La Jolla Playhouse Announces 2017 POP Tour: #SUPERSHINYSARA

La Jolla Playhouse announces that its 2017 Performance Outreach Program (POP) Tour production, #SuperShinySara, by Wesley Middleton and staged by acclaimed San Diego director and Moxie Theatre Artistic Director Delicia Turner-Sonnenberg (Without Walls Festival 2013's Counterweight), will tour schools throughout San Diego County January 30 - March 31, 2017. Commissioned by The Playhouse, this world-premiere play for young audiences will also have four public performances on March 25 & 26, 2017 at 1:00pm and 3:00pm in The Playhouse's Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.

This year also commemorates 30 years since the introduction of the POP Tour in 1987 with the debut of Silent Edward, a musical by Playhouse Director Emeritus Des McAnuff. With this first POP Tour production, which was shared with over 30,000 children, families and teachers through a special week-long engagement and two subsequent tours the following year in 1988, The Playhouse tradition of bringing theatre to San Diego schools was born.

The upcoming POP Tour centers around Sara, an excellent storyteller and a pretty good older sister. Still, her life is nothing compared to the glamorous world of her idol, @ShoppyGoddess - a teenage fashion mogul and megastar on social media. Sara longs to escape into the fabulous online world of photos, fame, and followers. But when a magical event transports her right into the social media feed itself, she discovers that having a super shiny life may not be so perfect after all. Exploring themes of authenticity, deceit, friendship and redemption, this imaginative new play reveals how empowering it can be to create your own story and take pride in who you are.

"In an age where social media dominates what young people know about the world around them, #SuperShinySara is an utterly timely and immensely clever new work. It conveys a vital message about how we process what we see online and the danger of measuring our everyday lives against the 'reality' we see on social media," said Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. "This year's POP Tour production provides a thoughtful and lively exploration of what is unique and special about our own lives."

Adds Ashley, "It's especially rewarding to celebrate the POP Tour's 30th birthday with a play that examines an issue so of-the-moment with today's young audiences. It's a true privilege to look back on all these years of POP Tour shows and see how we've worked to nurture and develop productions that are reflective of what's currently happening in the lives of students, and share that work with them in ways that are accessible and relatable."

The creative team of #SuperShinySara includes Wesley Middleton, playwright; Delicia Turner-Sonnenberg, director; Sean Fanning, scenic designer; Desiree Hatfield-Buckley, costume designer; and Melanie Chen, Sound Designer.

The Playhouse is one of the few theatres in the country that annually commissions world-class artists to create a bold new play for young audiences annually. Playwrights create an innovative, 45-minute piece that addresses issues in the students' lives. Last year's POP Tour, Alice Chan, was seen by more 19,000 young people, teachers and families.

"The Playhouse takes great pride in its commitment to bringing what's new and next in American theatre not only to the audiences that come to our theatres, but also to San Diego students through the POP Tour. Rather than relying on existing work or adaptations of stories and books for our touring program, we extend our dedication to arts education programs by commissioning and developing a brand new work every year that will resonate with young minds," said Playhouse Director of Education and Outreach Steve McCormick.

Introduced in 1987, the POP Tour travels throughout the county, touring schools, libraries and community centers. The set, costumes and props are designed to fit into a 16-foot truck and, in just 60 minutes, can be unloaded, placed in any space and be ready for children to experience. Prior to each performance, a Playhouse teaching artist visits each school to engage students in an interactive workshop to explore issues and themes at the core of the play. The Playhouse also provides schools with a standards-based engagement guide that enables educators to integrate the play into their existing curriculum. After each performance, the cast and crew conduct a question and answer session with the audience.

The 2017 POP Tour will also be the first time The Playhouse partners with the California Center for the Arts, Escondido (CCAE) to present two school day performances for schools in North County on February 28, 2017. Schools interested in attending one of these performances should contact the CCAE Box Office at (800) 988-4253.

La Jolla Playhouse offers the Adopt-A-School program which provides funding for POP Tour performances at schools that could not otherwise afford it. With the help of the theatre's Education Committee, Playhouse Board members Judy Smith and Barbara ZoBell created the Adopt-A-School program for those who love theatre and feel no child should be without its transformative power. For more information, please contact Samantha Wilson at swilson@ljp.org.

Tickets to the public performances on March 25 & 26 will go on sale in early 2017. For more information about booking the POP Tour for a school performance, please contact Paola Kubelis at pkubelis@ljp.org.

BIOGRAPHIES

Wesley Middleton loves writing plays for young audiences. She first caught the bug over 20 years ago in a class taught by the incredible Theatre-for-Young Audiences (TYA) playwright Suzan Zeder. Her play Tomato Plant Girl was developed and premiered by Metro Theater Company with UT/Austin and Idaho Theater for Youth, and went on to be produced around the United States by companies including Childsplay (Tempe, AZ,) Geva Theatre (Rochester, NY), and Imagination Stage (Bethesda, MD). Her other TYA plays include Degas' Little Dancer, developed and produced by Zach Scott Theater's Project Interact and later by The Alliance (Atlanta, GA) and Unsorted, commissioned and produced by Metro Theater Company (St. Louis, MO). She has worked in many areas of theatre, as a teaching artist (ACT and Intiman Theatres, Seattle), festival director (Seattle Fringe Festival), and producing director (Ripe Time Theatre Company, NYC). In 2014, after receiving her MFA in Television Writing and Production at Long Island University Brooklyn, she moved to Los Angeles, where she continues to love writing plays for young audiences and looks forward to writing for television one day as well.

Delicia Turner Sonnenberg is the founding Artistic Director of MOXIE Theatre, where she has directed many acclaimed productions. Recently named Director of the Year by the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle, she has directed for San Diego Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Cygnet Theatre Company, Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company, New Village Arts, Diversionary Theatre, ion theatre company, and Playwrights Project. Her honors include Theatre Communications Group's New Generations Program fellowship, San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Awards, Patte Awards, a Women's International Center Living Legacy Award, Van Lier Fund fellowship (Second Stage Theatre), and the New York Drama League's Directors Project.

The 2017 POP Tour commission is made possible through the generous support of The Potiker Family.

Corporate support provided by Qualcomm Foundation, US Bank Foundation, San Diego Gas & Electric - A Sempra Energy Utility, Bank of America Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, Union Bank Foundation, ResMed Foundation, Nordson Corporation Foundation, Nordstrom Foundation, Macy's Foundation, the Employees Community Fund of Boeing California, and the Silicon Valley Bank Foundation.

Government support provided by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, The County of San Diego, The City of Encinitas & Mizel Family Foundation Community Grant Program, and The City of Chula Vista, Performing and Visual Arts Grant.

Foundation support provided by The William Hall Tippett and Ruth Rathell Tippett Foundation, Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation, San Diego Scottish Rite Community Foundation, The Farrell Family Foundation, The Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, The David C. Copley Foundation, Price Philanthropies Foundation, The Arthur and Jeanette Pratt Memorial Fund, and La Jolla Kiwanis Foundation.

The Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is internationally-renowned for creating some of the most exciting and adventurous work in American theatre, through its new play development initiatives, its innovative Without Walls series, artist residencies and commissions, including BD Wong, Daniel Beaty and Kirsten Greenidge. Currently led by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg, The Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and reborn in 1983 under the artistic leadership of Des McAnuff, La Jolla Playhouse has had 25 productions transfer to Broadway, garnering 35 Tony Awards, among them Jersey Boys, Memphis, The Who's Tommy, Big River, as well as Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays and the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, both fostered as part of The Playhouse's Page To Stage Program. For more information, you can visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org.

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