Beck Center Announces Youth Theater 2019-20 Season

Beck Center for the Arts, one of the longest-running Youth Theater programs in the country, announces the 2019-20 Youth Theater Season line-up. The 71st anniversary season includes innovative versions of classic tales, and new works from different perspectives and vantage points. Beck Center will bring audiences a fresh take on the classic tale (The Trials of Robin Hood), a zany and retro comedy exploring favorite fairy tales (Once Upon a Decade) an adaptation of Kathryn Erskine's novel (Mockingbird) and a modern musical version of a family favorite (Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach).

Beck Center Youth Theater alumni include: Michael Chernus (Orange is the New Black; Manhattan ) Dee Hoty (three time Tony Award Nominee), Isabela Moner (Dora and the Lost City of Gold;Transformers: The Last Night), Rory O'Malley (Hamilton; Tony Award Nominee, Book of Mormon); Daniel Reichard (Drama Desk Nominee, Jersey Boys); and Alice Ripley (Tony Award Winner, Next to Normal).

So see a production next season at Beck Center and check out the future of Broadway and Hollywood!

For group rates, and to schedule your spot at special student matinees, please call 216-521-2540 x10 today. Individual tickets for most productions go on sale Monday, July 1, 2019, excluding Once Upon a Decade (call for details).

Tickets: $12 Adult/Senior and $10 Children/Student (18 & Under). Reserve tickets at www.beckcenter.org, call 216.521.2540 x10 or simply stop by Beck Center Customer Service in our main building, in person.

2019-20 Youth Theater Season Includes:

THE TRIALS OF ROBIN HOOD. Written by Will Averill, Direction by Russel Stich

Student Matinee: Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.

Friday, October 25, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 26, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, October 27, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.

Mackey Theater

Is Robin Hood a handsome hero, a thirsty boyfriend, or evil criminal? Upon his return from the Crusades, King Richard is forced to try and figure out what happened in his kingdom during his absence. Is the outlaw Robin Hood a hero, a lovelorn sap, or just plain mean? Told from the perspectives of Robin himself, Maid Marian, and Prince John, this hilarious tale combines three different stories into one. Whose story will King Richard and the audience believe?

Students ages 6 to 19

ONCE UPON A DECADE Writing and Direction by Rachel Spence

Cinderella in the 70's? Rapunzel in the 60's? Come enjoy this zany comedy as Beck Center preteens give a new meaning to "once upon a time" when they set all your favorite fairy tales and fables in different decades. This retro comedy will be the bee's knees, groovy and totally tubular! From the director of last year's Law & Order: Nursery Rhyme Unit, and the author of the uproarious All Greek to Me.

Fridays, December 13 & 20, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturdays, December 14 & 21, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

Sundays, December 15 & 22, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.

Student Matinee Thursday, December 19, 2019, 10:00 a.m.

Studio Theater

Students ages 6 to 12

MOCKINGBIRD Adapted by Julie Jensen. From the National Book Award-winning novel by Kathryn Erskine. Direction by Sarah Clare

Fridays, February 28 & March 6, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturdays, February 29 & March 7, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 1 & 8, 2020 at 3:00 p.m.

Student Matinee: March 5, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.

Studio Theater

Caitlin is an 11-year-old girl on the autism spectrum. Not all things make sense to her. Emotions are mysterious and voices are almost always too loud. Suddenly, she must grapple with the unthinkable: a mass shooting has taken her brother away. He was the one person who helped her cope. Now she is alone with her grieving father and a cacophony of children at school. She struggles to understand empathy, what facial expressions mean, and why a drawing might have more than one color. We see the world from Caitlin's point of view. We struggle as she does. We also take comfort when Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white; the world is full of colors.

Teen Theater Production

Roald Dahl'S JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH Words and Music by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

Book by Timothy Allen McDonald

Based on the book James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Direction and Musical Direction by Jordan Cooper

Choreography by Sarah Clare

Fridays, May 8 & 15, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturdays, May 9 & 16, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Sundays, May 10 & 17, 2020 at 3:00 pm

Student Matinee: Thursday, May 14, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.

Mackey Theater

When James is sent by his conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, he discovers a magic potion that results in a tremendous peach... and launches a journey of enormous proportions. Suddenly, James finds himself in the center of the gigantic peach, among human-sized insects with equally oversized personalities, but after it falls from the tree and rolls into the ocean, the group faces hunger, sharks and plenty of disagreements. Thanks to James' quick wit and creative thinking, the residents learn to live and work together as a family. Featuring a score by the Tony Award winning team of Pasek and Paul; (Dear Evan Hansen, The Greatest Showman) critics rave: James and the Giant Peach is a "masterpeach!"

Student Ages 6 to 19

*Students must be enrolled in the same semester that the show performs in to be eligible to participate in the production. You do not have to be enrolled at the time of auditions.

Programming at Beck Center for the Arts is made possible through the generous support of the Ohio Arts Council. Beck Center gratefully acknowledges the generous funding provided by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional theater productions on two stages, arts education programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for individuals with special needs, free gallery exhibits year-round, and outreach education programming.