Michael C. Rockefeller Arts Center SUNY Fredonia 280 Central Ave. Fredonia, NY 14063 (716) 673-3217 phone (716) 673-3617 fax arts.center@fredonia.edu
About our programming
Welcome to another great year of performing arts experiences! Last year, more than 5,000 Chautauqua area students came to Rockefeller Arts Center at SUNY Fredonia to experience top quality performing arts productions chosen especially for young audiences. The goal of On Stage For Youth is simple; to make the very best of the performing arts available to area students and to showcase these performances in a professional theatre setting. Reservations for the 2012-2013 season are now being accepted. All area elementary school principals will receive reservation instructions and order forms. Please make all reservations through your school’s main office.
To obtain printed materials, please contact Patrick Rocheleau at 673-3744.
On Stage For Youth 2012-13 season performances
TheatreWorks USA
“Martha Speaks”
Monday – Tuesday November 26-27 10:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.
Grades K-2
Martha was an ordinary dog until the day she ate a bowl full of alphabet soup. Something unusual happened: all those letters went up to Martha’s brain instead of down to her stomach and she became literally outspoken!
Life with a talking dog can be lots of fun. You can amaze your family and friends, you can play tricks on the pizza delivery person and you can even teach your pooch how to use the telephone, which comes in very handy when your dog is as smart as Martha. When she correctly answers a trivia question on a radio call-in show, she wins an all-expense-paid family vacation. But when the official award notice arrives in the mail, it contains Martha’s least favorite words: “no dogs allowed!” Will her family go on vacation without her?
Martha’s clever way with words saves the day in this doggone funny new musical based on the delightful “Martha Speaks” series of books by Susan Meddaugh, published by Harcourt Mifflin. Watch the television series “Martha Speaks” on PBS Kids.
ArtsPower National Touring Theatre
“Otherwise Know as Sheila the Great”
Thursday – Friday November 29-30 10 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.
Grades 3-6
Being a 10 year-old kid is kind of a pain. Having an older sister is really a pain. Being afraid of everything is . . . well, just plain painful! Sheila Tubman, sometimes known as Sheila Tubman and otherwise known as Sheila the Great, comes of age in ArtsPower’s lively musical about discovering the person within.
Trying desperately to cover up her inner weaknesses and fears, Sheila stumbles from one life crisis to another. First, it’s a dog living near the house and Sheila can’t stand dogs. Then, it’s swimming lessons and Sheila hates the water. Ugh! Sheila barely manages to feel worthy of a space on the planet. What to do?
Award-winning and popular author Judy Blume has created an unlikely but extremely likable heroine in Sheila Tubman. Children and adults will fall in love with Sheila and her friends as she learns that her trials are, unfortunately, essential to growing up. With humor, cool music and just the right amount of youthful persistence, ArtsPower’s “Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great” will inspire audiences of all ages as Sheila learns that the rites of passage can pass right by without too much bother.
ArtsPower National Touring Theatre
“Laura Ingalls Wilder”
Monday –Tuesday January 28-29 10 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.
Grades 3-6
A true tomboy at heart, Laura shares her Pa’s pioneering spirit and passion for the outdoors. Her Pa encourages her to keep a diary of their travels, but Laura is too busy playing on the prairie, fishing and chasing gophers. Life on the frontier is often difficult for the Ingalls. After arriving in Kansas, the family is forced to move on again when the United States government designates their land as Indian territory. They journey to Minnesota, only to be faced with illness when scarlet fever strikes Mary, Laura’s older sister, causing her to lose her sight. Laura becomes Mary’s eyes to the world and Mary shows her younger sister how to face life with strength and courage. For more than 50 years, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic books have inspired young people to discover their own pioneering spirit and a love for America’s heartland. Join Laura and the Ingalls family as they travel across the prairie in search of the little house they can call home.
"Oh, the thinks you can think" when Dr. Seuss's best-loved stories collide and cavort in an unforgettable musical caper! Adapted from the Broadway version, this version, especially for young audiences, features 13 actors and enhanced production values. “Seussical” is TheatreworksUSA's biggest show ever!
The Cat in the Hat is the host and emcee (and all-around mischief-maker) in this romp through the Seuss classics. When the sweet, good-natured elephant Horton hears a small cry for help coming from a small speck of dust, he promises to rescue and guard it because "a person's a person, no matter how small."
On that small speck of dust lives JoJo, an imaginative young Who. JoJo has astounding "thinks," in which anything's possible, but his parents believe this creativity is inappropriate for the son of the Mayor of Who-Ville.
Meanwhile, the one-feathered bird, Miss Gertrude McFuzz, desperately wants Horton to notice her. Maybe, she thinks, she just needs a more impressive tail. At the same time, the amazingly lazy Maysie La Bird connives, cajoles and convinces Horton to sit on her egg while she goes off on a spree.
Will the planet of Who survive? Will Horton pay attention to Gertrude? Will Maysie ever return for her egg? Dr. Seuss's beloved classic characters find themselves intertwined in an incredible crazy-quilt adventure, in which the power of imagination and the most miraculous "think" ever saves the day!
