24/25 Arts Education Student Matinee Series Brochure Gallo Center for the Arts

WELCOME TO THE 24/25 SEASON

ARTS EDUCATION STUDENT MATINEE SERIES!

Dear Educator,

I’m thrilled to share with you our 24/25 Student Matinee Series at the Gallo Center! As you flip through the pages of our digital brochure you’ll see an array of diverse programming for all grade levels, TK-12. A new theme for the new season is a purposeful effort to make some of our public performances available specifically for our student audiences. For the first time students can experience the internationally acclaimed Peking Acrobats and returning to our Student Matinee Series for the first time since 2015 is Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernandez. Just to name a few.

GCA on Tour, the Gallo Center’s annual touring production returns for a spring season in 2025 with Maddi’s Fridge. Based on the book by Lois Brandt, Maddi’s Fridge is a heartwarming and hilarious play about honesty, sensitivity and instilling important lessons in friendship, empathy and helping others. Turn to pages 17-18 to learn more.

Lastly, thank you to our longtime partner, supporter and friend of the Gallo Center, Alfred Matthews, for their ongoing support of the Gallo Center and our arts education programs. Thank you!

I look forward to welcoming you and your students to Gallo Center!

Cortney Hurst Director of Arts Education

HOW TO BOOK YOUR TICKETS!

Reserving your tickets for all student matinee performances, as well as student matinee performances for our Resident Companies, is simple and easy with our online Student Matinee Reservation Form. Simply complete and submit one form for each performance you wish to attend. You’ll receive confirmation of your order and an invoice within three days of submitting your form. All forms are date and time stamped and are processed in the order they are received. Click here to select and submit a reservation form for a GCA Student Matinee Performance. Click here for Central West Ballet. Click here for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra.

SEASON AT A GLANCE

CENTRAL WEST BALLET’S DRACULA

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2024, 11:00 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 7-12

DOT DOT DOT: A NEW MUSICAL

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024, 9:30 & 11:30 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 1-4

MANUAL CINEMA’S LEONARDO! A WONDERFUL SHOW ABOUT A TERRIBLE MONSTER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024, 9:30 & 11:30 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K-4

CENTRAL WEST BALLET’S NUTCRACKER

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2024, 10:00 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 1+

THE PA’AKI WE BRING

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025, 9:30 & 11:30 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 3+

THE PACK DRUMLINE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2025, 9:30 & 11:30 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 7+

THE PEKING ACROBATS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2025, 9:30 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K+

DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS!

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2025, 9:30 & 11:30 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES TK-2

A BEE STORY

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2025, 9:30 & 11:30 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K-4

DRAGONS & MYTHICAL BEASTS

TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2025, 9:30 & 11:30 AM RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 2-6

MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’S LINK UP

THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2025, 11:30 AM RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 3-5

ADA TWIST, SCIENTIST AND FRIENDS

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2025, 9:30 & 11:30 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K-4

BALLET FOLKLÓRICO DE MÉXICO

THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2025, 9:30 AM RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K+

ILUMINATE

MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2025, 9:30 AM RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 3+

THE GRUFFALO’S CHILD

TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2025, 9:30 & 11:30 AM RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 1-3

JAZZREACH: HANGIN’ WITH THE GIANTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2025, 9:30 & 11:30 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 2-4

CENTRAL WEST BALLET’S THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2025, 10:00 AM

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 1+

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2024, 11:00 AM

FOSTER FAMILY THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 7-12

Journey to Victorian England as Count Dracula makes his comeback to the Gallo Center. With thrilling dance scenes and captivating staging, the master of terror awaits. Experience Bram Stoker's worldwide sensational novel all over again. Dance as dark as you dare and see this Halloween ballet experience complete with an original and haunting music score. If you loved CWB's Frankenstein, you'll want to come to the ballet that took the audience by storm. Dracula is your ticket to a journey into fear!

This performance is presented by Central West Ballet, a resident company of the Gallo Center for the Arts, learn more at centralwestballet.org.

DOT DOT DOT: A NEW MUSICAL

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024, 9:30 AM

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2024, 11:30 AM

Mary Stuart Rogers Theater

Recommended for grades 1-4

Performance Run Time: Approximately 60 minutes

Curriculum Connections

Communication and language arts, literature based, Social Emotional Learning, and music. California State Standards

RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

RL.3.3 Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Written by Keelay Gipson and Sam Salmond

Based on the books The Dot, Ish & Sky Color by Peter H. Reynolds

Original Direction by Jesca Prudencio

Illustrations from The Dot Copyright © 2003 by Peter H. Reynolds; Illustrations from Sky Color Copyright © 2012 by Peter H. Reynolds; Illustrations from Ish Copyright © 2015 Candlewick Press. Used with permission of Pippin Properties, Inc.

