The KID Show: Music Box

20th Anniversary e KID Show: MUSIC BOX

by Allison Quiller Directed by Renee Prince

THE KID SHOW: A HISTORY

During her first season at CRT in 2002, Renée Prince got to know “a rogue band of girls from town.” Those girls were Hanna and Hailey Waters, Allison Quiller, Erin Powers (Schrag), Hannah Richter, Dani Lewis, Samantha Schlough, and Erin Hooper—all who frequented the theatre. Prince was inspired by their energy and wildness, so when the time came to create material for the (then) annual CRT cabaret, she asked if they wanted to put together a mime piece, and they said YES! Prince had studied mime at Northwestern University where she performed and taught throughout Chicago with the school’s Mime Company. The performance was such a hit that the Hitchcock Foundation asked if their organization could support additional educational programming; and just like that, the Creede Initiative (later The KID Show) was born! The first year of The KID Show was a full mime show called, aptly, An Afternoon of Mime. And because there were so many young visual artists in the cast, Renée recruited her brother, Ryan Prince, to “come to the mountains and make puppets for the summer.” Over the next few years, the team adapted beloved children’s stories for the stage using movement, puppetry, and tons of imagination from the students. They also began collaborating with Natalie Maynard, whose costume magic became a staple of the program. As that first group of students grew, they were ready for more challenges and eager to sink their teeth into scripted work, so the team of Prince, Prince, and Maynard commissioned Jeff Carey to write a play for the ensemble. Emilia’s Tree was their first collaboration with the beloved Carey, who went on to write the musicals: Lullaby Bay and Scruff Turbo and the Children of the Future. Over the past 20 years, the program has adapted to serve the needs of an ever-changing population of Creede kids, but the basic mission has remained the same: to create an environment where young people can be seen, valued, appreciated, and encouraged to grow through the process of creating a fully realized, professional-quality piece of theatre. Students involved in The KID Show have been able to perform in brand-new musicals, promenade theatre, devised theatre, movement-based productions, shows on trapeze, futuristic Shakespearean adaptations, and so much more. As we reflect on the past 20 years, we are excited to see how The KID Show will continue to grow and change. We are grateful for Renée and Ryan Prince for seeing the potential and diving in fearlessly. After so many years, we know without a shadow of a doubt the magic that can happen when you trust that you can “leap and the net will appear.”

An Afternoon of Mime (2003)

HITCHCOCK FOUNDATION

Down the rabbit hole. Over the rainbow. Into the wardrobe. For 20 years, The KID Show has been a portal to an alternate space and time, a dream place, where the upsidedown-ness of the adult world is conquered by the imagination of kids – a place where swan Renée Prince bicycles flap their wings, blacklight mermaids swim the seas, and the only real rules are to be curious, love each other, and try not to miss your cue.

Allie Quiller was a member of the first rogue band of KID Show participants in 2003. Since then, the unbridled wildness and laserfocused playfulness of kids has built, shaped, and sustained this program. In the not-much-makes-sense real world, the fact that Allie Quiller has returned to write The KID Show’s 20th anniversary play feels almost disorienting in its rightness. Like finding myself under a lamppost in the snow with a talking fawn.

Music Box is written against the backdrop of World War II. When it was drafted, we didn’t yet know we’d be witnessing another war, that we’d be watching heartbreak and mass destruction perpetrated by another in a long-line of small-minded, closed-hearted tyrants. What world are we making for our children? In this knockout new play by Allie Quiller, the kids save us once again, and oh how I wish they didn’t have to. How I wish we could protect them. But until that day, I’m grateful that spaces like The KID Show exist. For the participants, yes, but especially for us. Because for a short time, we get to sit in a dark theater surrounded by our fellow human beings and witness the sparkling courage and clarity of kids.

This production is dedicated to Jeff Carey whose fiercely singular point of view helped us break all the rules.

(top left) The Tree Watcher (2021), The Rainbow Goblins (2005), (right) Ryan and Renée Prince

THE MCSHANE & SLOANE FAMILIES No Intermission

CREATIVE TEAM

Playwright Allison Quiller++ Director Renée Prince+ Assistant Director Jenni Harbour Assistant Director Genevieve LaMee++ Scenic Design Ryan Prince+ Costume Design Natalie Maynard Lighting Design Bryan Ealey Sound Design Sky Bradley

STAGE MANAGEMENT

Stage Manager Sky Bradley

+ KID Show Founder ++ KID Show Alumna

Developed under CRT’s Headwaters New Play Program.

THE KID SHOW’S 20TH SEASON!

PARTICIPATE

Are you age 10+ and interested in being part of The KID Show? Register today at

creederep.org/education/the-kid-show

Rehearsals for Music Box begin on June 21 and culminate on the closing of the show, July 9.

The Ruth Humphrey’s Brown Theatre

July 7 / 7pm July 8 / 1pm July 9 / 11am

Reserve your FREE tickets today! CREEDEREP.ORG/SHOW/KIDSHOW

Now in its 20th season, The KID Show program provokes and empowers young creative minds to develop and produce a new play, while placing them in a professional environment and encouraging them to play!