Virginia Rep's Children's Theatre Presents POLKADOTS: THE COOL KIDS MUSICAL

Virginia Repertory Theatre announces the company of the final production of the 2018/2019 Children's Season, Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical, opening Friday, July 12, 2019, at The Children's Theatre at Willow Lawn. Inspired by the events of The Little Rock Nine, Polkadots is a fun, colorful, and meaningful history lesson for children.

Polkadots follows 8-year-old Lily Polkadot, the first Polkadot to attend the school in the "Squares Only" small town of Rockaway. However, Lily, along with her new friend Sky, a shy Square boy who appreciates her for her unique polkadot skin, prove that our individual differences do not make us weird or wrong, they make us awesome. Polkadots will be onstage through August 11, 2019 at The Children's Theatre at Willow Lawn, 1601 Willow Lawn Drive, Richmond, Virginia 23230.

Jan Guarino will be joining the company to direct this "Cool Kids Musical". Guarino most recently directed Dancing Lessons at Hanover Tavern and The Children's Theatre production of Busytown. Choreographer Mallory Keene will make her Children's Theatre choreography debut, after recently appearing on the November Theatre stage in Sister Act and Mary Poppins. Rounding out the direction team, Sandy Dacus will serve as Musical Director. Other Virginia Rep musical direction credits for Dacus include Shakespeare in Love and 1776.

All of the actors will be making their debuts at The Children's Theatre at Willow Lawn; Caroline Lynch, Quan Chau, Madeleine Witmer, and Sydnee Graves comprise the cast. Madison Hatfield (Atlantis) will serve as Swing. Scenic Design is by Emily Hake Massie (Knuffle Bunny), Lighting Design is by Lynne Hartman (A Raisin in the Sun), and Sound Design is by Virginia Rep A/V Supervisor Derek Dumais (Atlantis). Making their Virginia Rep debuts, Kyle Artone will serve as Costume Designer and Natalie Mathis as Stage Manager.

Virginia Rep offers Sensory Friendly performances specifically for children with autism and other sensory or social disabilities. During these select performances, changes will be made in lighting, sound, seating arrangements, and length of performance to create a more welcoming environment for this audience. Two Sensory Friendly performances will be offered on Tuesday, July 23 at 10:30 am and Saturday, August 3 at 10:30 am. Please see the website for more details: http://va-rep.org/sensory_friendly.html

In collaboration with Virginia Voice, Virginia Rep is pleased to offer Audio Described performances, in which actions, expressions and gestures are described during gaps between dialogue throughout the performance for patrons with low vision or blindness. In addition to live audio description during performances, patrons are also invited to participate in a tactile tour before the performance. An Audio Described performance will be offered on Sunday, August 4 at 2:00 pm. Please see the website for more details: https://va-rep.org/access_for_the_blind.html

Virginia Rep is thrilled to offer a free Community Tickets Grant for nonprofit organizations. We encourage all organizations who have a demonstrated need for complimentary tickets to fill out a short application on our website: bit.ly/CommunityTix

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