School Performances
It is a pleasure to announce SOPAC Education’s 2011-2012 School
Performances schedule. Offering something for every grade level, our
school performances offer 12 different productions to choose from, including new
events and returning favorites.
SOPAC's series of educational
performances offers some of the finest arts education programming available to
students and teachers throughout New Jersey.
Bringing your class to SOPAC
and utilizing the performing arts as an educational resource is an experience
you and your students will never forget. English, history and science come to
life onstage to capture your students’ wonder and imagination.
We look
forward to helping you book your next school trip to SOPAC!
2011-2012 School Performances Schedule
Fri, Oct 28, 2011 – Star Trek Live | Mad Science Productions (Grades 3 to 10)
Mon, Dec 5, 2011 – The Nutcracker | New York Theatre Ballet (All Ages)
Fri, Feb 10, 2012 – Mammoth Follies | Hudson Vagabond Puppets (Grades Pre-K to 5)
Wed, Mar 7, 2012 – Harriet Tubman and The Underground Railroad | Theatre IV (Grades 3 to 8)
Fri, Mar 9, 2012 – Sylvester and the Magic Pebble | Enchantment Theatre Company (Grades Pre-K to 3)
Tue, Mar 13, 2012 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Shakespeare LIVE! (Grades 4 to 12)
Mon, Mar 26, 2012 – The Cashore Marionettes in Simple Gifts (Grades 3 to 12)
Wed, Apr 11, 2012 – Macbeth | Shakespeare & Company (Grades 6 to 12)
Thu, Apr 12, 2012 – The Last, the Very Last Butterfly | Pushcart Players (Grades 4 to 12)
Fri, Apr 13, 2012 – Butterfly: Story of a Life Cycle | Hudson Vagabond Puppets (Grades Pre-K to 5)
Fri, May 4, 2012 – The House at Pooh Corner | Theatre IV (Grades K to 5)
Mon, May 21, 2012 – Are You My Mother? | ArtsPower (Grades K to 2)
Star Trek Live
Mad Science Productions
Friday, October 28 at 10AM and 12NOON
Theater, Science, Mystery
Grades 3 to 10
Running Time: 60mins
Curriculum Connections: Science as Inquiry, Physical Science, Life Science, Earth & Space Science, Science & Technology, History & Nature of Science
Mad Science Productions proudly presents Star Trek Live, an out of this world, interactive adventure based on the most popular science fiction franchise of all time. Star Trek Live is a thrilling, 60-minute journey for audiences of all ages! Awesome special effects, unrivaled audience interaction and an exploration of real space-age technology takes everyone on an unforgettable journey through the Star Trek universe. Join Star Trek Live and boldly go where no one has gone before™!
TM & © 2011 Paramount Pictures Corporation. © 2011 CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved. © 2011 The Mad Science Group. All rights reserved.
The Nutcracker
New York Theatre Ballet
Monday, December 5 at 10AM and 12NOON
Music, Dance
Based on the Fairy Tale by E. A. Hoffmann
Music by Peter Tchaikovsky
Choreography by Keith Michael
All Ages
Running Time: 60mins
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Music, Performing Arts, Physical Education
E. A. Hoffmann's fairy tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, first premiered in 1892 with music by Peter Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa. New York Theatre Ballet's production, choreographed by Keith Michael, is the only hour-long Nutcracker, presented by a professional troupe, in the metro area. It is perfectly suited to the attention span of younger audience members, yet sophisticated enough for the most discerning adult.
Mammoth Follies
Hudson Vagabond Puppets
Friday, February 10 at 10AM
Theater, Puppets
Grades Pre-K to 5
Running Time: 55mins
Curriculum Connections: Earth Science, History, Performing Arts, Music
Enter prehistoric times and be shaken by the earth-shattering dances of more than twenty dinosaur puppets. Through one-of-a-kind songs and original choreography, this dinosaur musical extravaganza focuses on the complications and tribulations of evolution. Is the show spectacular? "Of course!" says Bessie, our adorable Apatosaurus…now, would you argue with a 26-foot long dinosaur?
