THE GARDEN OF RIKKI TIKKI TAVI Set for B Street Theatre's 2016-17 Family Series

Ruyard Kipling's classic tale of a valiant young mongoose is transformed into a free-flowing, comic-brawl in this excting adaptation by Y York. Y York's adaptation of The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi received its World Premiere at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth where it was a sell-out hit.

Since its premiere in 1998, Y York's The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi has received productions at acclaimed theatres across the country such as Seattle Children's Theatre and Cinncinati Playhouse in the Park.

This adaptation of Kipling's beloved story about sharing and cooperation has been met with both critical and popular success, calling Y York's script a full-filled adventure that will delight the whole family.

B Street Theatre is thrilled to kick-off our 2016 - 2017 Family Series Season with Y York's adaptation of The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi. Based off of the popular short-story by Ruyard Kipling, Rikki Tikki Tavi leaps onto the B Street stage this fall.

Featuring beloved characters such as Rikki Tikki, the valiant mongoose and Darzee, the stingy, tailor bird, this adapation may remind audiences of other Family Series favorites such as A Year with Frog and Toad, Gift of the Magi and Anansi the Spider.

With a highly diverse cast and director returning from an artistic residency in India, B Street's production of The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi will bring to life Ruyard's tale of the eclectic group of animals who inhabit a beautiful, Indian garden.

IF YOU GO:

THE GARDEN OF RIKKI RIKKI TAVI

October 1 - November 6, 2016
1:00 pm and 4:00 pm. Saturdays and Sundays

Preview: Saturday, October 1 at 1:00pm
Opening: Saturday, October 1 at 4:00pm

At B Street Theatre Family Series Stage, 2711 B St., Sacramento

Tickets: $23 for adults and $18 for children TICKETS AND INFORMATION: (916) 443-5300, www.bstreettheatre.org

The Playwright - Y York

Y York is the recipient of the Smith Prize for ... and LA Is Burning; Houston's Buzzy Award for Best New Play for Woof; the Berrilla Kerr Award for The Secret Wife; the Hawai'i Award for Literature for Nothing Is the Same. She is also a five-time winner of the AATE Distinguished Play Award and has won the Charlotte Chorpenning Award for her body of work for children and their families. York's plays can be found on stages around the country and at Broadway Play Publishing, Dramatic Publishing or from Bret Adams, Ltd. Her plays have been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, AT&T OnStage, United States Artists and many local arts organizations through the years. York is an alumna of New Dramatists and a member of The Dramatists Guild. For three decades she has been writing plays-their current number astonishes even her. Most of the plays have been produced, and more than 20 are published. York still lives with Mark Lutwak to whom all things are still dedicated. They have two dogs. For more information, visit www.yyork.com.

The Director - Lyndsay Burch

Originally from North Carolina, Lyndsay Burch has been working at B Street Theatre since graduating from Elon University's Acting Program. In her time at B Street, Lyndsay has directed eight Equity productions, directed and written for three 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 two Rolling World Premieres. Most recently, Lyndsay has directed Constellations (B3 Series), Fantasy Festival xx (B Street School Tour), Mud Blue Sky (Mainstage) and The Realistic Joneses (B3 Series). Lyndsay has also served as an assistant director to Giovanna Sardelli on Halftime with Don at the National Playwrights Conference and as the director of The Mermaid Hour for Actor's Theatre of Charlotte's nuVoices Play Festival.

Lyndsay is the receipent of a 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. She will serve as the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Observer with 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 an Artistic Associate at B Street.

THE CAST:

Rikki Tikki Tavi: Catherine Gloria - Catherine has performed in the National Tour of The Magic School Bus (Wanda, original) with Maximum Entertainment Productions. Regional credits include The Four Immigrants Manga (Burly Q, original) with TheatreWorks, Avenue Q (Christmas Eve) with Berkeley Playhouse, Ivy and Bean (Bean, original) with Bay Area Children's Theatre, The Addams Family (Wednesday Addams) with Palo Alto Players, Les Miserables (Eponine) and Flower Drum Song (Mei Li) with Woodminster, and Miss Saigon (Kim) with Broadway by the Bay. Catherine has a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and Master's in Education. Proud member of AEA.

Darzee: Anastasia Bonaccorso - Anastasia is an actor, singer, writer and recent graduate of UCLA's Masters in Fine Arts program in Acting. Born and raised in Fair Oaks, she is thrilled to have recently moved back to Sacramento and to now make her B Street Theatre debut. Recent roles include Maria in Life on the Praça Roosevelt (UCLA), the villain Lussurioso in a gender-bending The Revengers Tragedy (UCLA), Sister Berthe in the Sound of Music (Mountain Play), the bombshell side of Hedwig's persona in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Boxcar Theatre), and the performance art piece Shade Compositions at SF MOMA with artist Rashaad Newsome. As a writer, her first one act play entitled Aphrodite, Inc., about the societal pressures that shape and control women's bodies, was produced at UCLA in 2014. She also has studied at the British American Drama Academy's Midsummer in Oxford program and American Conservatory Theater's Summer Congress. She holds a B.S. from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

Chuchu: Amy Kelly - Amy is an actress, comedian, voice-over artist and impersonator. Her film credits include Nick and Tristan Go Mega Dega (2010) and West Hollywood Motel (2013) and she has starred in numerous independent cult classics that have screened internationally. Amy guest starred in the Comedy Central series Free Radio and VH1's reality series New York Goes to Hollywood. As a B Street Theatre company member, Amy's performances include Well, 39 Steps, The Snow Queen, Extraordinary Things: Through the Eyes of Anne Frank, The Young Tom Edison, Hansel and Gretel, The Conductor: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Robyn is Happy, The Ladies Foursome, Dia de los Cuentos, A Christmas Carol and 5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche. She also writes and performs for the B Sketchy comedy shows.

Ted/Nag: John Lamb - John is a company member of the B Street Theatre. Former roles on the B Street stage include 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, Huey in Italian American Reconciliation and Luigi in The Explorers Club. 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, Rumplestilskin, the Swiss Family Robinson, Junie B. Jones, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, The Three Musketeers, Snow White and Rose Red, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Stories, A Christmas Carol, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and most recently Alice in Wonderland. 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.

Scenic Designer: Samantha Reno - Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Sam has designed and painted for the Cincinnati Opera, Children's Theatre of Cincinnati and Town Hall Theatre, among many others. Sam has taught scenic artistry at the high school level. Her B Street credits include Boom!, Jenny Chow, Love Child, Hound of the Baskervilles, Grounded, Bars and Measures, Frankenstein, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, Echo Location and Masterpiece of Comic...Timing. She earned two bachelor of fine arts degrees from Northern Kentucky University in both set design and graphic design.

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.

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.

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.

More information at www.bstreettheatre.org.

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