Pinocchio Comes To Life On The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine Stage

A cast of young actors will perform the tale of Pinocchio at the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine this summer. The classic story of a well-meaning puppet who struggles to be good will be familiar to audiences of all ages - and particularly resonant for the children in the audience, who face the temptation to misbehave during long summer days.

The Museum & Theatre's production offers the traditional story with a few unique twists: imagine Geppetta as Pinocchio's kindly woodcarving mother, and Pinocchio and his school chums rapping about the joys of playing hooky.
"This play is different because it uses so many different characters to tell the story," says Michela Micalizio of Falmouth, who plays Mastroni the Puppet Master. "It has a lot of funny parts, too - especially when Pinocchio gets really sassy."

The cast (ages 8-16) features several veterans of the Children's Museum & Theatre stage like Michela, as well as a number of newcomers, including Reed Foehl as Pinocchio.
Pinocchio will be previewing on Thursday, July 22. Performances start Friday, July 23 and run through Sunday, August 1 (Thursday - Sunday). All shows are at 4pm. Tickets are $8 each ($7 each for museum members). Performances take place at the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine, 142 Free Street in Portland. Tickets can be purchased online at www.kitetails.org, by phone at (207) 828-1234 x231 or at the front desk. Reservations are encouraged.

To celebrate Pinocchio, the Children's Museum & Theatre is offering many related programs throughout the month of July, including "Project Pinocchio," a pre-show program in which children can create works of art from wood, just like Gepetta (free with admission; 2:30pm on 7/22, 7/23 and 7/29). For dates and times of other Pinocchio programs, visit www.kitetails.org/calendar-of-events/.