Playful People Productions Presents Interactive Original Musical AXOLORIS, July 1—2, 2022

Playful People Productions will present an interactive, original musical, Axoloris, under the direction of Celia Scheuerman.

Young actors, ages 10-16, perform this tale of discovering not only the importance of protecting their community from an energy crisis, but discovering themselves as well. Axoloris, written by and under the musical direction of Sean Mendelson, will perform at Historic Hoover Theatre in San Jose, July 1-2, 2022.

For tickets ($20, in person attendance or live stream viewing, available beginning June 10), or for more information on Playful People and their programs, visit https://playfulpeople.org or call (408) 878-5362.

Axoloris is set in an imagined future world where humans have created an environmentally stable society - in large part due to a magical creature, Axoloris, who visited millions of people in their dreams in 2020 with inspiring messages of innovation to protect the planet. Spurred by this collective vision, people built hydroelectric power plants to power their communities, and autonomous robots to help humans remember and respect their responsibility towards the planet.

In this imagined future of 2050, robots not only advise humans on environmental choices, but clean houses, transport humans within their communities, even serve as surrogate bodies for humans who can't - or don't wish to - leave home. Virtual Reality is omnipresent, and the children of this world never knew the struggles of the previous generation. To them, Earth Day is just a tedious holiday, and Axoloris is a myth invented to make kids do boring chores. Their attention is fully captured by the trials of youth: unrequited crushes, overprotective parents, mischief that threatens to spill over into real trouble, fear of following their hearts and losing friends for it. But hearts will change as they begin to realize that Axoloris is, indeed, real - and so is the ubiquitous threat to the planet.

As an interactive show, the audience has opportunities to choose the actions taken by performers in this coming-of-age musical. Filled with quirky robots, kids finding their way, adults trying (with questionable success) to guide them, the spiritual Earth being Axoloris - and even a Trash Monster and a pragmatic chicken - Axoloris offers musical fun and practical advice for being a young adult.

Playwright and musical director Sean Mendelson is a singer/songwriter, recording artist, and Music Together/Kids Sing Teacher. At the age of eight he began playing guitar, and started writing music at 16. As a much loved teacher across the Bay Area, he started his own licensed Music Together Center in Santa Clara in 2007. In 2013 Mendelson created Sean's Music Factory: an interactive, performance-based music experience for kids. A strong advocate for children's musical development, he writes not only traditional children's fare, but alternative rock and modern styles to involve parents and caregivers in the listening experience. Mendelson graduated from Santa Clara University where he majored in music and communications with an emphasis on guitar performance and writing. He played for six years in a band called Mirror Image, which released four albums. He has released two children's albums, and written musical scores for three documentaries, including a piece on legendary baseball player Willie Mays. Mendelson is the son of Leland "Lee" Mendelson, the Bay Area producer behind all the Peanuts animated TV specials; and he provided the voice of Franklin in It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown and in the episode "The Mayflower Voyagers" of This Is America, Charlie Brown.

Playful People Productions was first founded in 2010 as a positive, inclusive, family-focused theatre company, and has operated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit since 2017. While initially providing classes, camps, and shows for kids, the company has grown to offer similar classes for adults, and stages performances where family members can perform together. Most recently the organization has returned to its customary spaces at the Historic Hoover Theatre in San Jose, but is continuing some of its pandemic-responsive online programming (POP, Playful Online People) as well as On Demand video classes.

Mother and daughter team Barbara Galiotto and Katie D'Arcey are Positive Discipline trained; both have worked as early Childhood Educators; and as professional directors with children's theater. The pair have approximately 50 years experience between them in the musical theater world and, together with a small team of permanent staff and an array of talented directors, teachers, and support personnel, offer beginner through advanced theatre experiences for the whole family.

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