Cheese, wicked stepmothers, wicked stepfathers, national emergency and whatever your imagination can come up with — Imagination Stage will this season be probing all the themes which fascinate the childish imagination.
The company will open its season with the Alyn Cardarelli-Steven Goers slam-bang version of Cinderella, a musical in which our heroine supplements her cleaning and sweeping with some kick-butt swordplay. What’s more, the Prince ruminates on the challenges of royalty and his valet schemes to keep Cinderella away, lest she threaten his job security. Phil Potempta of Offbeat noted that ” The musical numbers for this production are not only memorable, but the songs are fun and inviting to stick with audiences long after the curtain falls * * * And as for funny, fresh lines, I’m still chuckling about the Stepmother telling Cinderella to gather eggs from the hen house because…’everyone these days is on a high-protein diet.'” Cinderella, which Kathryn Chase Bryer will direct, will run from November 3, 2018 to January 6, 2019. Ages 4 and up. says Imagination Stage.
Next up are two musicals in rep — Anatole, Mouse Magnifique, and Dickens’s Davy Copperfield. Anatole is the story of a mouse with a mission: to save the Duval cheese factory from a predator so scary and deadly that none dare speak his name. Tom Story directs and Jaysen Wright plays the heroic title mouse; the cast also features Dawn Ursula. Book and lyrics by John Maclay and Lee Becker; Janes Valcq writes the music. For ages 4 and up; from February 9 to March 14 of next year.
Meanwhile, it is the best of times and the worst of times for young Davy, as local artists Janet Stanford (book) and Tim Guillot (music and lyrics) adapt the dickens out of the famous story of a young boy in peril in England’s 19th century. With his sweet mother married to a wicked stepfather, young Davy lodges with a series of eccentric relatives and guardians, and meets all manner of people, including the classic sleazeball Uriah Heep. Stanford directs; Zach Powell plays Davy. This will run from February 16 to March 31, 2019. Imagination Stage recommends it for folks 6 years of age and older.
In April, Imagination will feature a new play written by you (or, better yet, your kids). Escape from Peligro Island, young Callaway Brown (Dallas Tolentino) is stranded on a desert island, and it is up to the audience to decide what he’ll do next. One option: time-travel to the wild west and meet up with a talking horse. But, really, it’s on the shoulders of the young audience. Finegan Kruckemeyer has drawn up the scenarios (and gets the writing credit, no matter how creative your children are). From ages 5 and up. Bryer directs; from April 27 to June 2 of next year.
The Imagination season will wrap up with a production done collaboratively with the Honolulu Theatre for Youth: The Ballad of Mu Lan, Alvin Chan’s tale of a young woman who goes to war with her beloved China against the Xia Xia. Chan directs; with music by Matt Mazzella. This cast features students from the O-mei Wushu Center- under the direction of Martial Arts Master Sifu Xiaolin Lu. For ages 4 and up; from June 26 to August 18, 2019.
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Check out the entire DC Area theatre season
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