Harriet Tubman and The Underground Railroad
Theatre IV
Wednesday, March 7 at 10AM
Theater
Book and Lyrics by Douglas Jones
Music by Ron Barnett
Co-produced by the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia
Grades 3 to 8
Running Time: 50mins
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, History, Language Arts, Biography, Multi-Cultural, Music, Family Ties, Self-Esteem, Women’s Studies
Celebrate Black History Month and Women’s History Month
This stirring drama with music is a classic tribute to the great American who freed herself and hundreds of people from the bonds of slavery. Her courage helped to change the world. Share her adventurous life with your students in this accurate and deeply moving musical history lesson.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Enchantment Theatre Company
Friday, March 9 at 10AM
Theater, Storybook
Based on the book by William Steig, Author of Shrek
Directed by Leslie Reidel
Music by Charles Gilbert
Grades Pre-K to 3
Running Time: 60mins
Curriculum Connections: Literature, Visual Arts—Drawing, Performing Arts—Theater, Music, Dance, Language Arts—Reading, Creative Writing as storytelling with a focus on the concepts of imagination, creativity and problem-solving.
Enchantment Theatre Company brings William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble to the stage in an inventive production that incorporates projected scenery and animation with masked actors, puppets, theatrical magic, dance and original music. The good citizens of Oatsdale are all aflutter: the Duncans’ young son Sylvester is missing! No matter that the folks from Oatsdale are animals and Sylvester and his parents are donkeys, the concern and love they share in this delightful show are definitely human and lead to a renewed appreciation for one another and the happiest of happy endings.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Shakespeare LIVE!
Tuesday, March 13 at 9:30AM
Theater
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Brian B. Crowe
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
Grades 4 and up
Running Time: 70mins (plus 15mins post performance discussion)
Curriculum Connections: Language Arts, English, Performing Arts, Classics
When starry-eyed young lovers and zany would-be actors cross paths in a magical forest, the result is one of the world’s most uproarious comedies. A Midsummer Night's Dream is the ideal “first Shakespeare” and a riotous roller-coaster ride of mistaken identities and first love that will delight teens and their teachers. This Fanciful, “Tim Burton inspired” staging of the Bard’s classic unites magic, mayhem and actors on stilts.
The Cashore Marionettes in Simple Gifts
Monday, March 26 at 10AM
Theater, Music, Puppets
Grades 3 to 12
Running Time: 60mins
Curriculum Connections: Art, Music, History, Performing Arts, Relationships and Society
Simple Gifts, is a series of touching portrayals and poignant scenes from everyday life set to stunning music by such composers as Vivaldi, Strauss, Beethoven and Copland. Through a combination of virtuoso manipulation, beautiful music, theatrical illusion, and artistic insight, the original vignettes presented in Simple Gifts provide an entertaining and sensitive vision of what it is to be human. The performance explores a range of emotions with characters and actions that are amazingly convincing. The marionettes are engineering marvels and the quality of movement is extraordinary.
Macbeth
Shakespeare & Company
Wednesday, April 11 at 9:30AM
Theater
Grades 6 to 12
Running Time: 90mins (plus 15mins post performance discussion)
Curriculum Connections: Language Arts, English, Performing Arts, Classics
In their quest for power, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will let nothing stand in their way. Blind ambition, remorseless treachery, and supernatural soliciting combine to create one of the most compelling stories of western civilization. Shakespeare & Company's renowned Education Department is pleased to present Macbeth, Shakespeare's most intensive study of evil at work in the individual and the world at large.
The Last, the Very Last Butterfly
Pushcart Players
Thursday, April 12 at 10AM
Theater
Grades 4 and up
Running Time: 50mins
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Music, History, Performing Arts
“The Last . . . Butterfly’ is a poignant, moving achievement...A work of quality.”
