THE LITTLE MOON THEATER, EZRA JACK KEATS: APT. 3 and More Set for TADA! Youth Theatre's 2012-13 Season

NY?TADA! YOUTH THEATER, the Drama Desk and Coming Up Taller Award-winning organization, has just been nominated for two Innovative Theater Awards. Their spring production Up To You was nominated for Best Musical ? the first time for a performance by children?and Steve O'Shea was nominated for his work on the production in set design. Additionally TADA! earned four awards and nine nominations at the Seventh Annual National Youth Arts Awards.

Now, Executive & Artistic Director Janine Nina Trevens and the company enthusiastically look forward to next season with three fantastic productions. Families can eagerly anticipate The Little Moon Theater (in January/February) and Adventures from Ezra Jack Keats: Apt. 3 & Maggie and the Pirate in April/May; as well as one summer show TBA this fall. The casts are always comprised of members of TADA!'s Resident Youth Ensemble; talented kids between the ages of 8 and 18 from the NY-metro area who participate in this FREE year-round youth development program. All performances are written by professional playwrights, composers and lyricists and are professionally produced with sets, lighting costume and a live band of professional artists. The performances take place at TADA! Youth Theater located at 15 West 28th St. New York, NY 10001.

The Little Moon Theater, last done in 2002-2003 season, will be performing January 18 ? February 17, 2013. With book by Michael Slade, music and lyrics by Joel Gelpe based on the book by Irene Haas, The Little Moon Theater, follows a small theater troupe as they travel to different towns and perform for the community. They also include one local kid and help to make their wish come true. Meanwhile, a Fairy Godmother is trying to grant one more wish so she can retire; but she is always just a few steps behind the Little Moon Theater troupe. Perhaps, she is just trying to fulfill the wrong wish...

Adventures from Ezra Jack Keats: Apt. 3 & Maggie and the Pirate, based on the books by Ezra Jack Keats, will be performing April 19 ? May 19, 2013. Apt 3 with adaptation by Davidson Lloyd and music by Andrew Markus is a theater-dance piece about Sam and his brother on an adventure to find out where music is coming from in their apartment building. They search their building listening and exploring. Along the way they hear a cacophony of sound: voices, a barking dog, a loud TV, snoring, even crunching potato chips! When they finally find the music they are surprised with who the musician turns out to be. In Maggie and the Pirate a half-hour musical with book and lyrics by Winnie Holzman and music by David Evans, Maggie is searching for her pet cricket that has gone missing. All that is left when she returns with food is a note saying: THE PIRATE WAS HERE! Maggie and her friends search for the pirate and also find a surprise.

TADA!'s summer production is currently in development. This World Premiere production will run from July 12 ? August 3 and will be announced soon.

TADA!'s winter and spring productions typically play as follows:
Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm & 4pm

Tickets are only $20 for adults and $8 for children; Premium tickets (also available for every performance) are $25 for adults and $15 for children and feature priority seating and support TADA!'s programming.

Tickets will be available online in September of 2012.

Tickets may also be purchased in-person one hour prior to performance. Non-Profit Group rates start at $6 per child for groups of 20+; birthday party packages are also available.

Website: www.tadatheater.com

Since 1984, TADA! Youth Theater has been providing young people of all different backgrounds the opportunity to explore and perform musical theater together in an educational, supportive and professional environment. TADA! has received many honors and awards including the American Alliance for Theater Education's Anne Flagg Multicultural Award, Family Circle Magazine's 1st Annual Halo Award, and more than a dozen National Youth Theatre Awards and two Innovative Theater nominations. In 2008 TADA! was honored with a Coming Up Taller Award, our nation's highest honor for youth development from the President's Committee on the Arts & Humanities, and in 2009 with a Special Drama Desk Award for "providing an invaluable contribution to the future of the theater." TADA! is the only youth theater to have won this prestigious award.

Every year, TADA! produces: original musical theater productions performed by kids for family audiences; a discounted ticket program; free pre-professional training and youth development opportunities through the Resident Youth Ensemble composed of over 80 NYC kids ages 8-18; renowned Arts Education in-school residencies and after-school programs; and theater classes and camps for kids of all ages taught by professional teaching artists and for which need-based financial aid is readily available.

TADA! programs are made possible, in part, by funding from the NEA, NYSCA, DCA, DYCD, Con Ed Corporation, the Shubert Foundation among many others. Special thanks also to The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and many individual supporters for helping to fund the mission and programs of TADA! Youth Theater. For more information visit www.tadatheater.com.

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