Pittsburgh International Children's Festival Runs 5/13-17

The Pittsburgh International Children's Festival, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, will present the 23rd annual festiVal May 13-17, 2009, in various venues throughout the city's university district of Oakland. The Festival is currently one of only four international theater festivals for children in the United States.

Featured Children's Festival performance sites include Charity Randall Theatre, Studio Theatre, Bellefield Hall Auditorium, Synod Hall and Carnegie Lecture Hall. The Festival grounds, free to the public, will complement the featured performances with hands-on cultural and educational activities, roving artists, booths, and exhibitors. The Target Community Stage returns this year as the center of outdoor Festival activities. The stage features a lively mix of professional artists and regional performance groups.

"The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is proud to present the Pittsburgh International Children's Festival as a keystone project of our educational and audience development efforts," says Kevin McMahon, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. "The Children's Festival is the Trust's largest program for families, and we're thrilled to present it as part of the Trust's 25th anniversary events."

"In programming this year's festival, we have sought out some of the best performers who specialize in children's theater," adds Executive Director Pamela Lieberman. "We have an exciting array of artists, many of whom have never performed in Pittsburgh or the United States. The programs promote an understanding of and appreciation for different cultures-an important part of our region's rich diversity."

Four productions will make their US premiere. The Festival will also welcome one more production than last year.

2009 PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FESTIVAL

1) Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny
Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia (Canada)

Two of Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd's beloved bedtime classics, Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny come to life on stage with whimsical puppetry and evocative music. Both tales feature endearing rabbit characters, and the soothing rhythms of bunny banter, while dream-like imagery never fails to infuse young readers with a reassuring sense of security and peace.

Performances: 45 minutes
Best for ages: 2-8

Charity Randall Theater
Wednesday, May 13 9:45 & 11:15 am
Thursday, May 14 9:45 & 11:15 am
Friday, May 15 9:45 & 11:15 am
Saturday, May 16 11 am & 12:30 pm
Sunday, May 17 11 am & 12:30 pm

2) Farfalle: The Butterfly Garden
T.P.O. -TEATRO DI PIAZZA O D'OCCASSIONE (Prato, Italy)

Imagine The Life of a butterfly. From a tiny egg wriggles a larva that grows into a caterpillar. Munching away, the caterpillar soon spins a silvery shell to disguise its transformation. Suddenly: fluttering, dancing wings that flit for perhaps one day.

Now imagine that you are in the butterfly's world. You can touch the wings, the wings whirr away, the sun glints on your face, shadows trace along the ground as you hear the wings beat. In Farfalle, the audience enters a virtual world to become part of the action. Two actors, digital imagery, and sensors that interact in
real time with the actors' movements on a shifting landscape of sound, motion, and astonishing images to capture this delicate realm.

TPO unleashs the beauty and expressive possibilities in mixing theatre, sensory boundaries, dance, visual magic, music, and emotion.

Plus! Special Interactive Installation Sessions allow participants to be enveloped in this beautiful atmosphere-creating your own theatrical art as the piece itself responds to you.

Performances: 45 minutes
Installation Sessions: 20 minutes
NO LATE SEATING

Studio Theatre Performances Installations
Wednesday, May 13 9:45 & 11:15 am 1 & 1:30 pm
Thursday, May 14 9:45 & 11:15 am 1 & 1:30 pm
Friday, May 15 9:45 & 11:15 am 1 & 1:30 pm
Saturday, May 16 11 am & 12:30 pm 2 & 2:30 pm; 3 & 3:30 pm

3) The Hobbit From Beneath the Stage
Beumer & Drost (Netherlands)
Two men in an incredible journey on and under a Stage Holding their imaginations. Two men get caught in a comedy film, in a happy nightmare, where everything produces sounds and sounds become colorful.

Run time: 50 minutes
Ages: 7+

Bellefield Hall Auditorium
Wednesday, May 13 12:30 pm
Thursday, May 14 9:45 & 11:15 am
Friday, May 15 11:15 am & 12:30 pm
Saturday, May 16 2 & 3:30 pm
Sunday, May 17 2 & 3:30 pm

4) African Sunshine
Compagnie Punta Negra (Congo)
Scintillating rhythm, music, dance and song blend together to create a breath-taking ensemble of choreography. Pulsating rhythms and visually vibrant performances sweep up and captivate the most diverse range of spectators. This company of dancers and percussionists from the Congo offers its audience a performance brimming with energy and intensity.

