NYU Skirball Center Announces 2012-13 BIG RED CHAIR Programming

Born five years ago, NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts’ Big Red Chair Family Series is integral to the institution’s commitment to building younger audiences for live performance. Designed to "spark the imagination of youngsters, inspire creativity, and create memorable family experiences, the Big Red Chair series brings music, dance, and theater from around the world that is specifically chosen for young people to its 860 seat, state-of-the-art venue in lower Manhattan."

 

The 2012-2013 Big Red Chair season kicks off on September 15 with Gustafer Yellowgold with Strings Attached, a multimedia performance that features creator Morgan Taylor and a full band, animated illustrations and storytelling. In addition to headlining prestigious arts institutions, children’s museums, theaters and clubs, the live show has been the wild-card opening act for Wilco and The Polyphonic Spree. 

 

Comprising the rest of the season are stagings of beloved children’s books. In three performances November 23-25, the award-winning Corbian Arts and Dance join Light Wire Theater to bring The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hareto life in a high-tech and dazzling production featuring glow-in-the-dark, 3D puppets and props. Following its production ofTreasured Stories of Eric Carle at NYU Skriball Center last fall, Big Red Chair Family Series favorite Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia returns March 2, 2013 with adaptations of two Anita Jeram-illustrated books: Guess How Much I Love You, her celebrated collaboration with author Sam McBratney, and I Love My Little Storybook. Having delighted Big Red Chair audiences last season with Twinkle Twonkle, Tall Stories Theatre Company of London, England this season (April 27) brings its musical adaptation of The Gruffalo, the multi-award-winning picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

 

Tickets for Big Red Chair performances may be purchased online at www.nyuskirball.org, by phone at 212.352.3101 or866.811.4111, or in person at the NYU Skirball Center Shagan Box Office: Tuesday-Saturday, 12:00–6:00 P.M. 

 

Tickets are available individually or in a special $150 8-pack that includes: 8 tickets to attend any BRC performance and a tax-deductible $50 donation to support future NYU Skirball Center programming. Limit two packages per family, per season, and 4 tickets per performance. The 8-pack is available for purchase through November 30; other limits and restrictions may apply. 

 

In addition to the Big Red Chair Family Series, the NYU Skirball Center will host the internationally acclaimed mask theater troupe Mummenschanz in a limited holiday engagement December 11 through January 6, 2013.

 

NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is located at 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square, New York, New York 10012. For more information, please visit www.nyuskirballcenter.org.