PANCAKES, PANCAKES! Premieres at Alliance Theatre Today

The Alliance Theatre presents the world premiere production of PANCAKES, PANCAKES!, written by Alliance favorite Kenneth Lin (Warrior Class, playwright); directed by another Alliance favorite, David de Vries (Scrooge, A Christmas Carol; Dr. Spivey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, among others); with original music by a third Alliance favorite, Phillip DePoy (Edward Foote, playwright).

PANCAKES, PANCAKES!, an adaptation of Eric Carle's beloved book of the same name, explores the process of cooking-celebrating the joy in the labor and in the final feast. Part of the Family Series, and kicking off the 2016/17 season on the Hertz Stage, it begins tonight, May 31, and continues through July 10, 2016.

Tickets are on sale now via the box office (404-733-5000), or online (alliancetheatre.org/pancakes). The 2016/17 season tickets are on sale now, as well. Review 2016/17 subscription series and productions by clicking here: alliancetheatre.org/next-season. The Alliance Theatre is located at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309.

"Eric Carle's ability to endow the simplest story with a profound sense of wonder makes his work perfect for theatrical adaptation," says Chris Moses, the Dan Reardon Director of Education/Associate Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre. "Ken Lin has managed to write a script that not only honors Carle's artistic gifts, but also celebrates the pure joy of making pancakes. I promise you'll leave PANCAKES, PANCAKES! inspired and hungry."

PANCAKES, PANCAKES! is presented in conjunction with the High Museum of Art exhibition I See a Story: The Art of Eric Carle, running now through January 8, 2017. This collaboration between the Alliance Theatre and the High Museum is the second in a series of projects designed to celebrate children's picture book art. The Eric Carle project follows the successful exhibition and theatre productions based on the work of children's book author and artist Mo Willems in 2015. These collaborative presentations are made possible through a grant to The Woodruff Arts Center from the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation to expand programming and increase access for family audiences. As part of the collaboration, the Alliance Theatre will also present a new Theatre for the Very Young production based on Carle's book From Head to Toe, directed by Rosemary Newcott, running September 24-November 6, 2016.

Performances of PANCAKES, PANCAKES! are during the day with the exception of the opening night performance on June 3, at 7:00 pm: Tuesdays: 11:45am; Wednesdays-Fridays*: 10:00am and 11:45am; Saturdays: 11:00am, 1:00pm and 3:30pm; and Sundays: 1:00pm and 3:30pm. *On Friday, June 3, there is only a 7:00pm performance.

Tickets are $15 for adults; $8 for children 6-17 years old; children 3-5 years old are free, but need a ticket; and children 2 and under are free, but need a lap pass. Combo tickets for PANCAKES, PANCAKES! and admission to the High Museum of Art for "I See a Story: The Art of Eric Carle" are $20 for adults and $10 for children. Tickets are available at the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office in person or by calling 404.733.5000. Tickets are also available online at alliancetheatre.org/pancakes. Discounted rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling 404.733.4690. Discounted rates are also available for members of the military, seniors and students. The Alliance Theatre is located at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, at the corner of Peachtree and 15th Street, in Midtown.

About Eric Carle - Born in Syracuse, N.Y., in 1929, Carle moved with his parents to Germany when he was 6 years old. He was educated there and graduated from the prestigious art school the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Stuttgart. His dream was always to return to America, the land of his happiest childhood memories. In 1952 he arrived back in New York, where he found work as a graphic designer in the promotion department of The New York Times. Later, he was an art director at an advertising agency for many years.

Carle's literary career began in 1967 when respected educator and author Bill Martin Jr. asked Carle to illustrate a story he had written. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is the result of their collaboration and is still a favorite with children everywhere. Soon Carle was writing his own stories. His first wholly original book was 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo (1968), followed afterward by the celebrated classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969). Carle's books have been read by millions of children all over the world and have been translated into 62 languages. Today, Carle has illustrated more than 70 books, many of them bestsellers, most of which he also writes. More that 132 million copies of his books have sold worldwide.

Carle and his late wife, Barbara Carle, co-founded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass, in 2002.

About the Alliance Theatre - The Alliance Theatre is Atlanta's national theater, expanding hearts and minds on stage and off. Founded in 1968, the Alliance Theatre is the leading producing theater in the Southeast, creating the powerful experience of shared theatre for diverse people. Reaching more than 165,000 patrons annually, the Alliance delivers powerful programming that challenges adult and youth audiences to think critically and care deeply. Under the leadership of Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director, the Alliance Theatre received the Regional Theatre Tony Award in recognition of sustained excellence in programming, education and community engagement.

Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 95 original productions including Tony Award winners The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, Aida, by Elton John and Tim Rice, and Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo. The Alliance has a reputation for developing important American musicals with a strong track record of Broadway, touring, and subsequent productions, including the world premieres of Sister Act: The Musical, Come Fly Away, Bring It On: The Musical, Stephen King and John Mellencamp's Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, Harmony - A New Musical by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, and most recently the world premiere of the new musical Tuck Everlasting. The Alliance also creates and nurtures the careers of playwrights through the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, producing the world premiere for the competition winner as part of the regular season, and the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab, providing developmental support and production resources for three performing arts projects each year.

Annually the Alliance Theatre Acting Program and Education Department reaches over 50,000 students through performances, acting classes, drama camps, and in-school initiatives. The Alliance creates and produces plays for young audiences at every age level: from the Collision Project, where high school artists create and perform new work based on a classic text, to the ground breaking Theatre for the Very Young, creating interactive shows for infants and toddlers. The Alliance also offers community education classes for all ages and abilities of theatre interest; and adult student productions of unproduced plays in development, working with local and national playwrights.

An active participant in Georgia classrooms, the Alliance has developed programs using theatrical techniques to aid in student learning through storytelling and problem solving. The Alliance Arts for Learning Institute equips teachers with theatrical techniques that link directly to school curriculum, align with the Common Core Georgia

Performance Standards, and increase student learning. These programs include Georgia Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts, which focuses on literacy skills for children in Pre-K - 2nd Grade, and Dramaturgy K-12, in which students create research material that informs Alliance productions and prepares peer audiences. Twice recognized by the U.S. Education Department as leaders in arts education, these programs reflect the Alliance's commitment to city wide arts access.

The work produced by the Alliance allows locally based artists the chance to create on a nationally watched stage, building and sustaining Atlanta's artistic community. The vision of the Alliance Theatre is to be a beacon of leadership for the national field, while remaining deeply rooted in and reflective of our local Atlanta community.

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