Aurora Children’s Playhouse Expands Summer Schedule for 2012

Aurora Theatre's summer performance schedule moves to Wednesday with shows at 10 AM and 11:30 AM beginning on May 30 featuring six shows over the following seven weeks. (Note: There is no show July 4.) Aurora Children's Playhouse: Summer Edition welcomes local families to attend, and offers special group rates for churches, camps and day cares to bus in groups.

The fun begins on May 30 with master juggler Todd Key and his extraordinary Cirque Du Todd. A legendary fixture at Renaissance Festivals in North America as a part of the act The Zucchini Brothers, Todd hones his solo show Cirque Du Todd especially for children and families. Imagine, if you will, a man balanced upon a small, thin board, performing rope tricks, interacting with the audience, and juggling the TEN MOST DANGEROUS OBJECTS IN HISTORY, all while maintaining a patter that will keep you laughing so hard tears will come to your eyes. That's Cirque Du Todd!

On June 6, Aurora Children's Playhouse: Summer Edition welcomes BlackTop Playground: Improv Comedy for Kids. BlackTop Improv Group is comprised of internationally known comedians that have appeared on BET, HBO and Comedy Central. Much of the BlackTop success comes from these fellows having a child-like sense of humor themselves. With quick wit and imagination, BlackTop instantly creates funny scenes using suggestions from the crowd. With those suggestions coming from children, you get a hilariously creative comedy show with tons of audience interaction. Don't miss the most unique, versatile and comically explosive force in the entertainment industry today.

After her successful Aurora debut earlier this spring, children's recording artist Miss Tara returns on June 13 with Walk the Plank! & More Music. Ahoy, me hearties: Calling all young pirates and landlubbers! If you like singing silly tunes and telling pirate tales, you'll enjoy this dynamic performance with children's singing sensation Tara Chiusano. Dance and sing-along with songs like Petey the Peg-Leg Parrot, Four Pirates who Sailed the Sea and Tianna the Mermaid. Also featuring other Miss Tara hits like Monster Under My Bed, Superhero, Jelly Beans and more! Get ready to dance, jump around, play with puppets and walk the plank!

On June 20, The Circus King comes to town. The Story Ship founder and dynamic performer Sean Driscoll combines hilarious puppets, beautiful animation, spellbinding magic and wonderful music with tremendous audience interaction. When a young boy is lost at sea and found by a baboon on a far away island, he is raised by a band of circus misfits. The audience and cast of characters help the boy overcome personal challenges and discover his destiny. With a little magic, characters come right out of a large screen magically turning from animation into puppets! Featuring Ella, the elephant with bad allergies, a lazy lion with curlers and crossed eyed acrobats swinging through the air in a world of magical props and musical instruments.

After three years of sold-out performances in October, Aurora Children's Playhouse welcomes Atlanta magician extraordinaire Arthur Atsma this summer with his Camp Aurora Magic Show on June 27. Arthur will amaze and amuse folks of all ages with a show filled with captivating sleight-of-hand magic, audience interaction and comedy. When a child is focused on a magic trick or thinks, "How did he do that?" their minds are open to a world of possibility and learning. Arthur Atsma also has a way of making tickets disappear, so book early for this show.

The summer finale on July 11 is the fast-paced Atlanta Puppet classic Animalympics. Olympic fever will be in the air with the 2012 summer games talking place in London. In 1996 when Atlanta was host to the games, hometown puppeteer Peter Hart created a show for the Olympic Village. He posed the question, "What would it be like if animals had their own Olympics?" The answer, Animalympics of course! This energetic, audience-interactive comedy performance features: kittens in yarn ball scrimmages, squirrels in nut-bury championships and orangutans in banana toss finals.

Aurora Children's Playhouse features puppeteers, magicians, storytellers, jugglers and musicians intended for youngsters to have their first theatrical experiences. At about 45 minutes in length, perfect for the young attention span, these lively performances are fun for the whole family. Back for a fourth summer featuring an expanded schedule is Aurora Children's Playhouse: Summer Edition with Wednesday morning performances at 10 & 11:30am throughout the summer. For more information visit: http://www.auroratheatre.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&Itemid=66