herb man" among his peers, he views his trafficking as more of a public service than a crime and a means of keeping himself supplied. Rayzee slowly strips away the layers of justification that support and mythologize adolescent marijuana use. At the moment of breakthrough, their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Trent’s father who ratchets the conflict up to a new level. Rayzee must broker a deal between these two warring factions that tests all her skills as a counselor and helps Trent envision a new paradigm for his drug behavior.

Most enjoyed by grades 9th - 12th
Available: January-June 2007