Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt Blurb
The Brave Little Tailor
Tailor Blurb
Mommy’s Khimar
Mommy’s Khimar Blurb
Production History
| Season | Philadelphia | Touring | Symphony |
| 2022-2023 | The Brave Little Tailor | The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon | Peer Gynt |
| 2021-2022 | The Beast in the Bayou | Peter Rabbit Tales | Mother Goose |
| 2020-2021 | The Big Bad Blunder (Virtual Show) | ||
| 2019-2020 | The Beast in the Bayou | Peter Rabbit Tales | |
| 2018-2019 | The Brave Little Tailor | Scheherazade | |
| 2017-2018 | The Bremen Town Musicians The Fisherman and the Flounder | My Father’s Dragon | The Firebird Mother Goose Scheherazade |
| 2016-2017 | The Beast in the Bayou The Bremen Town Musicians | Peter Rabbit Tales | The Firebird Mother Goose |
| 2015-2016 | Peter Rabbit Tales The Brave Little Tailor The Beast in the Bayou | Peter Rabbit Tales | Halloween Spooktacular |
| 2014-2015 | The Snow Queen The Fisherman and the Flounder The Brave Little Tailor | The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon | |
| 2013-2014 | Aladdin and Other Enchanting Tales Mother Goose The Fisherman and the Flounder | Aladdin and Other Enchanting Tales | A Halloween Spooktacular The Firebird Mother Goose |
| 2012-2013 | The Velveteen Rabbit | The Velveteen Rabbit | Mother Goose The Symphony and the Sorcerer |
| 2011-2012 | Sylvester and the Magic Pebble | Sylvester and the Magic Pebble | A Halloween Spooktacular Cinderella |
| 2010-2011 | First Annual Boo-Ha! Cinderella The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon | The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon | Scheherazade |
| 2009-2010 | The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon | The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon | Scheherazade The Firebird |
| 2008-2009 | The Snow Queen | The Velveteen Rabbit | Scheherazade Cinderella A Halloween Spooktacular |
| 2007-2008 | The Velveteen Rabbit | The Velveteen Rabbit | The Firebird Cinderella |
| 2006-2007 | Beauty and the Beast | Cinderella | The Symphony and the Sorcerer |
| 2005-2006 | Cinderella The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Other Magical Tales | Pinocchio | The Firebird A Halloween Spooktacular Cinderella |
| 2004-2005 | Pinocchio The Great Alexi: A Magical Journey to America | Beauty and the Beast | The Firebird A Halloween Spooktacular |
| 2003-2004 | The Snow Queen Magic Vaudeville | The Snow Queen | The Firebird Cinderella |
| 2002-2003 | Beauty and the Beast | The Snow Queen | |
| 2001-2002 | Cinderella |
Our 2023-2024 Season!
Enchantment is back doing what it loves to do—performing for live audiences and inspiring children to to dream, explore, think, and connect!
Thanks to your steadfast support, we are back, and our new season is already in full force! We are grateful to you for standing by us while we navigated the difficult reality of being a performing arts company during a pandemic. We couldn’t have made it through without your support, commitment and encouragement.
We are gearing up for one of the busiest and most spectacular seasons in our history—complete with old friends, new projects, exciting collaborators, and a new strategic plan to guide our future. We couldn’t have made it to this place of renewed hope without your support.
Thank you.
Read on to learn more about what we have been up to and what’s next at ETC!
Spring 2023 Activities
We are thrilled to be back to in-person performances this season – and it is one of our busiest yet!
After a successful tour of Peter Rabbit Tales in Fall of 2022, we are now bringing one of our favorite ETC shows back to life – The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon. This is a new and improved version of Harold’s adventure, and we are looking forward to touring this classic during the month of March 2023.
Coming up!
We are pleased to announce the world premiere of our symphony production of Peer Gynt—based on Edvard Grieg’s famed score.
Landis, Jennifer and Zachary will all be appearing in this performance, along with some brilliant performers including Andrea Rose Cardoni, Ciera Gardner and Daniel Burgess. Rounding out our artistic team will be Leslie Reidel, Director; Charlie Gilbert, Musical Director; and David Russell, Designer. The first performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra is in February of 2023!
This Spring we will tour The Brave Little Tailor, our retelling of the classic tale, for our Enchantment Everywhere show! Performances will be throughout the Philadelphia region.
In the fall of 2023, we will bring our version of the famed children’s story – My Father’s Dragon – back to venues across the country. We are so excited to bring Ruth Stiles Gannett’s popular stories to life on stage for children and families once again.
Next up, we will workshop our new production of Mommy’s Khimar in collaboration with local Philadelphia author Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. This new work will be added to our repertoire of Enchantment Everywhere shows, and will bring Jamilah’s book to life for students and families throughout Philadelphia.
We thank you for your support and we hope to see you at one of our many shows in the coming season!
