GO DOG, GO! and More Set for NextStop Theatre Company's 2013-14 Family Season

A musical adaptation of a beloved children's book, a co-production of a fairy tale favorite, and the regional premiere of a zany new kid's comedy will all be featured in the first season of the rebranded NextStop Theatre Company, formerly known as Elden Street Players. Under the new program banner of NextStop Family, the company will dedicate even greater focus and funding to producing high quality plays and musicals for kids and their parents.

The inaugural NextStop Family season will begin in October with a musical version of Go, Dog. Go!, the beginner reader's classic by P.D. Eastman. In February, the company will collaborate with Faction of Fools Theatre Company, on an all-new adaptation of Pinocchio. Finally, in July 2014, NextStop Family will help beat the summer heat, with the regional premiere of the tropical island adventure, Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island.

"Our family theatre programming has always had a very special place in my heart," says Producing Artistic Director, Evan Hoffmann. "In 1992, I was first introduced to the Elden Street Players when I was lucky enough to be cast in the company's very first children's production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. That production helped cement my love of theatre. Our children's productions have been bringing that same joy to thousands of kids and parents for more than twenty years! We hope to continue and grow that tradition as a vital part of the future of NextStop and our community."

The season opener will be an explosion of movement and color as the fun-loving canines in P.D. Eastman's Go, Dog. Go! take over the Industrial Strength Theatre from October 19th to November 20th. This musical adaptation of the classic children's book was created by Allison Gregory and Stephen Dietz. It will be directed by Ray Ficca, who serves as both the Artistic Director of the Totem Pole Playhouse in Fayetteville, PA and President of the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Washington, DC.

The next production will herald a brand new venture for NextStop as the company partners with Faction of Fools to co-produce an original version of Pinocchio from March 8-30, 2014. Faction of Fools was the recipient of the John Aniello Award for Emerging Theatre Company at the 2012 Helen Hayes Awards. Utilizing the Commedia Dell'arte style of comedy that they have built their name on, Faction of Fools will join NextStop to develop a brand new version of the classic story of the marionette who dreams of becoming a real boy. Paul Reisman, the Associate Artistic Director of Faction will direct and adapt the script.

Finishing up the season, NextStop will produce the DC regional premiere of Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island by Joshua Mikel, from July 19th August 10th. This clever and original play first premiered at the New York Fringe Festival in 2010 and tells the zany story of a little girl who gets mistakenly shipped to a strange tropical island and must take on the increasingly ridiculous challenges of the inhabitants, or else!

NextStop Family 2013-2014 Season:

Go, Dog. Go!

Adapted by Allison Gregory and Stephen Dietz

Adapted from the book Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman

Directed by Ray Ficca

October 19- November 10, 2013

P.D. Eastman's beloved children's book comes to life on stage! Big dogs and little dogs, black dogs and white dogs and all dogs in between delve into life with gusto, creating a visual spectacle of movement and color for audience members of all ages. The dogs swim and play. They howl at the moon. They ride a Ferris wheel. They sing, dance and climb trees. This big and little musical world of doggy fun is like a pop-up book that comes to life-and never stops!

Pinocchio (A Co-production with Faction of Fools Theatre Company)

Adapted and Directed by Paul Reisman

March 8-30, 2014

This brand new adaptation of Carlo Collodi's classic tale about a marionette's wild adventures in becoming a real boy will be co-produced with Faction of Fools, DC's award-winning Commedia Del'Arte theatre company. This unique brand of physical theatre will feature five actors entertaining in a flurry of masks, music and merriment!

Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island

By Joshua Mikel

Directed by Kari Ginsburg

July 19-August 10, 2014

When a package bound for Good Good Island is mistakenly delivered to Bad Bad Island, the native Bad Bads find something frighteningly horrible inside: a little girl named Rosa! Unable to decide what to do with her, the leader of the Bad Bads challenges Rosa with a series of impossible tasks -- but what happens when she starts doing the impossible? This wildly inventive, original story shows that sometimes family and goodness can be found in the most unlikely of places. This tropical adventure is sure help kids and parents beat the summer heat!