Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse Swings Into North Shore, April 8

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, the popular children's book by Kevin Henkes, will be brought to life by the award-winning North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) Youth Performance Academy on April 8th at 10am. Additional performances for school groups will take place April 4th through April 6th.

According to Toby Schine, NSMT's Assistant Director of Education, the show is a unique opportunity for both performers and audience members. "The cast is made up of nine students, selected from the over 120 who auditioned, and four local adult actors," says Schine. "This is an extraordinary educational opportunity for students and adults to learn from each other. The show also incorporates elements of puppetry and multi media effects like projections. This production has something for boys and girls of all ages."

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse "is a charming adaptation from the series of Lilly books by Kevin Henkes. Lilly is a young mouse with a colorful imagination and a wonderful new gift from her granny – a purple plastic purse! Audiences will enjoy seeing Lilly's powerful imagination brought to life, as her irascible antics and purple plastic purse lead her in and out of trouble," state press notes.

The cast features 9 young performers and 4 adult actors representing 10 North Shore communities. They include: Beverly resident Rob Cattell; Everett resident Simone Senibaldi; Gloucester residents Alexis DiGregorio, Tasia Kendall, and Andrew Murdock; Manchester resident Landon Komishane; Marblehead resident Josh Segal; Salem, NH resident Jimmy Doyle; and Topsfield resident Francis Sullivan. The cast will also feature 4 local adult performers, Jeff DePaoli and Jennifer Hazel of Boston, Jonathan Popp of Malden and Ann Roman of Melrose.

North Shore Music Theatre's award-winning theatre arts and education programs and youth performances annually reach over 90,000 students. The Theatre's Youth Performance Academy attracts thousands of students from 4 – 18 years old who are interested in exploring the world of music, theatre and dance and honing their craft. In 2005, NSMT's Youth Performance Academy received the Junior Theater Festival's Outstanding Achievement in Musical Performance Award and the Outstanding Achievement in Choreography Award for its performance of Disney's Cinderella Kids. With partnerships with Music Theatre International (MTI) and Disney Theatricals, NSMT has become the model for schools and organizations around the country and is one of the region's leading providers of theatre arts and education programs.

The show will be performed on the main stage at North Shore Music Theatre on Saturday, April 8th at 10am. Ticket are $15 and $10 and can be purchased by calling the NSMT Box Office at (978) 232-7200, by visiting the website at www.nsmt.org or in person at 62 Dunham Road (Route 128, exit 19), Beverly, MA.

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