Bay Area Children's Theater Debuts Musical Version Of BEAUTIFUL OOPS!, Today

It started with a coffee spill. Author-illustrator Barney Saltzberg took one look at the coffee stain on his sketchbook page and turned it into a Coffee Monster. So was born the idea for his award-winning, best-selling book, Beautiful Oops!

Now, Bay Area Children's Theatre (BACT) brings Saltzberg's joyous celebration of creativity to the stage in an original musical that invites audience members to help the actors turn accidents into imaginative artistic successes.

Developed by BACT Executive Artistic Director Nina Meehan and Playwright Austin Zumbro, with book, lyrics and music by Zumbro, Beautiful Oops! honors the signature colors and style of Saltzberg's work as his whimsical creatures-actors discover they are having a less-than-perfect day preparing for a show . . . Oops!

BERKELEY: Beautiful Oops! opens Friday, January 19, at the BACT Theatre Center, 2055 Center Street, Berkeley, CA 94704, and plays Fridays at 6:30 p.m. and weekends at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. through Sunday, March 4.

SAN FRANCISCO: After its Berkeley run, Beautiful Oops! moves to San Francisco, playing Friday at 6:30 p.m. and weekends at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the Children's Creativity Museum Theater, 221 Fourth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103.

Both theaters are easily accessible by BART.

TICKETS: $15 - $27

BOX OFFICE: www.bactheatre.org or call (510) 296-4433

Recommended for age 3 and up.

Artists

Austin Zumbro (playwright, lyricist, composer), is the creative force behind BACT's recent world premieres of The Rainbow Fish Musical and Fly Guy, the Musical; the company's award-winning original production of Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site the Musical; and its acclaimed original production of The Day the Crayons Quit-the Musical. For BACT, Zumbro has also created two comedies, Lemony Snicket's The Lump of Coal and Rudolph the Ugly Duckling. His BACT productions for schools, including The Gold Rush Musical; Labcoats and Scapegoats: A Science Fair Musicalamity; and Rock the Block: A Walk and Roll Musical, have been seen by more than 100,000 students in the Bay Area. An Oakland native, Zumbro graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Human Biology.

Nina Meehan (director) is the executive artistic director of Bay Area Children's Theatre. Meehan has directed numerous productions for the company, including, most recently, Old MacDonald: Beyond the Farm (Theatre for the Very Young); Fly Guy, the Musical (nominated for best director and for Outstanding World Premiere Musical at the 2017 Theatre Bay Area Awards Celebration); The Wheels on the Bus (Theatre for the Very Young); A Year With Frog and Toad; BACT's acclaimed original production and remount of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site-The Musical; The Day the Crayons Quit-the Musical, and James and the Giant Peach. She champions new works for young audiences and has produced original adaptations of BACT's award-winning Where the Mountain Meets the Moon; Ivy+Bean, the Musical; Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, the Musical, and many others. Meehan serves on the Theatre Services Committee for Theatre Bay Area and the Board of Directors for TYA/USA. She received her BS in Theatre from Northwestern University and her Masters in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco.

About Bay Area Children's Theatre

Established in 2004, Bay Area Children's Theatre, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, serves more than 110,000 children and adults throughout the Bay Area, with main stage performances in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco and Sunnyvale; programs and productions in local schools; and classes and summer camps in the East Bay, South Bay, and San Francisco.

Our Mission: To inspire young audiences with imaginative productions, introduce children of all backgrounds to the excitement of live theatre, and create an engaging, entertaining, and educational environment in which children and their families can explore and enjoy the arts.

How We Carry Out Our Mission:

· Bring high quality, professional theatre to children and their families, with artists who create vibrant worlds that are intriguing to young audiences

· Encourage young people to explore literature, language, and the arts by producing stage adaptations of great children's books

· Engage preschoolers in the world of theatre with productions specially designed for them

· Develop and perform exciting new work for the stage

· Reach out to children who might not otherwise experience live theatre with free tickets, special performances for school groups, and touring productions at local schools

· Create touring productions for young audiences nationwide

· Partner with communities to meet the need for theatre education

· Introduce children to the joy of performance through our theatre education program

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