Rogers and Hammerstein Theatricals Partners with CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Chicken Soup for the Soul is coming to the stage! The world's favorite storyteller, with more than 250 books in print, is bringing a select group of its 20,000-plus stories to life through live theater for audiences of all ages. Chicken Soup for the Soul has teamed up with Stellation Entertainment to adapt a wide variety of diverse stories to be performed for live audiences. These shows will be distributed worldwide by theatrical licensing agent, R&H Theatricals, a division of Rodgers & Hammerstein, An Imagem Company, for performances by schoolchildren, amateurs and professional performers.

The stories will be adapted into innovative one-act musicals ranging from 15 minutes to 45 minutes in length. These mini-musicals can be presented alone or grouped together to create an event around a life lesson, age group or theme. Schools will be able to choose shows with a variety of social themes and casting options, creating a customized production to fit their specific needs.

"For many years our books and stories have been important resources for teachers in their classrooms and we are increasingly focused on creating first-class extraordinary educational materials. We recently introduced a proactive bullying prevention program based on our stories known as 'Chicken Soup for the Soul Hallway Heroes' that is now in use in more than 20 states and we plan to continue to introduce new education programs over time," said William J. Rouhana, Jr., chief executive officer of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

"Many middle school and high school teachers have contacted us to put on Chicken Soup for the Soul Theater Productions," continued Rouhana. "We have been looking for the right partner for our live theater efforts for over a year. We can't imagine any stronger group than Stellation Entertainment and Rodgers & Hammerstein to bring our stories to life on school stages."

"We believe that that this new format will open up many performance opportunities beyond the standard fall and spring musicals. Every year we will be releasing a series of new titles to expand the catalogue," said William Meade, president of Stellation Entertainment.

"We are pleased to partner with an extraordinary global brand like Chicken Soup for the Soul. Their stories have brought laughter, tears and a sense of belonging to millions of people. We are thrilled to be working with Stellation Entertainment to adapt the Chicken Soup for the Soul message for the stage," said Imagem chief executive officer, Bill Gaden.

The first round of shows will be released worldwide by R&H Theatricals in 2017.

ABOUT CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Chicken Soup for the Soul, the world's favorite and most recognized storyteller, publishes the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. With well over 100 million books sold to date in the U.S. and Canada alone, more than 250 titles, and translations into more than 40 languages, "chicken soup for the soul" is one of the world's best-known phrases and is regularly referenced in pop culture. Today, 23 years after it first began sharing happiness, inspiration and hope through its books, this socially conscious company continues to publish a new title a month, but has also evolved beyond the bookstore with super premium pet food, television shows and movies, podcasts, and a variety of other digital content and licensed products, all inspired by true stories, as it continues "changing the world one story at a time®."

ABOUT STELLATION ENTERTAINMENT, LLC

Stellation Entertainment is a cutting edge provider of live entertainment around the world. For over fifteen years they have produced live theater, recordings, television and interactive shows in over 20 countries including touring school productions throughout the United States and South Korea as well as a musical theater exchange program with the Chinese Ministry of Education.

ABOUT Rodgers & Hammerstein, An Imagem Company

Rodgers & Hammerstein is the organization founded in 1944 by the legendary team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II to protect and license their theatrical works. R&H owns the rights to the world's most popular stage and film musicals, including Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella and The Sound of Music. With offices in New York City and London, the theatrical licensing division, R&H Theatricals, represents the stage performance rights to over 150 musicals by more than 200 writers. Collectively these include works by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart (Babes in Arms, Pal Joey), Kern & Hammerstein (Show Boat), Kurt Weill (The Threepenny Opera, One Touch of Venus), Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza, Floyd Collins), as well as the incomparable, Irving Berlin (Annie Get Your Gun, White Christmas). R&H Theatricals is home to recent works from Broadway (Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights, [title of show], First Date, Sophisticated Ladies and Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party), Off-Broadway (Carrie the musical, Ordinary Days, Altar Boyz, Giant, 21 Chump Street), perennials such as Once Upon a Mattress, Big River and Footloose, a Theater for Young Audiences (TYA) collection which includes Garfield The Musical with Cattitude and Mad Libs Live!, and the longest-running revues in the history of Broadway - Smokey Joe's Café - and Off-Broadway - I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. Rodgers & Hammerstein is An Imagem Company: www.rnh.com.

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