Calendar

The Central School 4th Grade will perform Winner Takes All! on June 2.

A Knight At The Round Table is a musical with two entirely different worlds within it.

There is the story occurring in the modern world about a girl named Gwen who is ridiculed for her belief in the legendary ruler, King Arthur of Camelot. As she studies the king, Arthur’s story — from his birth to the fall of Camelot — is revealed in flashbacks. The modern-day students begin to recognize similar struggles and crises as those faced in Arthurian times.

Can Gwen convince her friends of the value of King Arthur’s lessons? This show takes you to Camelot!

…until showtime!

The story tells the tale of 7 brown lizards who are safe and happy at home with their parents, King Upinde and Queen Wamvua. The king forbids his children from ever leaving their bonny brown bog. Shortly afterwards, Queen Wamvua confides to her 7 children that she has heard there are other colors out there in the world.

The 7 brown lizards decide to go out and see for themselves. One by one, they encounter frogs colored in each of the rainbow’s colors, and learn many new songs. The lizards, in fact, change to different colors.

They return home to and share these experiences with their parents. King Upinde realizes it was wrong to shield his little lizards from the other colors of the world, and learns that “It Takes A Rainbow.”

…until showtime!

Katrina, The Shrew presents a powerful anti-bullying lesson.

Plot Summary

Mr. and Mrs. Baptista have two daughters who attend Padua School of Arts. They know their younger daughter, Bianca, to be beloved and kind, and they know their older daughter, Katrina, to be a loathsome bully. Katrina has an awful reputation and terrorizes everyone at school. In an attempt to rectify matters, Mrs. Baptista decides Bianca will not be allowed to participate in any activities unless Katrina is also invited. Mrs. Baptista restricts Bianca to attending classes and seeing tutors.

But no one is willing to do anything at all with Katrina! The students are deeply affected by Bianca’s resulting absence. Gina, Giada, and Horace conspire to find someone to befriend Katrina so that Bianca can be free again to socialize. They are keen to have Bianca join the school choir, for instance. Horace has a special interest in helping Bianca: he hopes to date her.

Two new students arrive at Padua School of Arts: Lucas, and his sister Tania. Like Horace, Lucas is smitten by Bianca’s beauty. Remembering that Bianca is allowed to see only her tutors, Lucas and Horace decide to disguise themselves so that they may spend time with Bianca and court her.

Meanwhile, two other new students arrive at the school: close friends Patricia and Grace. They decide to establish a debate society, and quickly make it their mission to tame “Katrina, The Shrew.”

…until showtime!

The New York City—and Off-Broadway—debut of Emily Clare Thompson and Richard D. Russell. An official selection of the 2017 Midtown International Theater Festival. This is the late morning performance.

The New York City—and Off-Broadway—debut of Emily Clare Thompson and Richard D. Russell. An official selection of the 2017 Midtown International Theater Festival. This is the early afternoon, weekend performance.

SORRY—THIS PERFORMANCE IS SOLD OUT.

The New York City—and Off-Broadway—debut of Emily Clare Thompson and Richard D. Russell. An official selection of the 2017 Midtown International Theater Festival. This is the early afternoon, weekend performance, on the festival’s closing day!

During a school field trip to the local museum, students learn the tradition of artists asking the Muses for aid in their creations. Then the class teacher reminds the students of their upcoming final project.

Poor Theodore! He lacks a creative spark, and jokingly prays to the Muses for inspiration. To his surprise (and great distress!) the nine Muses actually emerge from a painting in the museum and come to Theodore’s aid, following him back to school. He wishes them away, but by custom they cannot leave until they have inspired Theodore.

Will the Muses succeed in inspiring Theordore, or simply in driving him crazy?

Annual production by the Second Grade of It Takes A Rainbow!

Fresh from its exciting NYC debut last summer, a new crop of youngsters will bring this musical to life. (Although the presenting school is Frank J. Smith, the performance is held at Central Elementary School in East Hanover, NJ.)

Here is the flier for the upcoming production of WAR OF THE WORDS, June 13 at 6:30 pm. (EDIT: The show will start at 7pm, despite what the flier says!)  The musical is a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.”

The show is being presented by the 4th Grade Student Actors League of Arts and Drama (“SALAD”) of Central Elementary School, East Hanover, NJ. If you would like to attend, the street address is 400 Ridgedale Avenue. (Drop us a note and we can set you up.)

This is the fourth production of the show, and Thompson and Russell have identified two spots where a new song is needed. The team is hard at work getting everything prepared!