DOT DOT DOT: A New Musical is an exciting new musical based on the Creatrilogy trio of award-winning picture books by New York Times bestselling author Peter H. Reynolds- The Dot, Ish and Sky Color. Adapted by Composers Keelay Gipson and Sam Salmond, the musical, like the series, celebrates the power of originality, self-expression, and opening our eyes to look beyond the expected.

When Marisol (Sky Color), a young artist and curator of the Musee de Marisol, decides that her gallery requires more than her own art, her search for emerging talent leads her to Vashti (The Dot), whose dots inspire Ramon (Ish) to become an artist in his own right. The musical follows Marisol's journey to help her new friends, and her entire community, break free from self-criticism and learn to let their imaginations soar.

MANUAL CINEMA’S LEONARDO! A WONDERFUL SHOW ABOUT A TERRIBLE MONSTER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024, 9:30 AM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024, 11:30 AM

FOSTER FAMILY THEATER

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K-4

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections

Communication and teamwork, friendship, adventure, music, multimedia, puppetry, literature based.

California State Standards

ELAL.CCRA.R.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

ELAL.CCRA.R.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

California State Arts Standards

3.TH:Re8c. Examine how connections are made between oneself and a character’s emotions in drama/ theatre work.

5.TH:Re8a. Justify responses based on personal experiences when participating in or observing a drama/ theatre work.

Created by Manual Cinema

Inspired by the books Leonardo, The Terrible Monster and Sam, The Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World by Mo Willems

Directed by Sarah Fornace

Adaption by Sarah Fornace and Drew Dir Music, Lyrics and Sound Design by Ben Kauffman and Kyle Vegter

Commissioned by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with additional commissioning support from Utah Presents

Leonardo is a terrible monster. He tries so hard to be scary, but he just… isn’t. Then Leonardo finds Sam, the most scaredy-cat kid in the world. Will Leonardo finally get to scare the tuna salad out of someone? Or will it be the start of an unlikely friendship? The plot thickens when this pair meets Kerry and Frankenthaler, an even scaredier-cat and her monster friend. Kerry and Sam need to make a big decision: will they just be scaredy cats or can they become friends?

Leonardo! uses hundreds of illustrated paper puppets, book pages, two-dimensional props, furry monster puppets, and songs to bring Mo Willems’ books to life. The Emmy Award-winning creator of Leonardo!, Manual Cinema, wanted to re-create the experience of holding one of Mo’s book pages, which are big, bold, colorful, and full of visual rhythm, with a playful use of scale. Like all Manual Cinema productions, you’re invited to watch the big screen like a traditional movie, or to watch the artists below as they create the story in real time. (There is no wrong way to watch the show!)

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2024, 10:00 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 1+

Your Holidays won't be complete without Central West Ballet's Nutcracker! Featuring beautiful sets, backdrops, and danced with heartwarming energy by our dancers, this magical tradition is a perfect holiday card for the whole family to cherish! Always new, always magical! Follow Clara's adventure to the Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy with all the characters you love!

This performance is presented by Central West Ballet, a resident company of the Gallo Center for the Arts, learn more at centralwestballet.org.

THE PA’AKI WE BRING

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025, 9:30 AM TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025, 11:30 AM

FOSTER FAMILY THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 3+

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES Curriculum Connections

Oral history and storytelling, Native and Indigenous Cultures, Hawaiian and Pacific Island culture and history. California State Standard

HSS-3.2 Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago and in the recent past. California State Arts Standard 4.TH:Cn10 Imagine and identify the ways drama/ theatre work reflects the perspectives of a community or culture.

This original production introduces audiences to the Native Hawaiian relationship to pa‘akai (salt). Traditionally, pa‘akai is food, medicine, a sacrament and a treasured gift. The play follows a family with multiple generations of salt farmers on Kauai, mixing in ancient stories, hula, live music, original songs and plenty of audiences participation into a tasty potluck of performance, joyously served up with aloha.

Led by HTY Artistic Associate Moses Goods, the HTY creative team traveled to the island of Kauai and spent time working and learning from traditional salt harvesters before creating this project. HTY would like to extend a special mahalo to the Nizo, Santos and Nobrega families and all the other salt-makers of Hanapepe. Without their 'ike and aloha this project wouldn’t have been possible. This project was awarded the NEFA Theatre Project Creation Grant in 2021.

