Childsplay Brings Down the House at Segerstrom Center with SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK LIVE! This Weekend

Families will soon be rocking out at Segerstrom Center for the Arts as Childsplay brings the hit cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock to life on stage.

The TV show, which presented academic subjects including history, grammar and math through megahit songs such as "Conjunction Junction" and "Just a Bill," has received a bit of a makeover by Childsplay with an updated sound to the popular hits.

Schoolhouse Rock Live! premieres at the Center this weekend, October 3 & 4 in Samueli Theater as part of the Center's Family Series.

Schoolhouse Rock Live! features Childsplay favorites Eric Boudreau as George, Rudy Ramirez as Tom, Molly Robinson as Shulie and Keilani Akagi as Dina. The play is directed by Anthony Runfola.

There will be free pre-show creative play activities beginning one hour before each performance. The Center's Education and Community Programs Department offers these activities to provide young people and their families more opportunities to play creatively together. Studies show creative play is critical in helping children develop their ability to think and problem solve.

Schoolhouse Rock Live! is recommended for children ages 4 - 8. Tickets are available now by subscribing to the 2014 - 2015 Family Series. Single tickets are $20 and will go on sale Sunday, September 7 at 10 a.m. PST and will be available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket savings for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236. The TTY number is (714) 556-2746. The performance on Saturday, October 4 at 1 p.m. will be sign-language interpreted.

Schoolhouse Rock Live! follows Tom, a nerve-wracked school teacher who is anxious about his first day of teaching. He tries to relax by watching TV when various characters representing facets of his personality emerge from the set and show him how to win his students over with imagination and music.

"One of the things I really wanted to do was put a little more 'rock' into Schoolhouse Rock," said director Anthony Runfola. "While this production will still feature a wide cross section of musical styles and the original melodies are all still there, we have given the music a fresh perspective."

The book is by Scott Ferguson, George Keating and Kyle Hall; music and lyrics are by Lynn Ahrens, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Kathy Mandry, George Newall and Tom Yohe. The design of the show has received its own fresh perspective. The new Holly Windingstad set reflects the digital age, influenced by both the '80s video game Tetris and the current game, Minecraft, which is sweeping the nation. Multimedia elements will also be used in engaging and clever ways, with video integrated with the choreography and even projected onto prop and set pieces.

Childsplay, Inc. is a nonprofit theatre company of professional, adult artists who perform for and teach young audiences and their families. The mission of Childsplay is "to create theatre so strikingly original in form, content or both, that it instills in young people an enduring awe, love and respect for the medium, thus preserving imagination and wonder, the hallmarks of childhood which are keys to the future." For more information, visit www.childsplayaz.org.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds The Charles & Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation, Inc. for its support of the Family Series. Kia is the Official Automotive Partner of the Center and United Airlines is the Official Airline of the Center. Parenting OC is the Media Partner of the Family Series. To learn more about Segerstrom Center's 2014 - 2015 Family Series, visit www.scfta.org/family.

Segerstrom Center's Education and Community Programs Department offers a variety of programs to students from elementary school through the university level, teachers, arts administrators and individuals who simply want to broaden their own experiences but not in a structure that is strictly academic. These programs achieve two especially important objectives. First, they develop the audiences of the future. Second, they integrate the arts into the standard curriculum and enhance learning, creative thinking, cognitive and social skills. The Education and Community Programs Department works hand-in-hand with a number of boards of education, providing support and assistance to ensure the success and effectiveness of the Center's programs.

The popular Family Series engages, enchants and inspires youngsters with the magic of live performance. International artists combine music, dance and theater that can be enjoyed by the entire family, creating experiences that instill an appreciation for the arts and create lifelong memories. For more information about the Center's education programs, visit SCFTA.org/education.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is unique as both an acclaimed arts institution and as a multi-disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages, offering unsurpassed experiences, and engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center is Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization and owns and operates the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall and intimate 250-seat Founders Hall, which opened in 1986, and the 2,000-seat Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006 and also houses the 500-seat Samueli Theater, the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge Education Center's studio performance space and Boeing Education Lab. A spacious arts plaza anchors Segerstrom Center for Arts and is home to numerous free performances throughout the year as part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' ongoing Free for All series.

The Center presents a broad range of programming for audiences of all ages, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family- friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events. The Center's arts-in-education programs are designed to inspire young people through the arts and reach hundreds of thousands of students each year.

In addition to the presenting and producing institution Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 14-acre campus also embraces the facilities of two independent acclaimed organizations: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Pacific Chorale, who contribute greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Pictured: Segerstrom Center - "SHRL!" in Schoolhouse Rock Live! - Photo by Tim Trumble.

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