Darke County Center for the Arts’ 2019-2020 “Kaleidoscope” season for youngsters and their families gets off to a brilliant start on Monday, July 29, when Missoula Children’s Theatre once again brings their little red truck to our community, packed with all facets necessary for a fully-produced musical production except for the cast.
Auditions for actors to fill that lack will be held from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. when up to 60 local first through twelfth grade students will be cast to star in Peter and Wendy, MCT’s take on the classic Peter Pan story. Rehearsals begin immediately following the casting announcement, and continue throughout the week, culminating in two performances on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Each of those performances will be unique; as in all live shows, what one experiences on stage and/or in the audience is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence that will never be seen on this earth again, a not-to-be missed experience for all concerned. All that is required from those wishing to audition is a registration form signed by a parent or guardian; those forms will be available at auditions or by contacting DCCA prior to the tryouts.
Tickets for performances are $5, and will be available at the door. All of the above takes place within the magnificent expanse of Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall.
Diversity ensues during DCCA’s Family Theatre Series season at St. Clair Memorial Hall which opens on Sunday, Nov. 17, with a musical version of Margery Williams’ beloved tale The Velveteen Rabbit, brought to life on-stage by Virginia Repertory Theatre On Tour. The timeless forces of innocence, wisdom, and unconditional love illuminate this beautiful re-telling of the classic tale.
Typifying the exciting contrasts between FTS productions, the series shifts from a story written almost 100 years ago to a glow-in-the-dark adventure featuring state-of-the-art technology. Lightwire Theatre’s Dino-Light, which has won praise from around the world for it’s cutting edge blend of puppetry, dance, and glow-in-the-dark technology, will light up the Memorial Hall stage on Sunday, Jan. 19, with an exciting adventure that also illustrates what it means to love and be loved.
Bay Area Children’s Theatre’s Llama Llama Live! closes the FTS season on Sunday, March 20 with a colorful production based on the popular books by Anna Dewdney. Clever tunes in a variety of styles create a fun-filled musical that children and adults will thoroughly enjoy. All sorts of lovable characters inhabit this all-out llama drama which creatively addresses the everyday issues of young children. All Family Theatre Series shows start at 2 p.m. Tickets cost just $5; but an even better bargain can be had by purchasing the entire season for only $12, saving a dollar per ticket per show. What a deal!
But that’s not all of the arts presentations geared towards local youth; DCCA’s Arts In Education Series will present professional performing artists to youngsters in all grade levels of every Greenville City and Darke County Public School at no cost to the students. From Sept. 17 through Sept. 20, high-schoolers will experience the endless variety of the multi-talented Fitzgerald family when the step-dancing fiddling entertainers take their ever-shifting exceptional Celtic music to the schools.
The “nearly world-famous” DuffleBag Theatre, based in Toronto, has traveled the globe, incorporating a sense of fun, innovation, and participation into their productions; they will bring their original adaptations of fairy tales and classic stories to kindergarten through third grade students Sept. 30 through Oct. 4. A capella sensation VoicePlay will share techniques and inspiration with local junior high students when they perform at Henry St. Clair Memorial Hall Dec. 10 through 13, and guitarist extraordinaire Jim McCutcheon will present the multi-faceted “Guitar Man Goes to School” for grades four through six Jan. 6 through 10.
A kaleidoscope inspires a sense of wonder at the beauty of it all; DCCA’s programming for the youth of our community evokes the same response, utilizing an endless variety of ephemeral artistic moments to leave a lasting legacy that will inspire lives now and well into the constantly shifting future.
