Adapted by Gloria Bond Clunie
Music by Elton Bradman
Based on the book GIRAFFES CAN'T DANCE
Written by Giles Andreae and Illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees
All the animals in the jungle know their own special dance, but Gerald the Giraffe can't seem to move without a clumsy step. But with the help of a wise cricket, he finds his own song, and dances to the beat of his own drum! In this stage adaptation of the beloved children's book, with puppets, African rhythm, and lots of dancing, Gerald learns that his differences are what make him special.
Produced by the Bay Area Children's Theatre and the Rose Performing Arts.
Creative Team
ELTON BRADMAN (Composer) Elton's quest for fulfillment through sound, words, and spirituality has taken him all over the world, from a commune in Tennessee and a boarding school near the Taj Mahal to the New York offices of Rolling Stone. He has been a roadie for swordsmen from the Burmese border, a cook for a Miami Beach ashram, a booker at a tiny music venue, an intern at a drum & bass label, a kirtan bassist in South Africa and Australia, a producer of folk-music sessions in China, a drummer for a Polish Hare Krishna reggae band, a studio musician on albums of Sanskrit chants, and a chronicler of bass-guitar stores in Japan. His resumé as a composer, sound designer, music director, musician, and performance coach includes ACT, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, the Geffen Playhouse, Bay Area Children's Theater, African-American Shakespeare Company, Studio Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Cal Shakes, Lorraine Hansberry, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and the New Pickle Circus.
GLORIA BOND CLUNIE was recently honored with a 2011 Medallion Award from the Children's Theatre Foundation of America. She is a member of the Playwriting Ensemble at the Regional Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater, where her plays North Star, Living Green and Shoes premiered. Other works include Drip; Secrets; the musical Sing, Malindy, Sing!; Merry Kwanzaa; Dreams; Smoke; Quark (a STAGE finalist); and an adaptation of Patricia McKissack's Mirandy and Brother Wind. This drama specialist and founding artistic director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in Evanston, Ill., has been given the Evanston Mayor's Award for the Arts. Clunie has been recognized for her work in the arts and education by the NAACP, Alpha Kappa Alpha and Delta sororities and the American Alliance for Theatre & Education. Other recognitions include a Chicago Jeff Award, a Scott McPherson, Theodore Ward Prize for African-American Playwrights, New York's New Professional Theatre Award, the Black Theatre Alliance Award in Chicago, and Illinois Arts Council grants. In April 2011, Sweet Water Taste was featured in the Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays at Orlando Shakespeare Theater. In May 2011, Buck Naked won the Heartland Theatre Company's New Play Festival. In the summer of 2011, her new play Mercy Rising appeared in Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre's Summer Dramatic Reading Series and at Penobscot Theatre's Northern Writes Festival.
Rose Theater - Giraffes Can’t Dance (Pre-K-3rd)
- When
04/08/2022
-
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
- Location
Rose Theater 2001 Farnam Street, Omaha, NE
Registration
-
Giraffes Can’t Dance (Pre-K-3rd) 60 minutes
1 Free Teacher Ticket is included in this registration. Enter Students (and any Additional Adults) as GUESTS in the "additional guest" registration field. Be sure your total owed equals $5.50/person MINUS your teacher ticket.
Giraffes Can’t Dance (Pre-K-3rd) 60 minutes
Performance: Friday, April 8th at 10:00 am
Reservation deadline: Friday, March 25th
We are desperately sorry to report that due to the unprescedented times we are facing this event has been cancelled.
Please do not contact the Box Office team, they will be contacting all affected customers over the coming days with the options available to them.
Thank you for bearing with us and know that we are doing all that we possibly can to continue business as usual.
★★★★ 'A gleefully eccentric and anarchic show... theatre at its best' -
The Stage on The Cat in the Hat
★★★★★ 'So glorious that you really don't want it to end' -
The Stage on George's Marvellous Medicine
★★★★★ 'Outstanding children's theatre, a visual and musical feast' -
The Stage on The Witches
Based on the book by Giles Andreae | Illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees
Directed by Julia Thomas
Music by Tasha Taylor Johnson
Now every year in Africa they hold the Jungle Dance,
Where every single animal turns up to skip and prance.
And this year when the day arrived, poor Gerald felt so sad,
Because when it came to dancing, he was really very bad…
Gerald the Giraffe longs to go to the great Jungle Dance, but how can he join in when he doesn't know how to tango or two-step? Everyone knows that giraffes can't dance!
But with a little help from a wise and kind cricket, Gerald discovers his rhythm – because sometimes when you’re different, you just need a different song!
Carrying the important and universal message of acceptance and self-belief, the sensitive and nuanced storytelling of Giraffes Can’t Dance is perfect for young children, who will be encouraged to dance to their own tune with Gerald the Giraffe and company of five actors playing warthogs, lions, rhinos chimps and, of course, the violin-playing cricket.
Rehearsal & Productions Photos by: Pamela Raith
Event Details
Guest Performance: Thu 9 Apr @ 4pm
Age Recommendation: 3 - 6 years
Running Time: 55mins (no interval)