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Plays for Young Audiences E-News
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December 2006
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In this issue
-- Tale of a West Texas Marsupial Girl
-- The Sorcerer's Apprentice
-- Peter and the Wolf
-- The Hundred Dresses -- Synopsis
We hope you are enjoying your winter holiday. While planning for next season you may want to consider two wonderful new titles that will be added to the script catalog in January: Tale of a West Texas Marsupial Girl and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. But in the mean time, be sure to check out Peter and the Wolf and The Hundred Dresses. *December script special!* During the month of December 2006, you can get one PDF script at half price! Get your script today! One discount script per customer. Does not apply to previously ordered scripts. Does not apply to hard copy scripts. Enter the code DECPDF06 in the Discount Code box on the online order form |
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Tale of a West Texas Marsupial Girl ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What if you're a little girl born with a pouch? Or 95%
little girl. 5% marsupial. Meet Marsupial Girl. Smart,
clever, curious, full of fun. Yet most reject, even fear
her. Good thing she has a loving, supportive mom and
her friend Sue. When Marsupial Girl is framed for a
theft, however, she's had enough. Standing up to
the whole town, she turns to what makes her
unique: her mysterious, magically powerful pouch.
This contemporary fable celebrates differences with
a town full of quirky characters, and an irresistible
background of rockabilly, country, and blues music.
And one spitfire girl.
Tale of a West Texas Marsupial Girl is written by Lisa D'Amour, a playwright and multidisciplinary artist who often creates site-specific work. Lisa is a core member of the Playwrights’ Center, a resident artist at HERE,an alumna of New Dramatists, and an OBIE Award winner in 2003. *Available January 26, 2007* |
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The Sorcerer's Apprentice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Young, hungry, and on his own, Charles finds himself
in a mystical wood with talking plants and animals—
the prickly Jeremy Groundhog, Southern belle Ms.
Orange Tree, the grounded Mr. Juniper Bush, and
more. Catching a glimpse of Marguerite, the queen of
the forest, he is astounded as she makes everyday
objects sail through the air, work in the garden, and
seem to come alive. He has never seen a sorcerer
before! Charles eagerly seeks to become her
apprentice, but his arrogance, disrespect, and
gullibility have him quickly run through the three
chances that Marguerite granted him. After the third
incident, the sorcerer’s trust in Charles is gone. In his
desperation, he turns to Big John King, a flimflam
artist, to convince Marguerite to take him back. Now
things look bleak for Marguerite, but Charles comes
to his mentor’s aid, fending off John’s giant and
sinister minions in a spectacular battle. For his
loyalty and bravery, Marguerite gives him another
chance. He has finally learned to listen to others and
is truly ready to be the sorcerer’s apprentice.
Steeped with magic realism and "N'Orleans-style" swing and jazz music, this innovative production was created by the highly-acclaimed playwright OyamO and noted composer and conductor Carman Moore. Khanh Doan, Leslie Law as Miss Orange Tree, Mo Brady and Peter A. Jacobs (background) in SCT's world-premiere production of The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Photo by Chris Bennion. *Available January 2007* |
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Peter and the Wolf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter and the Wolf, based on the classic
symphonic piece by Sergei Prokofiev, is funny, sweet
and filled with a bouncy blend of new music entwined
with the original score. In 1936, Prokofiev wrote
Peter and the Wolf as a way to introduce
orchestral instruments to children. Allison Gregory,
co-playwright of PYA’s stage adaptation of Go,
Dog. Go!, has written this updated version of
Peter and the Wolf which is faithful to
Prokofiev’s
work yet has a fresh comedic perspective. Two-time
Emmy Award winner Hummie Mann has composed a
score for Peter and the Wolf that mixes the original
music with bursts of tango, waltz, blues and cartoon
zip. The Herald newspaper in Seattle says, “If you
like old-style Loony Tunes cartoon, you’ll appreciate
this play. It’s fun whether you’re four, 40 or four
score and 10.”
Peter A. Jacobs as Duck and Hans Altwies as Wolf in Seattle Children’s Theatre’s world-premiere production of Peter and the Wolf. Photo by Chris Bennion. |
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The Hundred Dresses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Check out PYA's newest addition to the script
catalog, The Hundred Dresses, adapted from
the 1944 award-winning book by Eleanor Estes. Set
in the 1930’s, the story begins when the Petronskis,
a poor Polish immigrant family, move to town. When
Wanda Petronski tells Maddie’s rich best friend Peggy
that she has a hundred dresses, Peggy laughs in
disbelief, pointing out that Wanda wears the same
dress to school everyday. Why would you do that if
you had a hundred dresses? From that point on,
Peggy relentlessly teases Wanda about her dresses.
While Maddie doesn’t tease Wanda, she does nothing
to stop it for fear of being teased herself. After the
Petronskis suddenly move from town the children
discover that Wanda made one hundred exquisite
drawings of all types of dresses she’d imagined. The
beauty of her work earns the awe and respect of her
classmates, though Wanda will never know it
because she moved away. Maddie begins to
understand that it is more important to speak out
and stand up for people, even if it is not the popular
thing to do.
The Hundred Dresses adaptation was written by Mary Hall Surface, an internationally-recognized playwright and director specializing in theatre for families. Mary has served as an advisor to American Theatre Magazine, on the board of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Youth and as a National Endowment for the Arts on-site evaluator and 2003 theater panelist. In July 2006, she was awarded the Charlotte Chorpenning Prize from the American Alliance for Theatre in Education for her outstanding body of work as a playwright. Photo: Mary Hall Surface |
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Synopsis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PYA is constantly adding new information to its
website newspage, Synopsis. New this month: the
KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio interview with
Peter
and the Wolf playwright Allison Gregory and
composer
Hummie Mann.
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Quick Links... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone:
(612) 872-5108
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