STAGE TUBE: WAR HORSE's 'Joey' Visits Civic Center of Greater Des Moines

On Saturday, August 4, 2012, Civic Center Members in Des Moines were treated to an exclusive visit from "Joey," the star of War Horse. More than 125 were in line at 6 a.m. to take advantage of early purchasing and watched "Joey" make several appearances to cheering crowds. Watch the videos below!

Producers Bob Boyett and The National Theatre of Great Britain launched the first U.S. tour of the 2011 Tony Award-winning Best Play and international sensation, War Horse at Los Angeles’s Ahmanson Theatre. The national tour continues to 30 U.S. cities during the 2012-2013 season. The winner of five 2011 Tony Awards, War Horse has been seen by more than 2 million people worldwide and is currently playing at New York’s Lincoln Center Theater, in London’s West End, and at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre. Future productions of War Horse are planned for Australia, Berlin and South Africa, as well as a UK Tour.

Following the Des Moines engagement, the War Horse national tour will visit Chicago, Costa Mesa, Tempe, Seattle, Portland, Spokane, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Fayetteville, Charlotte, Providence, Minneapolis, and Appleton. For the full tour schedule, visit warhorseonstage.com.

The tour of War Horse, based on the beloved novel by Michael Morpurgo and adapted by Nick Stafford, will be directed by Bijan Sheibani based on the original Tony Award-winning direction by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, and presented in association with Handspring Puppet Company. At the heart of the show are life-sized puppets which bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage. Michael Morpurgo’s novel, War Horse, was also the inspiration for Steven Spielberg’s feature film of the same name, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture.

The cast, comprised of more than 30 performers, includes Andrew Veenstra as Albert Narracott, Brian Keane as Arthur Narracott, Michael Wyatt Cox as Billy Narracott, Todd Cerveris as Ted Narracott, Angela Reed as Rose Narracott, Jason Loughlin as Lieutenant James Nicholls, and Jason Alan Carvell as Private Schnabel. Also featured in the cast are Michael Stewart Allen, Danny Beiruti, Brooks Brantly, Laurabeth Breya, Brian Robert Burns, Grayson DeJesus, Catherine Gowl, Aaron Haskell, Mike Heslin, Jon Hoche, Mat Hostetler, Chad Jennings, Nathan Koci, Jessica Krueger, Nick LaMedica, Rob Laqui, Megan Loomis, Christopher Mai, Gregory Manley, Andrew May, John Milosich, Alex Morf, Patrick Osteen, Jon Riddleberger, Lavita Shaurice, Derek Stratton, and Danny Yoerges.

War Horse is the powerful story of young Albert’s beloved horse, Joey, who has been enlisted to fight for the English in World War I. In a tale the New York Daily News calls “spellbinding, by turns epic and intimate,” Joey is caught in enemy crossfire and ends up serving both sides of the war before landing in no man’s land. Albert, not old enough to enlist, embarks on a treacherous mission to find his horse and bring him home. What follows is a remarkable tale of courage, loyalty and friendship, filled with stirring music and songs and told with the some of the most innovative stagecraft of our time.