B Street Theatre's Family Series Presents JUNIE B. JONES IS NOT A CROOK

Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook by Allison Gregory marks the latest theatrical adaptation of Barbara Park's best-selling series.

Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook received its World Premiere at Nashville Children's Theatre in December of 2016. Throughout 2017, this theatrical adaptation of the Junie B. Jones Series is slated to have over 15 productions across the country at theatres such as Children's Theatre of Charlotte and Dallas Children's Theater.

Playwright Allison Gregory continues to expand the theatrical Junie B. Jones cannon with this funny, poignant and instructional piece for children and families.

B Street Theatre and Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook

After the sold-out hits Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business (Joan Cushing) and Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (Allison Gregory), B Street Theatre is excited to present Gregory's latest play for young audiences, Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook as the final production in the 2016 - 2017 Family Series Season.

"We feel that Allison's latest Junie B. Jones piece is the perfect way to round-out our final, full Family Series Season at the current site of B Street Theatre," says Producing Artistic Director, Buck Busfield. "After classics such as Rikki Tikki Tavi and Robin Hood, paired with the historical, World Premiere of Going West, we feel that this modern adaptation of the ever-popular Junie B. Jones book series will be a hit with children, families and teachers."

B Street Theatre has a long history with playwright Allison Gregory on both the Family Series and B3 Series Stage. In addition to producing her first Junie B. adaptation entitled Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!, B Street also produced Gregory's play Not Medea as a part of the 2016 B3 Series Season. Not Medea received its World Premiere at B Street before moving to the Contemporary American Theatre Festival and Perseverance Theatre as a part of NNPN's Rolling World Premiere. "Allison's plays continue to move us, surprise us and make us laugh," says Busfield. "Whether she's writing for children or adults, Allison is a master of her craft and we're excited to bring another one of her works to life on the B Street stage."

The Playwright:

Allison Gregory: Allison Gregory's plays have been produced all over the country, and she has received commissions, grants, and development from Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory, The Kennedy Center, Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Skirball-Kenis Foundation, ACT Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle's Arts and Cultural Affairs, LATC, The New Harmony Project, Northwest Playwright's Alliance, Amphibian Stage Productions, and Austin Scriptworks. Her work has been the recipient of the Julie Harris Playwriting Award and South Coast Repertory's Playwright's Award (Forcing Hyacinths); Garland and Dramalogue Awards (Fall Off Night, Breathing Room, L.A.); Seattle Times Best New Play Award (Burning Bridget Cleary, Peter and the Wolf); and Carbonell nominations (uncertain terms), as well as finalists for the O'Neill, Bay Area Playwright's Festival, Great Plains, and American Blues Blue Ink Award. Her play Not Medea recently received a National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere at B Street Theatre, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and Perseverance Theatre. Motherland was recently featured in Orlando Shakespeare Theater's Playfest reading series, in NNPN's 2016 Showcase, and will receive a workshop production at Theatre Lab at FAU in January 2017. Currently she is working on Wild Horses, a one-woman stampede, and Darling Boud, a play of letters about the infamous MitFord Sisters.

Allison also writes for young audiences; plays include Go Dog. Go!, adapted from the P. D. Eastman book, co-written with Steven Dietz; Even Steven Goes to War ("Zoni" Best New Script Award, AATE and UPRP awards, Kennedy Center New Visions / New Voices selection); Peter and the Wolf (National tour); and Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (over 200 professional productions). Her play Ronia: the Robber's Daughter, adapted from Astrid Lindgren's story, premiered at Teatr Pinokio in Poland this year, and Junie B. Jones is Not A Crook, adapted from the beloved book series by Barbara Park, premiered fall 2016 at Childsplay.

Allison is an alumna of LATC's Wordsmiths and a former Hedgebrook Women Playwrights resident. She splits her time between Seattle and Austin, where she is the co-founder of an awesome playwright collective. Her plays are published by Playscripts, Smith & Krauss, Dramatic Publishing, and Rain City Press. For more plays and info, kindly go to allisongregoryplays.com.

The Director:

Lyndsay Burch: Lyndsay Burch is an Artistic Producer at B Street Theatre where she specializes in the development and production of new works and contemporary plays. In her time at B Street, Lyndsay has directed nine Equity productions, directed and written for four touring productions, recruited three full-time intern companies, produced a three-city International Tour to India, cast over 50 productions, and cultivated B Street's relationship with the National New Play Network, resulting in three Rolling World Premieres. Most recently, she directed B Street's Constellations which was named the Best Overall Production in 2016 by the Sacramento Bee. As a director and assistant director, Lyndsay has developed new plays with B Street Theatre, Actor's Theatre of Charlotte, the National Showcase of New Plays, Sacramento Theatre Company, the Dramatist Guild Footlight Series, the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Hangar Theatre and Berkshire Theatre Group, among others. She is the recipient of a generous grant from the Point West Rotary which enabled her to travel to Mumbai, India where she served as an Artist in Residence for the National Theatre Performing Arts Centre's production of Gandhi: The Musical. In January 2017, Lyndsay served as the SDCF Observer to Carey Perloff on American Conservatory Theatre's World Premiere adaptation of A Thousand Splendid Suns. Lyndsay is an alum of Lincoln Center's Directors Lab West and Elon University's BFA Acting Program. She is an SDC Associate Member.