- NJ Star Ledger
A Holocaust remembrance piece, "The Last, The Very Last . . . Butterfly" is a collection of poems, narrative and drawings created by children who passed through the Terezin Concentration Camp between 1942 and 1944. The broad range of style and treatment of subject matter in both the poems and drawings illustrates the feelings, hopes and dreams of children growing up in a place with "little food, clothing or comfort, enclosed by barbed wire and Nazi soldiers standing guard." While the work tells a few, of many stories of the Holocaust, it also serves as a springboard for inquiry and a powerful source of inspiration and perspective for young people today.
Butterfly: Story of a Life Cycle
Hudson Vagabond Puppets
Friday, April 13 at 10AM
Theater, Puppets
Grades Pre-K to 5
Running Time: 65mins
Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Music, History, Performing Arts, Physical Education, Geography
Celebrate Earth Day!
Take a microscopic look at the insect world on the big stage! From her tiny egg we will follow the monarch Butterfly as she grows through her caterpillar state and makes the amazing metamorphosis in the chrysalis and her incredible 1,500 mile journey to Mexico. With her insect companions she will learn about her symbiotic relationship with Milkweed. She depends on it for food, home, and her unique form of defense against predators.
The House at Pooh Corner
Theatre IV
Friday, May 4 at 10AM
Theater, Storybook
Book, Music and Additional Lyrics by Bruce Craig Miller
Grades K to 5
Running Time: 55mins
Curriculum Connections: Performing Arts, Language Arts, Literary Classic, Music, Reading, Self Esteem
Whether we are very young or wise to the ways of the world, every so often each of us has to “get back to the House at Pooh Corner” to spend some tender time with faithful friends. You know their names by heart: Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga and Roo, Rabbit, Christopher Robin, and of course, that lovable bear called Winnie-the-Pooh. This production is based on the A. A. Milne classic of the same name. Featured stories portray the building of Eeyore’s house, Tigger’s arrival in the Hundred Acre Wood, the origin of the game of Pooh Sticks, Rabbit’s plan for reducing Tigger’s bounce, and Christopher Robin’s growing up and leaving for school.
Are You My Mother?
ArtsPower
Monday, May 21 at 10AM
Theater, Storybook
Based on the Book by P.D. Eastman
Grades K to 2
Running Time: 55mins
Curriculum Connections: Family Relationships, Historical, Literature-Based, Values-Based
At long last, Baby Bird emerges from her shell and expects to be greeted by her mother's song. But her mother is not there. Where is she? Why isn't she home? With the help of Dog, Cat, and Hen, Baby Bird sets out in search of Mother Bird in this colorful musical adventure based on P.D. Eastman’s whimsical and well-loved picture book.
Reservations and Pricing
Go Further:
To make the most of your experience, SOPAC Education offers: Advance Study Guides and teaching materials, detailed curriculum connections/NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards for each show, Meet-the-Artist question and answer sessions (based on availability), Guided Tours of SOPAC (upon request), optional pre and post workshops for your school.
Reservations and Questions
For questions about the shows, please contact our Education Department at 973.382.1027, ext 401 or email education@sopacnow.org. To reserve your seats, please contact our Patron & Ticket Services Department at 973.382.1028. When booking, please discuss your group’s mode of transportation, as parking is limited.
Pricing
Tickets are $12 per person for groups with fewer than 50 people. Get one ticket free for every 15 purchased.
Group Pricing applies when purchasing tickets for one or more shows:
50–100 tickets: $11 per person
100–149 tickets: $10 per person
150–249 tickets: $9 per person
Over 250 tickets: $8 per person
Payment
A 50% deposit is due within ten business days of placing your order. Final payment is due 15 business days prior to the performance. If reservations are made less than one month before the event, full payment is due 15 business days prior to the performance. Payment in full is required before the performance date. SOPAC Education accepts Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover Card, as well as checks (made payable to SOPAC). Please note that any reservations which remain unpaid past stated due dates may be released for sale.
Previous Seasons
2010-2011 School Performances