Run time: 40 minutes
Ages: All ages
Venue: Synod Hall

Synod Hall
Wednesday, May 13 11:15 am & 12:30 pm
Thursday, May 14 9:45 & 11:15 am
Friday, May 15 11:15 am & 12:30 pm
Saturday, May 16 2 & 3:30 pm
Sunday, May 17 12:30 & 2 pm

5) Kraft
Bambalina (Spain)
Never before has recycling been so imaginative, playful and eye-opening. Enter a world where an everyday object's conventional use is transformed into something magical. Kraft paper becomes an instrument of nature, creating the sounds of crashing waves, rustling leaves, and the crackling of a fire's flames. Audiences are reminded that it was once a tree which provided oxygen that we need to live and breathe. In a time when the planet's resources are scarce, we are reminded of their preciousness and our responsibility to eliminate waste.

Ages: 4+
Run time: 40 minutes

Bellefield Hall Auditorium
Wednesday, May 13 9:45 & 11:15 am
Thursday, May 14 12:30 pm
Friday, May 15 9:45 am
Saturday, May 16 11 am & 12:30 pm
Sunday, May 17 11 am & 12:30 pm

6) Stanier Arts Award
Pittsburgh International Children's Festival presents the 4th Annual Stanier Arts Award

Resonance Percussion in "Harmony Street"
Through their work with Gateway to the Arts, Resonance Percussion has been educating children grades K-12 about world music since 2005. In this first production of Harmony Street, written especially for the 23rd Annual Pittsburgh International Children's Festival, the audience is introduced to music from four distinct world cultures through a small boy's journey through the neighborhood on the date of an annuAl Block party. Once denied the opportunity to play the drums, the boy learns the power of world music and its ability to communicate. Children will not only learn and acquire an appreciation for the music of Ghana, Brazil, Trinidad and American Jazz through storytelling, live musical performances, and projected visual illustrations, but also, through participation in the finale which allows the children and actors to join together in dance and celebrate world music.

Best for ages: 5+
5 performances
Run Time: 45 minutes

Charity Randall Theatre
Wednesday, May 13 12:30 pm
Thursday, May 14 12:30 pm
Friday, May 15 12:30 pm
Saturday, May 16 2 pm
Sunday, May 17 3:30 pm

7) Mister Rogers' Neighbors
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood is filled with some of the Neighbors and puppets that children (and grown-ups) have come to know and love. Delight in a special performance, featuring several of Mister Rogers' Neighbors, including speedy deliveries from Mr. McFeely, music from Handyman Negri and surprise visits from other favorite Neighborhood friends.

Best for ages: 2-8
4 performances
Run Time: 40 minutes

Mister Rogers' Neighbors
Thursday, May 14 9:45 & 11:15 am
Friday, May 15 9:45 & 11:15 am

TICKET INFORMATION
Ticket packages will remain the same as last year with single performance tickets priced at $8. Special rates are available for school groups and groups of 10 or more. Advance tickets can be purchased by calling Pittsburgh International Children's Theater at 412-456-6666, by visiting www.pghkids.org or the Box Office at Theater Square. A limited number of ticket donations for groups that work with underserved children are available by calling Tickets for Kids Charities at 412-781-KIDS.

A division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh International Children's Theater, founded in 1969 as Performing Arts for Children, presents and promotes professional theater experiences for children at affordable prices in convenient neighborhood locations. While entertaining children and families, the organization strives to inspire, challenge, and educate children, as well as stimulate their respect for-and understanding of-all cultures. In addition to presenting the International Children's Festival each May, the organization also presents a theater series for families October through March. The Festival is one of only four international theater festivals for children in the US.

The Pittsburgh International Children's Festival is presented in collaboration with The City of Pittsburgh, The University of Pittsburgh, The Carnegie Library, and The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. Major supporters include The Heinz Endowments, Giant Eagle, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Target, US Airways, Sunoco, State Farm, Beatrice Compton Foundation, Tickets for Kids Charities, The Frick Fund of the Buhl Foundation, Bayer and ReEd Smith. Media partners include Comcast, WLTJ Lite Rock 92.9 FM, WQED Multimedia, and The Saturday Light Brigade.

 

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