B Street Presents 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Tales' by Mark Twain

B Street Theatre's Family Series, California's only fully professional, resident theater for children, is pleased to present The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Tales by Mark Twain. The production features a collection of stories originally written by prolific American author and humorist Mark Twain. These classic tales have been transformed into an outrageously fun and fast- paced adaptation for the stage by Buck Busfield, Greg Alexander and David Pierini.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Tales by Mark Twain will feature adaptations of: The Story of the Bad Little Boy, The Story of the Good Little Boy, Mrs. McWilliams and the Lightning, About Barbers, The Stolen White Elephant, The Joke that Made Ed's Fortune, and The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

This production marks the 162nd play written by B Street Staff and the first time that Buck Busfield, Greg Alexander, and David Pierini have collaborated to write a Family Series script. The 2014-2015 Family Series Season features four World Premieres of scripts written by B Street Staff; making B Street the only theatre in the country to professionally produce original scripts for young audiences.

The production is set to run May 2-June 6 at B Street Theatre B2 Stage, 2711 B St., Sacramento. Tickets cost $20 for Adults, $15 for Children, and $8-12 for Preview tickets (Please note this price includes a $5 Facility Fee). For more information please call (916) 443-5300 or visit www.bstreettheatre.org.

B Street Theatre and Sacramento's Connection to Mark Twain

The Missouri-born author Samuel Clemens, who is better known by his pen-name, Mark Twain, is renowned for his contributions to The Sacramento Union.

Regarding his time at The Union, Mark Twain once said "Early in 1866, George Barnes invited me to resign my reportership on his paper, the San Francisco Morning Call, and for some months thereafter, I was without money or work; then I had a pleasant turn of fortune. The proprietors of the Sacramento Union, a great and influential daily journal, sent me to the Sandwich Islands to write four letters a month at twenty dollars a piece. I was there for four or five months, and returned to find myself about the best known man on the Pacific Coast."

In 1866 Twain released a series of articles on Hawaii for The Sacramento Union. These were very popular and many historians credit the series with turning Twain into a journalistic star. However, most consider Twain's first great success as a writer to be the publication of his short story entitled The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which brought him much national acclaim.

Twain's popular tale is set in Calaveras County, California; only an hour southeast of Sacramento. The county hosts an annual Jumping Frog Jubilee, featuring a frog-jumping contest, to celebrate the association with Mark Twain's story. The jubilee will be held during the third weekend in May, taking place during B Street's run of Jumping Frog on the Family Series stage.

Play: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Tales by Mark Twain

Playwright: Buck Busfield: Buck Busfield has worked for the B Street since its creation in 1986. He selects and casts all plays and has directed more than 100, working with some of the nation's finest actors and playwrights. As a playwright himself, Buck has written more than 20 plays; many having received productions at B Street Theatre. He is the recipient of the Arts and Business Council of Sacramento's Executive of the Year award and a senior fellow of the Mountain Valley chapter of the American Leadership Forum, Class IX. He makes his home in Sacramento with his wife Mehera, and their daughter, Priya.

Playwright: Greg Alexander Please see bio listed with cast.

Playwright: David Pierini

Director: Lyndsay Burch

Cast:

Ensemble: Greg Alexander - Greg Alexander has appeared in numerous B Street Theatre productions including I Am My Own Wife, The Big Bang!, Around The World In 80 Days, Escanaba In Da Moonlight, and Outside Mullingar. Most recently he wrote and directed Walk In Our Shoes - a show promoting mental health awareness - for B Street Theatre's School Tour. Sponsored by the California Mental Health Services Authority, Walk In Our Shoes was performed at over 100 schools throughout the state. Additional regional theatre credits include work at The Jewish Theatre of San Francisco, Sacramento Theatre Company, Capital Stage, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Philadelphia Theatre Company and People's Light and Theatre Company in Malvern, Pa. Greg lives in Sacramento with his wife Sean and their Westies, Milo and Magoo.

Ensemble: Amy Kelly - Amy Kelly is an actress, comedian, v.o artist and impersonator. Her film credits include Nick and Tristan Go Mega Dega (2010) and West Hollywood Motel (2013) and she has starred in numerous independent cult classics that have screened internationally. Amy guest starred in the Comedy Central series Free Radio and VH1's reality series New York Goes to Hollywood. Amy is a B Street Theatre company member, her performances include Well, 39 Steps, The Snow Queen, Extraordinary Things: Through the Eyes of Anne Frank, The Young Tom Edison, Hansel and Gretel, The Conductor: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Robyn is Happy, and The Ladies Foursome. She also writes and performs for the B Sketchy comedy shows.

