CCT YouTheatre Company to Perform Two Special Easter Productions

The weekend before Easter is going to be jam-packed with fun and amazing theatre as Columbia Children's Theatre (CCT) presents It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown and Stephen Schwartz's Godspell Jr. April 10 -13. The Easter Beagle runs Saturday, April 12 @ 11 & 3:00 and Godspell Jr. runs Thursday, April 10 at 7:00, Friday, April 11 at 7:00 and Saturday, April 12 at 7:00. There will be a special double feature matinee Sunday at 3:00 pm of both shows. Tickets are $10 per person and $8.00 for seniors and active military for individual performances, and $15 for Sunday's double feature matinee. All shows take place at Columbia Children's Theatre on the second floor of Richland Mall, 3400 Forest Drive in beautiful Forest Acres. Advance tickets are strongly recommended and may be purchased securely on-line at www.columbiachildrenstheatre.com.

Directed and choreographed by veteran actor/singer/dancer Dedra Daniels Mount, the productions will feature nearly 60 Midlands area youth. The cast of It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown includes: Olivia Timmerman, Elizabeth Crosby, Baker Morrison, Sydney Vaught, Mattie Mount, Riley Campbell, Stella Rose Walters, Ian Aitken, Zac Davis, Lilly Blalock, Addie Grace Cook, Lilly Flowers, Henry Moses, Alex Cone, Ally Montgomery, Callie Fisher, Henry Barry, Grayson Taylor, Olivia Blair, Emily Clare Kerwin, Lucy Barry, Liam Blair, Kathie Chu, Alex Goodwin, Julian Jones, Cullen Maas, Zaire Ross-McCloud, Mya Wright, Sydney Davis, Marion Jones, Jenna Woody, Courtney Wright, Erin Carns, Courtney Hope Diveley, Kendall Wright, Hermione Barringer, Parker Holt and Piper Phipps.

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is the 12th prime-time animated TV special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. It originally debuted on the CBS network on April 9, 1974 at 8 p.m. CBS aired it annually from 1974 to 2000, and since 2001 it continues to air in some years on ABC.

The cast of Godspell Jr. includes: Vision Wilkes-Davis, Anthony Harvey, Paige Beans, Ethan Cash, Wallyce Dowey, Abby Frye, Rachel Glowacki, Georgie Harrington, Sarah Krawczyk, Haley McCort, Hannah Mount, Sara Platt, David Quay, Imani Ross-Jackson, Jamie Shinn, and Jerryana Williams. Godspel Jr. is musically directed by Chris Cockrell.

Godspell opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival which played on Broadway from October 13, 2011, to June 24, 2012. Drawing from various theatrical traditions, such as clowning, pantomime, acrobatics and vaudeville , the show is based on the Gospel according to St. Matthew, and is a unique reflection on the life of Jesus with a message of kindness, tolerance, and love.

"We wanted to find 2 pieces to run in repertory around Easter," said CCT Artistic Director Jerry Stevenson. "Charlie Brown offered us a light-hearted one-act for our younger cast members and Godspell offers a meatier challenge for CCT's more experienced performers."

Columbia Children's Theatre is a professional resident not-for-profit theatre dedicated to providing quality live theatre experiences for families and young audiences, and is supported in part by the City of Forest Acres, The Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties and the South Carloina Arts Commission, which receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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