Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on Tour is delighted to celebrate our 2008-2009 touring season! This 16th anniversary season carries on our tradition of excellence and introduces some exciting new opportunities for your theater.
By the end of the 2008-2009 season, more than 30 tours will have played hundreds of cities in 49 states. These shows will have been a part of the lives of over 2 million children, teachers, and parents. Many of the students who see our productions may never have the chance to visit the national center for the performing arts, but can still experience the professionalism and talent that has become the trademark of Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences.
The tours begin with a fully mounted production and run at the Kennedy Center for Washington, DC metropolitan area audiences. Prior to the touring season, the shows are reworked specifically for the road, complete with performing company and production staff. Many works are specifically commissioned by the Kennedy Center in order to contribute to the development of new plays and musicals for young audiences. It is our belief that supporting the creation of new works for young audiences is critical to the ongoing revitalization of the field.
Tour highlights include: Red Badge of Courage; Alice In Wonderland; John Steinbeck's The Pearl; The Snow Queen; Little Women; a dance/theater adaptation of The Nightingale; a musical adaptation of Judith Viorst's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; an opera version of The Emperor's New Clothes; My Lord, What a Morning: The Marian Anderson Story; Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse; Walter Dean Myers' Harlem; A Light in the Storm; Alexander Who's Not Not Not Not Not Not Going to Move; Color Me Dark; Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka; Katie Couric’s The Brand New Kid and a co-commission and co-production with the White House Historical Association called Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major.
The Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on Tour program includes a comprehensive education package to complement your season. Curriculum connections made through Cuesheet, a performance guide highlighting different activities and information for students for before and after the performance, and the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge educational website are featured components of our national touring program. In addition to continued easy online access to the Center's Cuesheet Library, our original full-color Kennedy Center Cuesheet study guide booklets are now available, bringing us closer to your community.
The 2008-2009 touring season debuts the national tours of The Phantom Tollbooth and Blues Journey. The Phantom Tollbooth, a world-premiere musical, adapted from Norton Juster's classic children's book with lyrics by 4-time Tony winner Sheldon Harnick, tells the story of Milo, who ventures to a far-off land where he attempts to restore rhyme and reason. Blues Journey follows the life of a blues performer as he learns to play, finds fame, and witnesses the blues evolve into rock-and-roll in this world premiere based on the children's book by Walter Dean Myers.
From magical tollbooth adventures to exploring the history of the blues, Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on Tour will reveal new worlds of education and entertainment!
For more information about the Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences On Tour contact us at dwkilpatrick@kennedy-center.org or (202) 416-8840.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts