The MainStreet Theatre Company has announced its 2012/2013 season of high quality professional productions for children and families. Once again the company will produce three distinctly different productions for a variety of age groups at the 536 seat Lewis Family Playhouse. The lineup includes two musicals based on popular children's books.
The first show of the season will be Pinkalicious the Musical, based on the best selling book for the younger set! The show's book is also written by book authors
Elizabeth Kann &
Victoria Kann, with Music by
John Gregor. Pinkalicious the Musical will be directed and choreographed by
Sha Newman, who will add her own razzle-dazzle to the proceedings. The story, about a little girl who eats too many cupcakes and turns pink, has been delighting youngsters since its publication in 2006, and the musical celebrates everything pink while reminding kids that sometimes too much of a good thing is... too much. Pinkalicious, recommended for ages 5 and up, runs October 6 – 21, 2012.
In January, MainStreet will produce the West Coast premiere of an imaginative re-telling of a much-loved tale. Aladdin's Luck by Janet Stanford, uses audience participation and imaginative staging to tell the familiar story with only three actors! A clever street urchin called Aladdin falls madly for the Princess Leilah when they meet by chance at the bazaar. Determined to impress the Princess, he embarks on a search for fortune and instead finds a dingy oil lamp. But this is no ordinary lamp; it houses a magical genie who helps Aladdin masquerade as a Grand Emir to win Leilah's hand. Leilah, however, fell for the street urchin, not the Grand Emir. Frustrated that Aladdin won't admit who he really is, Leilah gives the lamp to an unscrupulous magician and ends up his prisoner. Now Aladdin must travel across the desert to rescue Leilah by doing the thing that scares him the most...being himself. Aladdin's Luck, recommended for ages 5 and up, will be directed by
Robert Castro, who directed MainStreet's Ovation Recommended production of A Wrinkle in Time, which closed May 20th.
The final show of the season is the TYA musical version of The Phantom Tollbooth, based on the much loved book by
Norton Juster. Often compared to "Alice In Wonderland" because of its wonderful wordplay and sense of playfulness, the novel celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011.
This musical version captures all the fantasy and delight of the original and brings it vividly to life! When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in Milo's room, he follows the directions and drives though, only because he's bored and has nothing better to do. But on the other side, things are very different! He gets stuck in the Doldrums, befriends a ticking watchdog named Tock, meets the feuding kings of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, and goes on a quest to rescue the princesses Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes that life is far from dull – in fact, it's exciting beyond his wildest dreams! The musical's book is by
Norton Juster &
Sheldon Harnick, with music by
Arnold Black and lyrics by
Sheldon Harnick. MainStreet's production will be directed by the prolific
Jessica Kubzansky.
All three productions will run for three weeks each, with performances on weekends for family audiences, and weekday morning performances for school groups. Subscriptions are available for the 2nd and 3rd weekends of each show's run at 20 percent off the single ticket price.
In an effort to have more personal engagement with MainStreet's growing audience base, the company is also starting the MainStreet Club for children and their families. Members of the club ($20 a year for one adult and 1 child) will receive a button and membership card, have access to special events related to each show, and will learn the "secret handshake".
Lewis Family Playhouse at Victoria Gardens Cultural Center is located at 12505 Cultural Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Box Office: (909) 477-2752. Online:
lewisfamilyplayhouse.com.
Find the group on Facebook for more up to the minute details about the production and the additional special events at
www.facebook.com/MainStreetTheatreCompany.
