Imagination Stage's Early Childhood Season to Include BLUE, INSIDE OUT & More

This season, Imagination Stage will introduce their latest offering, Blue. In its East Coast premiere, Blue is a play about colors, tolerance, and understanding. Join Inky and Blue in this play filled with humor, whimsy, and all the colors of the rainbow. Completing the 2014-15 Early Childhood season are fan favorites, Wake Up, Brother Bear, Inside Out, and Aquarium.

"I am very excited about our offerings this season for my First Imagination Stage," says Kate Bryer, Associate Artistic Director of Imagination Stage. "The popular Wake Up, Brother Bear returns this Fall, and Inside Out and Aquarium return in the Winter and Summer, respectively. We are thrilled to bring these shows back and introduce them to a whole new audience, as well as welcome back returning patrons! Our newest offering, Blue, comes to us from Honolulu Theatre for Youth and playwright Annie Cusick Wood. This lovely piece gently introduces children to the idea that "different" is good. Set in a garden and using simple props, children will interact with Inky and Pale as they learn that life in their blue world may be limiting." Bryer is "curious to watch these characters impart concepts of sharing and understanding through the use of colors with our youngest patrons!"

The 2014-15 season for My First Imagination Stage features Wake Up, Brother Bear, Inside Out, Blue, and Aquarium. Shows run in Imagination Stage's Christopher and Dana Reeve Studio Theatre on Tuesdays-Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Appropriate for ages 1-5, tickets are $12, with a $5 lap seat for children under 12 months. Tickets may be purchased online at www.imaginationstage.org, at the Imagination Stage box office, or via phone at 301-280-1660.

Wake Up, Brother Bear is back from hibernation for the Fall! Remounted by Nick Vargas, children watch as Brother and Sister Bear experience a full year of glorious seasons. Together we see a waterfall melt, meet a butterfly, chase an elusive fish, and skate on an icy pond. Children are invited to join the action with a small bag of props that help create magical moments. Actors Nora Achrati and Jacob Yeh will bring the story to life.

For the holiday season, Inside Out returns from its hit premiere last season, a collaboration between Imagination Stage and Tell Tale Hearts. This production is all about dress-up, allowing imaginations to turn scarves into birds and t-shirts into monsters. There is even a sock dance to rock the closet! The cast features Megan Graves and Alex Vernon.

Blue makes its East Coast premiere in the Spring, written by Annie Cusick Wood and directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer. This interactive show was first produced by Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and takes place in a world where the only color is blue. Blue flowers, blue grass, even blue cereal! Inky and Pale live in such a world until they discover something RED! In this interactive show, two friends find fun in every color of the rainbow!

The final show in the season is Aquarium, which returns with giant jellyfish, sandy beaches, and a lemon sky perfect for the sunny days of summer. This interactive production includes gentle music, beautiful puppets, and fun props to create a magical underwater world. As mentioned in the Gazette, "it is up to the audience to bring 'Aquarium' to life." Aquarium is remounted by Nick Vargas and was originally developed and directed by Lyngo Theatre Company in Italy.

In addition to performances, the My First Imagination Stage early childhood programming at Imagination Stage includes the popular Saturday Song Circle and Sunday Fun-Day. These single session workshops are themed around popular children's books, and engage children and parents in multi-sensory play. There are also early childhood classes, ranging from 4 to 10 weeks for caregivers and children. Tickets and more information are available online at www.imaginationstage.org.

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