The Cast:
Grace/Pink Fluffy Girl: Meher Mistry - Meher is in Sacramento all the way from Mumbai, India to be a part of Junie B is Not a Crook. Meher has performed in several productions in Mumbai and other Indian cities, including Disney India's Beauty and the Beast, The Sound of Music, James and the Giant Peach, The Scavenger's Daughter, Stories in a Song, and Jesus Christ Superstar. On television, she was a cast member of the popular CNN-IBN national sketch comedy show, The Week That Wasn't. Meher can also be seen in several national commercials, McDonald's, Amazon India and Pepsodent Toothpaste to name a few. Her first show at the B Street Theatre was The Conference of The Birds and she is thrilled to be back on the B Street stage.

Mrs./Mother/Parrott: Elisabeth Nunziato - Elisabeth is a founding B Street Theatre Company Member, appearing most recently in Chessman, A Masterpiece of Comic...Timing, Mud Blue Sky, The Realistic Joneses and 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche. For the B Street Theatre Family Series, she was last seen in Snow White and Rose Red. She recently made her feature film directorial debut with Stolen Moments, an NK Media/Iron Mountain Films production. Elisabeth has been performing on stage, in film, commercially and in voice-over for more than two decades. She has been fortunate enough to work with Academy Award winners Danny Glover, Robin Williams, Forest Whittaker and Robert Duvall. Her commercial work has been featured in award-winning projects both national and regional. She is partnered with her husband Jason Kuykendall in NK Media, winner of the 2011 National Addy, the world's largest advertising competition.

Handsome Warren/Live Fireman: Alexander Pannullo - Alexander is thrilled to be returning to the B Street Theatre. He is a recent graduate of the University of California San Diego and was last seen at Equity Library Theatre as Joey in Paul Lewis' The Names. Other theatre credits include Jonathan in Mud Blue Sky (B Street), George in Our Town, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, and Peter in The Diary of Anne Frank. He would like to thank his friends and family for their constant love and support, but most importantly to this incredible cast and crew.

Meanie Jim/Mitten Crook/Grandpa Frank Miller: John Lamb - John is a Company Member at the B Street Theatre. Former roles on the B Street stage include Tiny Tim et al. in A Christmas Carol, Brother Brightbee et al. in The Book of Liz, Brent in While We Were Bowling, Johnny in Juno and the Paycock, Pete/Danny in Almost, Maine, Clyde in Jack Goes Boating, Nicky Giblin in The Seafarer, Donnie in The Foursome and Huey in Italian American Reconciliation. He has acted in the B Street Family Series productions of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, The Canterville Ghost, The Boxcar Children, The Princess and the Pauper, Johnny Tremain, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Rumplestiltskin, the Swiss Family Robinson, Junie B. Jones, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, The Three Musketeers, Snow White and Rose Red, The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi and most recently in Going West: The Story of the Transcontinental Railroad. Directing credits include Women Who Steal, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Earshot, The Maintenance Man, Beauty and the Beast and The Big Bang.

Remaining casting to be announced.

Family Series Background

The B Street Theatre's Family Series is California's only fully professional, resident theater for children. Operating under a Theatre for Young Audience agreement with Actors Equity Association, the Family Series' mission is to introduce children to the wonder of professional theatre through the production of original plays, and original adaptations of contemporary novels and classic works of literature. Since its premiere season in 2003, the Family Series has presented over 50 professional plays for approximately 300,000 children and families of the Sacramento region.

More about B Street Theatre: B Street Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre company producing primarily new work for adults, families and children. The two-theatre playhouse on B Street in Midtown Sacramento is home to the Mainstage Series, B3 Series and Family Series, each created to feature intimate, quality theatre for audiences year-round. Recognized as one of the nation's top professional theatres, B Street Theatre has produced more than 100 new plays, 60 of which are world, national, West Coast or regional premieres.

B Street Theatre was originally founded in 1986 for the purpose of bringing the excitement of live performance to children through the B Street Theatre School Tour. This educational outreach program serves over 200,000 students in Northern California annually.

Other B Street Theatre programs include the B Street Theatre Family Series and Family Series Student Matinees (for school field trips), the B3 Series, B Street Acting Conservatory and Studio for Young People, and the B Street Theatre Internship program for pre-professional and post-college training.

B Street Theatre has produced over 250 professional productions since 1986.

More information at www.bstreettheatre.org.

The mission of B Street Theatre is to promote education and literacy, social interaction, and cultural enrichment by engaging children and adults in the highest quality theatre arts and playwriting.

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