DALLAS: Dallas Children’s Theater has announced its 2017-18 season, its 34th. Themed “Finding the way home,” the season will feature 11 productions.
“Memories make what we call home its own unique place, and there are no two alike. Home is where you find comfort, support and encouragement,” said executive artistic director Robyn Flatt in a statement. “It’s where you can fall down and still be loved. It’s a place your heart wants to be.”
The season will kick off with Goosebumps the Musical: Phantom of the Auditorium by John Maclay and Danny Abosch, based on the book series by R.L. Stine (Sept. 22-Oct. 29). The musical is abook Brooke and Zeke, whose school theatre may or may not be haunted.
For Halloween, DCT will present Ghouls and Graveyards, featuring the works of Edgar Allan Poe, W.W. Jacobs, Philip Schaeffer and the Coterie Theatre (Oct. 13-29). A teen cast will present a collection of stories from famous horror authors.
The holidays will contain a production of Frosty & Friends by B. Wolf (Nov. 17-Dec. 23). The Kathy Burks Theatre of Puppetry Arts will present the tale of Frosty the Snowman.
Also for the holidays will be A Charlie Brown Christmas by Eric Schaeffer, based on the story by Charles M. Schulz (Nov. 17-Dec. 23), about the famed Peanuts Gang as they celebrate Christmas.
After that will be Cirque Joyeux (Dec. 28-Jan. 1), where Dallas’s Lon Star Circus will perform a holiday-themed show.
In 2018, DCT will present The Very Hungry Caterpiller Show by Jonathan Rockefeller, based on the books by Eric Carle (Jan. 19-Feb. 25, 2018). The show will feature 75 puppets.
Next will be Screen Play by Linda Daugherty (Feb. 9–18, 2018). DCT’s teen ensemble will star in this play about cyber-bullying and smartphone culture.
Then, DCT will coproduce a show with the local Cara Mía Theatre Company, called Legend of the Bluebonnet by Roxanne Schroeder-Arce and María F. Rocha (March 23–April 8, 2018). A 10-year-old girl is sent to stay with her grandmother, and learns about her heritage.
DCT will next present a show for toddlers in Blue by Annie Cusick Wood (April 21-May 6, 2018). The show is about two shades of blue whose existence is disrupted by the appearance of a red sock.
Next will be a new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book: Jungalbook by Edward Mast (May 4-26, 2018), about a boy who is raised in the jungle by animals.
The season will close with How I Became a Pirate by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman (June 15–July 8, 2018), about a boy who sets off to become a pirate, only to discover that he misses home.
Dallas Children’s Theater produces work for young audiences.
