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Monday, August 9, 2010

PUSHCART PLAYERS OFFERS PRODUCTIONS FOR SCHOOLS

Attention all PTA moms, class mothers, teachers, principals and all-around educational movers and shakers:

Pushcart Players, the premier company in school productions that education and entertain, is available to come to your school. Based in Verona, NJ, the company travels all around the US to perform; they have even traveled internationally, most notably to Prague, where they performed The Last, the Very Last Butterfly at Theresienstadt, the Nazi transit camp where the children created the original drawings that inspired the play! (Note: I have personally seen several of their productions—most notably the Holocaust program—and can attest to the excellence of this company and the high caliber of their productions.)

If you are looking for a dynamite program for your K-8 school, read on:

Pushcart Players, an award-winning professional theater and arts-in-education company for young and family audiences, has been bringing stories to life—on stage and in the classroom—since 1974 with musical productions, workshops, residencies and after-school programs filled with fun, fact and fantasy for all ages. "A polished, knowing theater company and a felicitous event for children!" — The New York Times

This dynamic company is the recipient of an EMMY nomination for two prime-time specials on WCBS-TV; The NJ Governor's Award for Excellence in Arts Education; the New Jersey Theatre Alliance's Award of Outstanding Achievement in Theatre Arts; and numerous awards, citations and testimonials for excellence and innovation in the development and presentation of theater for young audiences.

Pushcart Players' programming offers students the opportunity to participate in live theater, gain literacy in the arts and to use the arts as an additional or alternate pathway to learning. Pushcart programs prepare students for arts proficiency testing in the 4th, 8th and 12th grades. (And don't forget to mention that you learned about Pushcart Players from the njartsmaven blog!)

Pushcart programs feature many ways to dazzle your students and ignite a passion for theater and the arts:

A Study Guide with resource lists and bibliographies for teachers, parents and group leaders accompanies all performances. Pushcart programs fulfill many state core curriculum standards in the arts and other subjects.

Professional Development Workshops, Arts in Education Workshops and Residencies, tied in to state core curriculum standards, that are fun, informative and will infuse endurable understanding of the arts into any K-8 curriculum.

After school, weekend and summer programs that offer dynamic opportunities for kids to participate in the doing and making of theater by rehearsing and performing in Pushcart's Kids Do Broadway productions.

Question/answer & assessment or "Meet and Greet" sessions with the audience following all performances.

Programs that are ADA accessible: Sign interpretation, Audio-description and large print materials readily available upon request.

If you are interested in having Pushcart Players come to your school, call 973.857.1115 or e-mail Pushcart at information@pushcartplayers.org. And don't forget to mention that you heard about them from the njartsmaven blog!

For national tours, call The Roots Agency/SMG Artists at 717.227.0060 or at larry@SMGArtists.com

Their musical productions are listed below:

Let Freedom Ring! (Grades K-8) An all-new production of an earlier Pushcart piece with strong curriculum connections to History and Social Studies, including some of America's best loved folk tunes—a powerful theater experience for young and family audiences!

Let Freedom Ring! is a musical celebration of our nation's birth and development, and fills a lovely groove of learning about America's beginnings. From the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620 to the era of industrialization at the turn of the 20th Century, this riveting and ultimately true story is about ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary goals. " Bringing history and social studies to life with effortless charm and dazzling images, Let Freedom Ring! puts human value issues squarely on the agenda in a way that even the youngest of viewers can grasp and consider.

Happily Ever After: A Cinderella Tale (Grades K-5)

When it comes to stories..none surpasses the beloved Cinderella! Happily Ever After is a fresh adaptation of this classic tale, with significant learning opportunities for today's kids (and adults too) about inner beauty, courage and kindness triumphing over greed, arrogance and bully behavior.

Young audiences will be transformed by this familiar story that helps us think about who we are, what we value, how we behave and how we treat ourselves and other people. Study Guide material further explores bully behavior, choices we make, responsibility and consequences for our actions—and other value clarification /character development issues.

Hip original music, zany contemporary humor and sparkling visual surprises help audiences connect with characters and events in this legendary tale that speaks to all of us in search of our own happily ever after.

A Season of Miracles (Grades K-8) A festive gem that will make your holiday season rock! Spread your wings for a rosy flight through four delightful stories to celebrate the winter holidays.