Founded in 1955, Honolulu Theatre for Youth (HTY) is one of the oldest and most respected children’s theatres in the country. HTY is a theatre of place, deeply rooted in the cultures and people of the Pacific and dedicated to serving young people, families and educators across the Hawaiian Islands.

THE PACK DRUMLINE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2025, 9:30 AM

THURSDAY, JANUARY, 30, 2025, 11:30 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 7+

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections

Music, rhythm and percussion, storytelling, movement, cultural significance

California State Standards

ELAL.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

California State Arts Standards

8.MU:Cr1 Generate rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic phrases and harmonic accompaniments within expanded forms (including introductions, transitions, and codas) that convey expressive intent.

8.MU:Pr4.2 c. Identity how personal, social, cultural, and historical context inform performances and result in different music interpretations.

Get ready for an electrifying performance with The Pack Drumline! This group of talented musicians and performers bring their dynamic rhythms and high-energy beats to the stage in a show that will leave you breathless. The Pack Drumline is a group of percussionists and dancers who have honed their craft through years of training and performance. Their unique blend of Southern Show Style Drumming with Intense Upbeat Choreography works to create a production both powerful and awe-inspiring. From the opening notes to the final crescendo, you'll be captivated by their expert drumming, intricate choreography, and stunning visuals.

The show will feature a mix of original compositions and classic favorites, with each piece highlighting the group's incredible range and versatility. From the explosive rhythms of the bass drums to the intricate patterns of the snare drums, this production will have you on the edge of your seat!

THE PEKING ACROBATS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2025, 9:30 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K+

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections

Physical activity and endurance, acrobatics, Chinese history and culture.

California State Standards

1.SL.4: Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

5.RL.7: Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

The Peking Acrobats perform daring maneuvers atop a precarious pagoda of chairs and display their technical prowess with trick cycling, precision tumbling, juggling, somersaulting, and gymnastics—pushing the limits of human ability, while defying gravity with amazing displays of contortion, flexibility, and control. Time-honored Chinese music accompanies the acrobats, coalescing with the high-tech special effects and awe-inspiring acrobatic feats to create an exuberant entertainment event with the festive pageantry of a Chinese carnival.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2025, 9:30 AM TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2025, 11:30 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES TK-2

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections

Communication and teamwork, friendship, adventure, music, puppetry, literature based. California State Standard

ELAL.RI.K.7 - With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

California State Art Standard

K.TH:RE8. With prompting and supports, identify preferences in dramatic play, a guided drama experience, or age appropriate theatre performance.

Script by Mo Willems, Mr. Warburton Lyrics by Mo Willems Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma

Based on the book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

It's not easy being the Pigeon-you never get to do ANYTHING! But when the Bus Driver has a crisis that threatens to make her passengers (gasp!) late, maybe that wily bird CAN do something. TheaterWorksUSA‘s Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical! is even more fun than staying up late and having a hot dog party! Featuring an innovative mix of songs, and feathers, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical! is sure to get everyone's wings flapping.

A BEE STORY

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2025, 9:30 AM

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2025, 11:30 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K-4

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections

Dance and movement, acrobatics, music, sustainability, eco-system, pollination.

Next Gen Science Standards

K-2-ETS1-2 Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

2.LS2.2 Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.

Arc Circus

Directed by performer Robbie Curtis (Circa, Cirque du Soleil, Circus Oz, Australian Ballet)

Co-created with musician and performer Lizzie McRae

It’s a sticky situation, alright. After a bushfire wreaks havoc, a Queen Bee and Worker Bee must work together to rebuild their hive, despite things never quite going to plan…

A Bee Story is a uniquely Australian physical theatre show for children and families incorporating a kaleidoscope of circus, acrobatics, dance, and live music. Brilliantly performed by Robbie Curtis (Cirque du Soleil) and talented musician and comedian Liz McRae, A Bee Story is an instantly enchanting show, an ode to the pollen-collecting, honey-making, super bee powers of the world’s most versatile insect – and an enlightening modern-day message on environmentalism, sustainability, and community spirit.

TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2025, 9:30 AM

TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2025, 11:30 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 2-6

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections Puppetry, storytelling and creative writing, multi-media. California State Standards

6.RI.3 Analyze in detail how a key individual, event or idea is introduced, illustrated and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

5.RL.7 Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth or poem).

