CHARLOTTE, N.C.: Children’s Theatre of Charlotte (CTC) has announced its 2015–16 season. Old fairy tales join new stories in the season’s bill, which also includes three world premieres.
First up is Elephant and Piggie’s We Are in a Play! (Sept. 26–Oct. 11), an adaptation of Mo Willem’s popular stories, in which best friends Gerald and Piggie wind up on a musical adventure.
Then audiences will enter the colorful world of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (Oct. 16–31), in which a young girl explores the world behind a magic door. The production is a partnership with the Department of Theatre at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC).
Next is a classic retold with a commedia dell’arte flare in The Commedia Princess and the Pea (Nov. 14–22).
Cinderella shakes things up a bit in Ella’s Big Chance: A Jazz Age Cinderella (Dec. 4-20), in its world premiere. In this new adaptation by Shirley Hughes and Joan Cushing, Cinderella and her prince dance the night away to songs from the Roaring ’20s.
The world premiere of April Jones’s ‘Twas the Night Before… (Dec. 12–23) covers all the holiday bases, including Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, in a new show written just for the CTC.
Then a rabbit goes on a search so he can learn how to love others in The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Jan. 29–Feb. 7, 2016). Audiences will go over the rainbow once again in Journey to Oz (Feb. 19–March 6, 2016), as Dorothy and her friends search for their brain, heart and courage.
Next, a classic fable gets a makeover in a new adaptation Brendan Murray’s Hare & Tortoise (Feb. 27–28, 2016), presented in a special partnership with the Seattle Children’s Theatre and Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis.
David S. Craig’s Danny, King of the Basement follows (March 11–20, 2016), with the story of a 10-year-old and his mother who hit hard times financially and must stay on the move.
Then, songs about civics and grammar make an appearance onstage in a musical adaptation of a popular TV series in Schoolhouse Rock Live! (April 8–24, 2016).
Closing out the season will be the world premiere of José Cruz González’s Magic Kite (April 22–May 1, 2016), about a young boy whose father is sent back to Mexico, and the magic kite he builds to get his papa back.