"Gift of the Magi," "The Kwanzaa Kite," "A Chanukah Tale" and "The Nutcracker" create an uplifting multicultural musical that reveals the spirit of the holidays from diverse perspectives. Laughter, suspense and high energy story telling are abundant along with charm, grace and beauty. An excellent springboard for awareness and discussion of ethnic holidays celebrated around the world, A Season of Miracles also reminds us that the gifts of love, kindness and peace are at the heart of the holiday season.

The Last, The Very Last...Butterfly (Grades 4-12)

A powerful production designed to help young people understand the roots of prejudice and the value of moral thought and behavior.

Alena, a survivor of the Holocaust, now an adult, returns to Terezin (Theresienstadt), the concentration camp where she and other children from Eastern Europe were sent during World War II. Her visit prompts a flood of memories, which we see as flashbacks of those years. It was a time when she and her teen-age friends escaped the harsh realities of the Holocaust by creating drawings, poems, songs and stories in a secret school run by a courageous art teacher.

The poems and drawings tell of these sad circumstances, which ultimately fuse with an uplifting story of hope and survival. The Last..Butterfly is Pushcart's signature Holocaust Education piece that introduces this troubling chapter of history with sensitivity and care. An ideal introduction to—or culmination of —Holocaust study, prejudice reduction and bully behavior discussion/units.

Peter and the Wolf (Grades K- 5)
A tantalizing tale that brings together all the elements of growing up.with a wonderful introduction to the world of classical music.

If you're looking for a show that will tickle, intrigue and delight young audiences, while also offering a splendid introduction to theater, classical music and value clarification themes, Peter and the Wolf has innocence, mischief, defiance and daring sizzle in this riveting story—all about growing up. Filled with laughter and love, friendship and feeling, this extraordinary musical provides young and family audiences with a precious moment of theater they will long remember!

Stone Soup & Other Stories (Grades Pre K - 4)
Stir up serious fun—anytime, anywhere—with a heartwarming brew of stories and songs from around the world!

A pinch of color, a dash of wit and a heaping helping of stories and songs combine to make Stone Soup & Other Stories the perfect introduction to the joy of theater! Tales from Africa, India, Eastern Europe and the United States provide zesty entertainment, along with a wonderful springboard for reading, discussion and projects on multicultural themes. This celebration of storytelling and theater is sure to leave your young audience laughing, singing and dancing all the way home!

Cuentos del Arbol/Tree Tales (Grades K-12)
A perfect teaching tool for Spanish language students and a marvelous cross-generational theater-going opportunity for families to share.

Hola! Snap your fingers! Stamp your feet! Catch the color, catch the beat of this fiesta of stories drawn from Spanish and Latin American folklore. A bilingual musical bursting with color and high energy tempos just right for Spanish, English or bilingual audiences of any age! Celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Spanish Heritage Month (Sept.), National Hispanic Heritage Month (Oc.t) and all the other seasons and reasons for any audience to enjoy an up-tempo musical on any day of the year!

Kids Do Broadway
On-School Time or After—Kids learn all about theater by doing it! Condensed versions of familiar Broadway shows are cast, rehearsed, designed and presented with the help of parents and teachers and the direction/guidance of Pushcart staff. Dazzling performances at the end of 12 to 16 weeks. A marvelous school-wide and community activity!

Creative Drama Workshops
Theater games, storytelling and improvisation that help students develop self-awareness and confidence in dramatic play and self-expression. Workshops can be designed to tie-in to any curriculum or theme in the school or classroom.

Professional Development Workshops
Explore many approaches, methods and techniques for using drama and creative drama in the classroom to amplify and enhance any curriculum or lesson plan—or simply for the sake of "doing drama." Workshops can also focus on implementing a particular topic into the curriculum in connection with an assembly program coming to your school.

Informances
A post show demo-discussion with small groups or the entire school on the many components of a theater production —from auditions and acting to direction and design. Audience participation makes this a lively and engaging exposure to theater arts.

Technical Workshops

Learn the "how to" of building sets, lighting and sound design of a show. These workshops can be tailored to your needs and level of expertise. Make the most of your space and equipment for your school shows.


Note: The Pushcart staff will be happy to work with you to find the best programs to suit your needs.