Calling all brave heroes! Enter into a magical world of myths and legends in this new, fantastical interactive show! From the creators of the smash hit Dinosaur World Live that brought spectacular puppets to life, this spell-binding adventure unveils dark secrets and some of the most magnificent monsters and terrifying beasts ever to walk the earth! Discover the colossal Stone Troll, the mysterious Japanese Baku, the Tooth Fairy (not as sweet as you'd think), and more. Take your place among legendary heroes, but just don't wake the Dragon!

MODESTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’S LINK UP

THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2025, 11:30 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 3-5

National Core Arts Standards for Music

Common Anchor #1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Common Anchor #2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Common Anchor #3: Refine and complete artistic work.

Common Anchor #4: Analyze, interpret, and select artistic work for presentation.

Common Anchor #5: Develop and refine artistic work for presentation.

Common Anchor #6: Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.

Common Anchor #7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.

Common Anchor #8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.

Common Anchor #9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.

Common Anchor #10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.

Common Anchor #11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.

Common Core State Standards Initiative

Through hands-on activities and a culminating interactive performance with a professional orchestra, Link Up helps to address the Common Core State Standards, empowering students through learning activities that emphasize college and career readiness and help students demonstrate, independence, build strong content knowledge, respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline, comprehend and critique, value evidence, use technology and digital media strategically and capably, come to understand other perspectives and cultures

While the Link Up curriculum focuses primarily on music performance skills, content knowledge, and creativity, students also build core capacities in English and math. Through composition, active listening, describing and analyzing standard repertoire, and a focus on the historical context of orchestral music, Link Up provides students with the opportunity to put these core capacities to use in a new domain. Specific activities throughout the curriculum also address these English and math capacities directly, encouraging reading, writing, and quantitative thinking.

Welcome to The Orchestra Sings

Melody is one of the universal elements of music and defines the music we know and love. A great melody can express ideas and emotions, help tell a story, and bring people together through song. Composers create melodies through a combination of rhythmic patterns, sweeping contours, and expressive qualities. Through the Link Up repertoire, hands-on activities, and a culminating interactive performance with a professional orchestra, we will explore what makes a melody great.

Link Up, a program of Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, guides students and teachers in grades 3–5 through an exploration of orchestral repertoire through a hands-on music curriculum. Students will sing and play soprano recorder while learning basic musical concepts and play along with the Modesto Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in a culminating concert. With the MSO, over 14,000 third through fifth grade students have participated in Link Up since 2015. Since 2017, all third-grade classes of Modesto City Schools have participated in the program. Over forty other local schools have participated in Link Up, from three counties (Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Merced). MSYO students are also selected to perform side-by-side with the MSO for the performance adding an extra tier to the educational benefits of Link Up.

This performance is presented by the Modesto Symphony Orchestra, a resident company of the Gallo Center for the Arts, learn more at modestosymphony.org.

ADA TWIST, SCIENTIST AND FRIENDS

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2025, 9:30 AM

TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2025, 11:30 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K-4

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections

STEM, STEAM, communication and teamwork, friendship, school, literature based. California State Standards

K.RI.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, eventsideas or pieces of information in a text.

3.RL.3 Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Book by Lauren Gunderson

Music by Bree Lowdermilk

Lyrics by Kait Kerrigan

Based on the books Rosie Revere, Engineer; Iggy Peck, Architect; and Ada Twist, Scientist

Ms. Greer's classroom includes three inquisitive out-of-the-box thinkers. Rosie Revere has big dreams. Iggy Peck has a relentless passion for architecture. And Ada Twist's curiosity can lead her to solve any problem. A fun musical based on the books Rosie Revere, Engineer; Iggy Peck, Architect; and Ada Twist Scientist by Andrea Beaty, which spotlights the STEM curriculum (focusing on science, technology, engineering and math).

by Andrea Beaty with illustrations by David Roberts

THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2025, 9:30 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES K+

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections

Dance, music, storytelling, Mexican Culture and History.

California State Standards

2.RL.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson or moral.

1.RL.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

California State Arts Standards

3.DA:Cn11 Find a relationship between movement in a dance from a culture, society, or community and the culture from which the dance is derived. Explain what the movements communicate about key aspects of the culture, society, or community.

8.DA:Cn11 Analyze and discuss how dances from a variety of cultures, societies, historical periods, or communities reveal the ideas and perspectives of the people.

Founded in 1952 by the revered Amalia Hernandez, Ballet Folklórico de México is quite simply the most honored ballet folklórico troupe in the world. The company has received more than 200 awards and has appeared in more than 5,000 performances. The music, dance and costumes of Mexican folklore, combined with the talent of their artists, have resulted in icon status in Mexico and well-deserved international acclaim.

