Children's Musical Theatre San Jose Celebrates 'Earth Day' With Recycling Campaign this Spring

This 'Earth Day' the performers at Children's Musical Theater San Jose have incorporated an Earth Day theme into two of their upcoming shows.

Rising Stars (ages 8-14) in ONCE ON THIS ISLAND have started a recycling campaign. Since the play is set in Haiti, director Kikau Alvaro suggested that the cast do something for the Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti and a collection site for bottles and cans was set up.

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND is a highly original and theatrical Caribbean adaptation of the the popular fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" garnered eight Tony nominations for its Broadway run, including Best Musical, Book and Score. In almost non-stop song and dance, the show tells the story of Ti Moune, a peasant girl who rescues and falls in love with Daniel, a wealthy boy from the other side of her island. When Daniel is returned to his people, the fantastical gods who rule the island guide Ti Moune on a quest to test the strength of her love against the powerful forces of prejudice, hatred and death.

The cast of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, performed by CMT Mainstage (ages 14-20) have taken a different path. Director John McCluggage suggested the song, "Somewhere That's Green" become a call to recycling.  Local e-recycler, GreenMouse Recycling owner Evelyn O'Donnell said, "Great! Getting kids involved in their community is what recycling is all about. Face it, a world without recycling is truly a shop of horrors!" GreenMouse, Inc. is a San Jose-based company providing electronics collection and computer recycling services to businesses and residential consu

mers throughout California. The cast is supporting the recycling effort in the rehearsAl Hall and promoting GreenMouse's recycling efforts in the show's program. "One of our guiding principles at CMT is to provide a positive nurturing community and we believe encouraging our performers and patrons to give back is part of that," said Ann Hurst, managing director of Children's Musical Theater San Jose.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is the story of a down-and out skid row floral assistant who becomes an overnight sensation when he discovers an exotic plant with a mysterious craving for fresh blood. Soon "Audrey II" grows into an ill-tempered, R&B-singing carnivore who offers him fame and fortune in exchange for feeding its growing appetite, finally revealing itself to be an alien creature poised for global domination!

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND will be performed at the Montgomery Theater April 29 through May 2. LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS will be performed at the Montgomery Theater May 7 through 16. Tickets are available at www.cmtsj.org, or by calling (408) 792-4111.

For more details and showtimes visit www.cmtsj.org.