Photo Flash: Main Street Theater Presents Anansi the Spider and the Middle Passage

The play will be performed Friday and Saturday, February 12 and 13, at 7:30pm; and Sunday, February 14, at 3:30pm. Performances are at Main Street Theater - Chelsea Market, located at 4617 Montrose Boulevard. For tickets, call 713-524-6706 or log on to mainstreettheater.com. All tickets are $5.00.

Long ago, the trade route called the Middle Passage brought stories as well as slaves from Africa to America. Kidnapped from her village, young Shontay is frightened and helpless. Shontay's mother comforts her by telling her legends of Anansi, the trickster spider, and how he won an amazing box of stories from Nyame the Sky God. In each tale, Anansi springs to life along with the story characters for action-packed, light-hearted adventures. Shontay and her mother have brought Anansi with them to America, where his stories of outwitting the greedy and powerful inspire them.

The cast is comprised of eleven children from the Houston area and is as follows: Larissa Bernstein (77030), Devin Bollman (77096), Kaitlyn Calvin (77096), Grace Daley (77098), Paige Evans (77035), Joni Grommesh (77030), Elizabeth Harris (77083), Nalyah Johnson (77091), Chucky Medley (77085), Mario Salcedo (77021), and Kate Sundie (77019).

Professional artists direct and design all Kids On Stage R&P productions. Dabrina Sandifer is Anansi's director. Macy Perrone designs costumes, and Art Ornelas is the set and properties designer.

Kids On Stage (KOS), now in its 21st season, has been designed to spark a lifelong appreciation of theater by encouraging young people to participate in all aspects of play production, from movement and monologues to stagecraft and theater history. The curriculum teaches essential skills such as creative thinking, teamwork, self-confidence, and communication-skills that enhance the overall learning process. Through year-round classes, outreach programs, and camps both on-site and at satellite locations, students develop their voices, bodies, and imaginations in a challenging and fun curriculum, taught by professional artists and arts educators.

Main Street Theater's KOS program offers a wide range of classes for students of all skill levels, including individual audition coaching sessions, movement and dance classes, comedy improv classes, high school workshops, and a Summer Performing Arts Camp throughout the summer. The KOS Rehearsal and Performance system includes classes for students at two levels: those who are ready to audition for plays for the public and those who want to hone their skills by producing a play in a "lab" context for family and friends. The current Winter R&P Lab class will perform Sally Cotter and the CensorEd Stone. Classes range from $160 - $500; camp ranges from $260 - $520. For more information or to register for classes and camps, please call 713-524-9196 x 104 or log on to mainstreettheater.com

Troy Scheid is Director of Education. Jonathan Gonzalez is Assistant Director of Kids On Stage.

Since 1975, Main Street Theater has produced high quality professional theater for audiences of all ages through its MainStage productions and Main Street Youth Theater. The Main Street Theater Kids On Stage program offers performing arts classes and camps for children 5 years to 19 years of age. The organization produces plays at two locations, 2540 Times Boulevard in Rice Village and 4617 Montrose Boulevard at Chelsea Market.

Main Street Theater is a member of the Fresh Arts Coalition, a collaboration of 25 arts organizations that work collectively to raise awareness of the size and diversity of the arts in Houston, and a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for not-for-profit theaters. Main Street Theater offers a lively year-round repertory of classic and contemporary plays for audiences of all ages and provides a much-needed showcase for Houston theater professionals. Main Street Theater is also a member of Actors' Equity Association and of ASSITEJ, the world theatre network of theatre for children and young people. Main Street Theater is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston, the Houston Arts Alliance, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

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