TADA! Youth Theater Presents GOLLY GEE WHIZ!

TADA! Youth Theater will present Golly Gee Whiz! this summer. A tribute to the classic Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland film musicals of the 1930s and 40s, Golly Gee Whiz! takes place in an American town, Happyville, during the Great Depression. Happyville's residents are unmotivated and bored. Eager to make a change, a group of local children band together with the help of Mickey and Judy to put on a great show and re-establish Happyville as the bustling, optimistic town that it once was. Golly Gee Whiz! is a musical about the power and influence that young children can have even in times of hardship.

Golly Gee Whiz! book is by Eric Rockwell (TADA!'s The History Mystery; A Little Princess) and Joanne Bogart (Peter Pan- A Musical Adventure; Rockin' Robin Hood), with music also by Rockwell and lyrics by Bogart. Together Rockwell and Bogart co-wrote the Off-Broadway hit, The Musical of Musicals (The Musical) which was nominated for five Drama Desk Awards, the Lucille Lortel Award and the Drama League Award. The production is directed and choreographed by Joanna Greer, Associate Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer, with music direction by Matthew Gregory.

Since 1984, TADA!'s mission is to provide young people from different backgrounds with musical theater programs that inspire them to be creative, learn, and think differently. A unique Drama Desk award-winning nonprofit youth theater, TADA! produces original musicals for children, teens, and family audiences. TADA! offers a free, year-round, pre-professional training and a positive youth development program for its Resident Youth Ensemble (ages 8-18); musical theater classes/camps for the public; as well as musical theater residencies in NYC schools and community centers. Through high-quality work, young people's self-confidence and creativity are enhanced. They also develop advanced skills in leadership, communication, responsibility, collaboration, and problem-solving - skills that help with growing up and are essential to their success both in school and in life.