Brooklyn Center Announces 2009/2010 Theater Series

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College announces its 55th season of diverse, family friendly theater and musical theater performances, including a Tony® Award-winning musical, an American literary masterpiece, and a world-premiere adaptation of a children's classic.

"Like all Brooklyn Center seasons, 2009-2010 has something for just about everyone," says Brooklyn Center Managing Director Frank Sonntag. "Our theater series offers everything from storytelling to spectacle, from classic to contemporary, from riveting drama to zany musical comedy. We strive to bring an astounding variety of stellar artists at prices that are within reach for most families. This year, in particular, I believe we have succeeded outstandingly."

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' 2009-2010 season includes the following theater performances:
* I Love a Piano
* Enchantment Theatre Company's Harold and the Purple Crayon
* Barter Theater's Of Mice and Men
* Hairspray
* David Gonzalez's Sleeping Beauty

I LOVE A PIANO
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Conceived and Written by Ray Roderick and Michael Berkeley
Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 3pm
This new musical takes a nostalgic journey that spans seven decades of American history as seen through the eyes of Irving Berlin. The show tracks the life of a piano with one sour key through four generations of singers and dancers who have performed with and around it. Featuring over 60 of Berlin's enduring and popular favorites, I Love a Piano captures the spirit of America from the Ragtime rhythms of the early 20th century through the innocent optimism of the 1950s. Including timeless classics such as "White Christmas," "God Bless America," "Puttin' On the Ritz," and "There's No Business Like Show Business," I Love a Piano does more than define the music of a generation - it defines the music of our country.
Tickets $25, ½ price for children 18 and under

HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON
Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 2pm
Enchantment Theatre Company returns to Brooklyn Center with a new theatrical adaptation of Crockett Johnson's beloved children's classic. Using life-size puppets, masks, magic and music, this family musical tells the story of Harold, a brave and resourceful little boy who creates the world he wants to explore using only a big purple crayon and his sky's-the-limit imagination. A Target FamilyFun performance for ages four and up.
Tickets $6

OF MICE AND MEN
Produced by the Barter Theatre
Directed by Katy Brown
Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 3pm
John Steinbeck's literary masterpiece about a unique friendship between two migrant workers and their quest for the American Dream is brought to life by the Tony® Award-winning Barter Theatre. The cast includes John Hardy as George and Mike Ostroski as Lenny, along with Ashley Campos, Sean Campos, Ezra Colon, Ben Mackel, Jasper McGruder, Rick McVey, Nicholas Piper, and Eugene Wolf.
Tickets $25, ½ price for children 18 and under

HAIRSPRAY
Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 3pm
It's 1962, and pleasantly plump Baltimore teen Tracy Turnblad has only one desire - to dance on the "Corny Collins Show." When her dream comes true, Tracy is transformed from social outcast to sudden star, but she must use her newfound power to vanquish the reigning Teen Queen, win the affections of heartthrob Link Larkin and integrate a TV network - all without denting her 'do! Don't miss Broadway's musical comedy phenomenon that inspired a major motion picture and won eight Tony® Awards, including Best Musical.
Tickets $40, $30, ½ price for children 18 and under

DAVID GONZALEZ'S SLEEPING BEAUTY
Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 2pm
A Brooklyn Center commission
Master storyteller David Gonzalez (2006 Drama Desk nominee, Unique Theatrical Experience for The Frog Bride) puts a new spin on the classic fairy tale, using live and electronic music, dance, image projections, and exquisite lighting to create a magical multimedia world in which a beautiful princess is awakened by true love's kiss. A Target FamilyFun performance for ages six and up.
Tickets $6

I Love a Piano, Of Mice and Men, and Hairspray are available as asubscription series, priced at $75. Multibuy packages (any three or more performances from Brooklyn Center's 2009-2010 season) save up to 15% off individual ticket prices. All seats for all performances in Brooklyn Center's Target FamilyFun series are $6. Discounts are available for seniors, students, Brooklyn College faculty/staff/alumni, and groups of 15 or more.

Founded in 1954, the mission of Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts is to present outstanding performing arts and arts education programs, reflective of Brooklyn's diverse communities, at affordable prices. Brooklyn Center's presentations explore both the classical traditions and the boldest contemporary performances, embracing the world culture that defines Brooklyn. Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts welcomes over 70,000 people to the 2,400 seat Walt Whitman Theatre each season, and boasts one of the largest arts education programs in the borough, serving schoolchildren from over 225 schools annually with its SchoolTime series.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Walt Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College
2900 Campus Road, Brooklyn

Online orders: BrooklynCenterOnline.org
Box Office: (718) 951-4500, Tuesday - Saturday, 1PM - 6PM
Subscription Orders/Season Brochure Requests: (718) 951-4600, ext. 25
Groups of 15 or more: (718) 951-4600, ext. 22

The Brooklyn Eagle is Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' 2009-2010 Theater Series Media Partner. Brooklyn Center's 2009-2010 Target FamilyFun series is sponsored by Target.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' programs are made possible in part with public funding from the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts. Funding for Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' 2009-2010 season is provided by: JP Morgan Chase; Independence Community Foundation; Con Edison; National Grid; TD Bank; Macy's; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; Air Jamaica; the Carnegie Corporation of New York; and the Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Fund, established in the New York Community Trust by founders of The Reader's Digest Association. Additional support provided by Courier-Life Publications, The Brooklyn Paper, and WBGO. Marriott New York LaGuardia Airport is the official hotel of Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts 2009-2010 season. Backstage catering graciously provided by Bettina Harris of The Corn Bread Diner and by Applebee's.

Brooklyn Center gratefully acknowledges generous support from the Members of the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York State Assembly and Speaker Sheldon Silver; Members of the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York State Senate and Majority Leader Malcolm Smith; Members of the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York City Council and Speaker Christine C. Quinn; Cultural Affairs Committee Chairman Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. and Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Kate Levin.