Harris Center Presents CHARLOTTE'S WEB, 4/04

California Theatre Center presents Charlotte's Web performs Saturday, April 4, 2015 at 1 & 3 pm in Stage 2: City Studio Theater. Tickets are priced at $8-$15. Tickets are available online at www.harriscenter.net or from the Harris Center Ticket Office at 916-608-6888 from 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday, and two hours before show time. Parking is included in the price of the ticket. Harris Center is located on the west side of Folsom Lake College campus in Folsom, CA, facing East Bidwell Street.

Wilbur is an ordinary pig. That is, until he meets Charlotte. His friendship with the uniquely talented spider exposes him to kindness, fame, and a love that is willing to make the greatest of sacrifices. Suggested for grades K-5, the nationally recognized California Theatre Center returns to Harris Center for the Arts for another of its outstanding performances this season.

A Folsom favorite for many years, California Theatre Center (CTC) has repeatedly been recognized as the top professional theatre for young American audiences. Having twice opened the season at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, CTC creates quality experiences for youth and families alike. As an ensemble theater company, CTC employs a company of approximately two dozen versatile actors and theater professionals who perform and staff both local and touring productions

Wilbur leads a happy life, but a dark cloud looms overhead: when Wilbur is big enough, Farmer Zuckerman plans to turn him into ham! Charlotte- an especially kind and intelligent spider who befriends Wilbur- makes it her mission to save Wilbur's life. To impress the Farmer, Charlotte weaves words into her web, describing Wilbur's wonderful and worthy qualities, and soon the web is attracting attention from the newspaper and from people all over the county. The farm is mobbed every day with visitors! Farmer Zuckerman decides to enter Wilbur in the County Fair and promises that, if Wilbur wins the Blue Ribbon, he will never be turned into ham!

Meanwhile, Charlotte is exhausted from the work of weaving her intricate webs, but despite her fatigue, she decides to go to the fair with Wilbur. There she weaves one last word and then sets to work on her biggest project yet: making an egg sac holding over 500 eggs that will hatch into baby spiders. As she works, Wilbur waits in suspense to see if he has won the top prize. Another pig takes home the Blue Ribbon, but Wilbur receives a special prize for being such a terrific and radiant pig! Charlotte, however, does not live to see her friend's triumph or to see her eggs hatch. She passes away quietly in the night. To express his gratitude for Charlotte's friendship and her help in saving his life, Wilbur vows to watch over Charlotte's children. When they hatch, most of the newborn spiders fly away on strings of silk. Three of the baby spiders decide to remain in the barn, much to Wilbur's delight. To honor Charlotte, he hangs his medal on the nail in the doorway where Charlotte's web used to be, and he never forgets his friend.

In conjunction with several of our Partner organizations, such as California Theatre Center, the Harris Center Arts Education program offers a range of performances, lectures and demonstrations that enhance youth arts education, from international artists performing at Harris Center through the Presents program, to the talented regional artists who perform here with our Partner organizations. These shows often run concurrently during the school day.

Geared to address the California Visual and Performing Arts content standards, many of these performances are tailored to meet teachers' needs: nestled into the school day; they are usually an hour in length and can include enrichment sheets to assist in integrating the arts into the required classroom curriculum. For information on school day performances please contact California Theatre Center directly at (408) 245-2978.

The Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College is a $50 million facility built with a combination of state, regional, local and private funds. Harris Center has three intimate theaters, an art gallery, a recording studio, elegant teaching spaces, plenty of safe parking and all the other amenities of a state-of-the-art performing arts venue. The Harris Center presents touring artists from around the world; partners with the best regional arts organizations, and supports productions by FLC students and faculty.

The Harris Center for the Arts (formerly Three Stages) is named to honor Brice Harris, Chancellor Emeritus of the Los Rios Community College District, for his many contributions to the capital region, including the vision and leadership he provided in opening this regional arts center.

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