Westport Country Playhouse to Stage New Musical CHICKEN DANCE

Westport Country Playhouse's Family Festivities Series will present the new musical, "Chicken Dance," on Sunday, January 31, at 1 p.m., and 4 p.m., based on the book by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Dan Santat, which won many honors, including the National Parenting Publications Gold Award. Running time is approximately one hour. Produced by ArtsPower, the show is recommended for Grades K - 2. Tickets are $20.

Marge and Lola, two barnyard chickens, are on a mission to win the barnyard talent contest first prize of two tickets to see the great Elvis Poultry in concert. But first, they must present a performance that will score higher than a flock of very talented ducks who seem to have the contest locked up. Can Marge and Lola face their challengers and win the talent contest?

Pre-show activities will begin one hour before each performance, at noon and 3 p.m., in the Sheffer Studio, led by Mina Hartong, theater instructor at Regional Center for the Arts, and Jennifer Katona, lecturer and director of The City College of New York's graduate program in educational theater. The interactive theater workshop will offer kids and their parents an opportunity to play, move, and create scenes inspired by the show. Due to the structure of the activity, no new participants may be added more than 15 minutes after it has begun. Please arrive on time.

Family Festivities shows are presented on selected Sundays from November through April. Family Festivities Corporate Sponsors are Pitney Bowes and Northwestern Mutual. Family Festivities Partner is Darlene Krenz. The Family Festivities Series is also supported by the Westport Young Woman's League.

Upcoming Family Festivities presentations are: "Charlotte's Web," on Sunday, February 28, 1 and 4 p.m., a musical based on E.B. White's loving story of the friendship between a pig named Wilbur and a little gray spider named Charlotte, produced by TheatreWorksUSA; "Moon Mouse: A Space Odyssey," on Sunday, March 20, 1 and 4 p.m., a cosmic adventure with music about Marvin, the mouse, produced by Lightwire Theater; and "Are You My Mother?," on Sunday, April 10, 1 and 4 p.m., a musical based on P. D. Eastman's whimsical and well-loved picture book, produced by ArtsPower.

In conjunction with the Family Festivities Series, the Playhouse will once again host a book collection for Read to Grow, Inc., a statewide nonprofit organization that helps parents take an active role in their children's literacy development by providing free children's books to families with limited access and to community resources that serve them. At each Family Festivities performance, bins will be located in the Playhouse lobby for donations of gently used and new children's books which will be given to families and programs in the greater Fairfield County area through Read to Grow. During last season's Family Festivities series, the Playhouse collected nearly 300 books.

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