Ensemble: John Lamb - John is a company member of the B Street Theatre. Former roles on the B Street stage include Brother Brightbee et al. in The Book of Liz, Brent in While We Were Bowling, Johnny in Juno and the Paycock, Pete/Danny in Almost, Maine, Clyde in Jack Goes Boating, Nicky Giblin in The Seafarer, Donnie in The Foursome and Huey in Italian American Reconciliation. He has acted in the B Street Family Series productions of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, The Canterville Ghost, The Boxcar Children, The Princess and the Pauper, Johnny Tremain, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Rumplestilskin, the Swiss Family Robinson, Junie B. Jones, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells and most recently The Three Musketeers. Directing credits include Women Who Steal, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Earshot, The Maintenance Man, Beauty and the Beast and The Big Bang.

Ensemble: Rick Kleber - Rick was an original Fantasy Theatre company member and has appeared in over 25 B Street productions including The Three Musketeers, Hansel and Gretel, A Year With Frog and Toad, Go Dog Go, Pinocchio, The Golden Harp, The Conductor: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Gunmetal Blues and The Death of Zukasky. Abroad he has appeared in over 120 productions, including Guys and Dolls (Alabama Summer Fest), Little Shop of Horrors (Syracuse Stage), Cabaret (Oklahoma Lyric Theatre), Crazy for You (Music Theatre of Southern California), Corpse (Foothill Theatre) and Fiddler on the Roof (Golden Theatre) for which he won a Los Angeles Drama-Logue Award. Film credits include: Ghost, Hook, My Favorite Martian, Her Minor Thing, Waxwork II, Lunch and The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave. Television credits include: Jay Leno's The Tonight Show, Howard Stern's Son of the Beach, The West Wing, The Amanda Show, All That, The Jimmie Kimmel Show, and national commercials for Coke and Sony. Rick is a proud company member of the B Street Theatre Acting Company.

Ensemble: Meaghan Macey - Meaghan Macey is an acting intern with B Street Theatre. She studied in West Liberty University's acting program, and with the Stella Adler Studio of Acting (NYC Campus) Summer Conservatory. Meaghan has appeared in some regional theatre productions such as Molly Hagan's "Swing of the Sea", and Stefan Farrenkoph's "Tater Tot's Of Love" in Columbus, OH. Meaghan has also done 2 children's school tours around Northern California with B Street Theatre ("Sciensationally Savvy Days" and "Queens and Kings, Jokers and Jacks"). Meaghan tries to lead an active lifestyle both in, and outside of the theatre. She spent a summer as a zip line guide, and teaches swing and blues dancing in her spare time. She wants to thank B Street Theatre for the amazing opportunities that it has given her through this internship, and her fellow interns, family, and friends for all of their unending support and love.

Scenic Designer: Samantha Reno - Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Sam has designed and painted for the Cincinnati Opera, Children's Theatre of Cincinnati and Town Hall Theatre, among many others. Ms. Reno has taught scenic artistry at the high school level. Her B Street credits include Boom!, Jenny Chow, Love Child, and Hound of the Baskervilles. She earned two bachelor of fine arts degrees from Northern Kentucky University in both set design and graphic design.

Family Series Background

The B Street Theatre's Family Series is California's only fully professional, resident theater for children. Operating under a Theatre for Young Audience agreement with Actors Equity Association, the Family Series' mission is to introduce children to the wonder of professional theater through the production of original plays, and original adaptations of contemporary novels, and classic works of literature. Since its premiere season in 2003, the Family Series has presented over 40 professional plays for approximately 250,000 children and families of the Sacramento region.

More about B Street Theatre: B Street Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre company producing primarily new work for adults, families and children. The two-theatre playhouse on B Street in Midtown Sacramento is home to the Mainstage Series, B3 Series and Family Series, each created to feature intimate, quality theatre for audiences year-round. Recognized as one of the Nation's top professional theatres, B Street Theatre has produced more than 100 new plays, 60 of which are world, national, West Coast or regional premieres.

B Street Theatre was originally founded in 1986 for the purpose of bringing the excitement of live performance to children through the B Street Theatre School Tour. This educational outreach program serves over 200,000 students in Northern California annually.

Other B Street Theatre programs include the B Street Theatre Family Series and Family Series Student Matinees (for school field trips), the B3 Series, B Street Acting Conservatory and Studio for Young People, and the B Street Theatre Internship program for pre-professional/post-college training.

B Street Theatre has produced over 250 professional productions since 1986. More information at www.bstreettheatre.org.

The mission of B Street Theatre is to promote education and literacy, social interaction, and cultural enrichment by engaging children and adults in the highest quality theatre arts and playwriting.

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