TigerLion Arts presents: The Dragons Are Singing Tonight
MINNEAPOLIS, January 10, 2012 In celebration of the Year of the Dragon, TigerLion Arts presents the world premiere of The Dragons Are Singing Tonight ~ the musical tale of a nasty dragon at the Southern Theater. This new musical is being created in collaboration with the Minnesota Boychoir, Puppet Farm Arts, and Circus Juventas.
Premiering just after the Chinese New Year, The Dragons Are Singing Tonight is based on the well-loved book of dragon poems by United States Childrens Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky. Composer Laurie MacGregor brings the poems to life in a score of sixteen songs, while Markell Kiefer (TigerLion Arts) directs actors Isabella Dawis, Tyson Forbes (TigerLion Arts), Maxwell Chonk Thao, and Elise Langer in the story of an ordinary boy, a magical girl, and a nasty, nasty dragon. Thirty singing boys from the Minnesota Boychoir, three dazzling aerialists from Circus Juventas, 12 top-notch musicians, and countless puppets both giant and small create a wonderful winged world of dragons. The musical tale will inspire audiences with humor, beauty, and the simple message to believe.
Extending to the Community
The production will extend to the community with a Dragons Art and Music Residency Program aimed to benefit children through the shared experience of singing, storytelling, and creating art. To kick off the program, TigerLion Arts will host school field trips to see the Southern premiere. Following the production, more than a thousand children at Richard R. Green Central Park School in Minneapolis and Northport Elementary in Brooklyn Center will work with their teachers, Dragons musicians, and puppet artists from In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre and Puppet Farm Arts to learn the Dragons songs and create their own dragon characters and stories through mask and puppetry. TigerLion Arts will provide songbooks, art materials, copies of Prelutskys book, and help teachers develop an integrated curriculum in an effort to reach every student.
Finally, the students will participate in two large community events in May; the Heart of the Beast May Day parade in downtown Minneapolis, and a choral performance at Green Central Park, where hundreds of children from the two schools will come together to sing The Dragons Are Singing Tonight.
Public Performance Schedule
Preview: January 26
Continues: January 27February 12
Thursdays & Fridays - 7pm
Saturdays - 1 & 5pm
Sundays - 1pm
Ticket Prices
VIP: $30 Adults, $25 Children/Seniors
Zone 1: $27 Adults, $22 Children/Seniors
Zone 2: $25 Adults, $20 Children/Seniors
Children (15 & under); Seniors (65 & over)
Preview performance January 26: all tickets $15
Recommended for ages 4 & up
Tickets available at www.tigerlion.org or 612-343-3390
TigerLion Arts celebrates human wisdom and the spirit of nature through creative works that awaken, inform, and delight. For more information visit www.tigerlion.org
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota State Arts Board through the arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
Adapted from THE DRAGONS ARE SINGING TONIGHT. Text Copyright ©1993 by Jack Prelutsky. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers
Media Contacts
Connie Shaver ~ 612-308-5785
Laurie MacGregor ~ 603-667-5212
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