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Youth & the Arts

Area Arts Center Offer a Season of Meaningful Performances for the Whole Family

By Krisztina Kincses Vida

As you settle into the school-year routine in September, how many notes, newsletters, flyers and order forms do you get during the first weeks of school? A few dozen - if you have several kids in school - maybe a hundred? By the time you’re done shopping for school supplies, making arrangements for after school activities and child care, signing up for sports and ordering goodies for the first round of school fundraisers, even curious parents get frazzled by trying to get organized for another year of new and meaningful experiences for the kids.

We hope to make things a little easier by bringing you recommendations for performing arts events each month. With this special “season preview” we aim to help parents make sure that the arts find their way into the family calendar.

The Walnut Street Theatre (www.wstonline.org), located in the heart of Philadelphia’s Center City, is America's oldest Theatre reaching more than 70,000 children and their families each year. All four plays in the 04-05 season are based on popular children's books. Read the books together and watch the stories come to life! This year’s shows will include The Rainbow Fish, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Miss Nelson is Missing and Curious George. Kids Series subscriptions start at $26 ($6.50) per show.

In addition to the Sunday Sampler children’s series, The Theatre at Raritan Valley Community College (www.rvccarts.org) in North Branch, NJ, will present five performances as part of a new Family Series this year. Hansel & Gretel by Theatre Sans Fil will appear as one of the season’s highlights with richly designed and oversized puppets performing Humperdinck’s opera of the familiar Brothers Grimm tale. Sunday Sampler subscriptions start at $8 per show, Family Series subscriptions are $75 for all five performances.

In Lehigh Valley’s Kutztown University-Wachovia Children’s Series (www.kutztown.edu/activities/kupas/) Frogz will entertain young audiences on October 31 at 2 and 4 p.m. with a frog the size of a grown man and lizards the length of two, turning the world upside down and inside out with fantastical illusions to create a living world of animation. Tickets for Frogz and other children’s performances are $8.

For the music lovers in the family, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (www.kimmelcenter.org), located at Broad and Spruce Streets on the Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia, offers Family Beat, a subscription music series featuring the charming Tom Chapin, rocking Dan Zanes and the unique Urban Tap. Subscriptions start at $42 for all three shows per person for budget-conscious families.

To kick off a season filled with family-friendly performances, Kelsey Theatre at Mercer County Community College will present a unique musical introduction to dinosaurs with Dinasaur Rock on September 25. The show follows a well-researched storyline about children’s favorite prehistoric creatures with a combination of giant puppets, actors in full costume and an entertaining musical score. Tickets for this and the other Trident Series children performances are $8 per show with subscription discounts available. For information about The Heavenly Harp Series with plenty of family-friendly full-length productions, visit www.kelseyatmccc.edu.

Children’s theatre performances at the Bucks County Playhouse (www.buckscountyplayhouse.com) in New Hope, PA will feature old favorites Mary Poppins on Oct. 2, 9, 16 and Aladdin Oct.23, 30 and Nov. 6. Prices start at $6.

The DuPont Theatre’s Children Series Productions in Wilmington, DE, are presented during the school day. Three performances that are recommended for pre-school age children are Guess How Much I Love You, Story Salad and Rainbow Fish. Tickets start at $5. Visit www.playhousetheatre.com for details.

Celebrating its 75th Anniversary Season, McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ, also offers a wide variety of events of the highest caliber suitable for young audiences. Their family performances this season will include Michael Moschen, Dan Zanes, the National Black Light Theatre of Prague, the Flying Karamazov Brothers, Trout Fishing in America and Tom Chapin. For details, check out www.mccarter.org. Ask about their Young-at-Art Subscription!

Krisztina Kincses Vida is a curious parent, a performing arts fan and a marketing consultant with Points Across Marketing Communications based in Princeton Junction, NJ.