ILUMINATE

MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2025, 9:30 AM MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 3+ PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections

Dance, physical endurance, storytelling, technology California State Arts Standard

3.DA:Re7 Find a movement pattern that creates a movement phrase in a dance work.

This distinctive fusion of technology and dance comes will reawaken your senses and imagination thanks to a diverse team of experts who create an astonishing visual experience. Dancers clad in electrified glow-in-the-dark suits perform dynamic routines and illusions set to great pop and dance music on a darkened stage. iluminate is incomparably entertaining, so much so it's been seen on America's Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, X-Factor, Good Morning America, The American Music Awards and more!

THE GRUFFALO’S CHILD

TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2025, 9:30 AM

TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2025, 11:30 AM

MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 1-3

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES Curriculum Connections

Rhyming, vocabulary, literature based, problem solving, social awareness, imagination.

California State Standards

RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

The Gruffalo said that no Gruffalo should ever set foot in the deep dark wood…

Follow the Gruffalo’s Child on her adventurous mission in Tall Stories’ enchanting adaptation of the much-loved picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. One wild and windy night the Gruffalo’s Child ignores her father’s warnings about the Big Bad Mouse and tiptoes out into the night. She follows snowy tracks and encounters all sorts of woodland creatures, including a debonair snake, eccentric owl and a cunning fox. But the Big Bad Mouse doesn’t really exist, does he? And what will the Gruffalo’s Child do when she finds him?

The Gruffalo’s Child © Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler 2004 – Macmillan Children’s Books

JAZZREACH: HANGIN’ WITH THE GIANTS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2025, 9:30 AM

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2025, 11:30 AM FOSTER FAMILY THEATER

RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 2-4

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 60 MINUTES

Curriculum Connections

Music, jazz, storytelling, African American history, US history. California State Arts Standards

2.MU:Cr2 Demonstrate and explain personal reasons for selecting patterns and ideas for music that represent expressive intent.

4.MU:Cn10 Describe and demonstrate how personal interests, experiences, ideas, and knowledge relate to creating, performing, and responding to music.

Hangin' with the Giants is a fun, high-energy program designed to promote the inclusiveness and accessibility of jazz while highlighting the legacies and music of some of the art form's central contributors. Staged as a late night talk show, Hangin' with the Giants features animated likenesses of jazz greats, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk as show guests and offers numerous opportunities for students to interact and participate.

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2025, 10:00 AM MARY STUART ROGERS THEATER RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 1+

The grandest of them all! A pageant in the gorgeous tradition of story ballets. See all the greatest fairytale characters attend Princess Aurora's wedding: Cinderella, Puss in Boots and the White Cat, Tom Thumb, and Little Red Riding Hood! Truly a feast for the eyes, from the glittering Fairies to the famous entrance of Maleficent and on through the enchanted forest – be enchanted by The Sleeping Beauty!

This performance is presented by Central West Ballet, a resident company of the Gallo Center for the Arts, learn more at centralwestballet.org

GCA on Tour brings the wonder of live theater directly to the students, featuring locally produced and nationally touring productions, residencies, and workshops created specifically for school sites.

MADDI’S FRIDGE

TOUR DATES: FEBRUARY – APRIL 2025

RECOMMENDED GRADE LEVELS: 1-6 AND A GREAT INTRODUCTION TO THEATER!

PERFORMANCE RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 50 MINUTES, NOT INCLUDING AN OPTIONAL MODERATED TALK-BACK WITH THE CAST

Booking Fee (per day, per school site)

One performance: $1,500

Two performances: $2,000

Please Note: our recommended audience size is 100-300 students. Accommodations can be made for larger audiences, please contact us to discuss prior to submitting a booking request form.

MADDI’S FRIDGE

Adapted by Anne Negri From the book by Lois Brandt

Illustration from Maddi’s Fridge by Vin Vogel, used with permission

Produced by special arrangement with Plays for New Audiences

Directed by Maggie Sniffen

Maddi and Sofia are best friends. During recess time at school they race each other and climb the rock wall. Maddi is really good at climbing while Sofia is a fast runner. One day Sofia accidentally discovers that Maddi has very little food in her fridge at home. Sofia wants to help her friend, but Maddi makes her promise to keep it a secret between the two of them. Sofia struggles with what to do next; can Sofia find a way to keep her word and also help her best friend? Based on the book by Lois Brandt, this play is a gentle, yet sometimes hilarious exploration of friendship, empathy, and doing the right thing.

Curriculum Connections

Finding themes in stories, friendship, kindness, childhood hunger, health and nutrition

Generous Funding Provided by

This program is supported in part by