Enchantment’s 2022/2023 Season!
Dear Friends,
We are writing today to update you about Enchantment Theatre Company’s upcoming tour. As we have been sharing over the past few months, we were thrilled to be hitting the road for an 9-stop tour of Harold and his Purple Crayon this spring. We were full of anticipation and excitement as we inched our way closer to the time when we’d come together and perform for audiences across the country again. Unfortunately, our plans have had to shift. This pandemic continues to throw us curveballs, and we made the difficult decision to postpone our Harold tour until 2023 due to four venues canceling shows amid Covid concerns. We are, of course, extremely disappointed, but we will not stop doing what we love to do most!
With two priorities in mind—employing our actors who were on contract for Harold and to continue being our best creative selves—we are shifting our plans for the spring. We are still heading to Wisconsin for a production of Mother Goose with the Milwaukee Orchestra, and we are using our rehearsal time to workshop a new production, Mommy’s Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. We also are using this time with our actors to develop a series of Virtual Study Guides for teachers to use in the classroom—more to come about that!
We remain extremely grateful to our community for standing by us during these difficult times. Landis recently referred to this situation as being like, “walking through mud and molasses.” It’s sticky and tricky, but there will always be some sweetness at the end. Because Enchantment Theatre Company is dedicated to inspiring children to dream, explore, think, and connect through imaginative storytelling onstage and in the classroom. This mission will always hold true and propel us forward, no matter what the circumstance.
With gratitude,
Jennifer, Landis, Leslie and Zach
Quarantine Questions with Leah!
So many of our artists have been keeping busy during this strange and difficult time, and we have been astounded at the creativity and spirit that they have exhibited while quarantined at home. We got in touch with our friend Leah to talk to her about how she has been spending her time over the last six months. Read on to see what she’s been up to!
What have you been up to since the pandemic occurred? Any interesting home projects to share?
Oh goodness. Well. I’ve definitely learned a lot about allowing myself to slow down since the pandemic, and decreasing the pressure I put on myself to be constantly productive. But I’ve still been writing quite a bit, and my writer’s group (which has a biweekly virtual meeting where we read each other’s work and give feedback) has grown a lot, which is exciting! Some of my freelance work from The Before Times has gone virtual now, so since the fall I’ve been teaching ballroom dance with Dancing With the Students, and working as a standardized patient. I’ve also started remotely teaching English as a Second Language to children in China. Aaron Roberge (my husband and co-creator of Wandering Theatre) and I have been brainstorming our next new puppet show: a sort of “fractured fairy tale” that tells the “true story” of Captain Hook. Hopefully the time will come that we will be able to perform live again! (Also, my latest fun activity is that Aaron has been teaching me to nunchuk. I’m getting pretty good, if I do say so myself!)
What do you miss most about being onstage in front of live audiences?
Just the energy in the room. The way that you feel connected with everyone, both cast and audience, as you all experience a story together. It’s great that so many performers and theatre companies are finding creative ways to adapt to a virtual medium. But there is nothing like live performance when it comes to sharing the feeling of being alive.
What do you look forward to the most about getting back to work with ETC?
It’s kind of impossible to pick what I’d be most excited about if live performance with ETC could come back. The casts! The audiences! Actually, I guess I found my answer there: the people!
Any fun stories to share?
Aaron and I love to go camping (and we’ve been doing it quite a bit). In June, we visited my parents in CT, and we stayed in their backyard in our tent to ensure that we could keep socially distant the whole time. Come to find out, a day or two after we went back to Philly, a bear was prowling my parents’ neighborhood, finding its meals right in the woods around their yard! My parents heard some pretty unpleasant noises out there. Close call for us, apparently!
Any big updates to share? Moved? New pet? New favorite pastime?
We moved! Still living in West Philly, but Aaron and I have moved in with fellow Enchantment veterans Aaron Lathrop and Phoenix Gina Leigh, and another puppeteer, Bohrs Hoff! Puppet House! And we also live with the most amazing and perfect cats: Harvey, Aggie, and Dot.
Thanks so much to Leah for sharing all of her adventures! Check back for other interviews with our fantastic collaborators, and more information about our upcoming virtual projects!
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Hello dear friends,
As these days of quarantine stretch on, we hope you and your families are staying healthy, and finding ways to cope. Here at Enchantment, we are focused on how we can continue to enrich the lives of children and their families during this time, and bring you just a little bit of joy. As part of our expanding Enchantment Everywhere initiative, this week we are presenting to you – Sylvester and the Magic Pebble! This show, based on the book by William Steig, was our national tour back in 2013. We hope you enjoy Sylvester’s story of literal and figurative transformation!
Link to Video
Sylvester is a donkey with one thing on his mind – his pebble collection. His family wants him to engage with the world so badly, but Sylvester’s hobby takes up all of his attention, and gets him into a lot of trouble! Click the link below to see what kind of creatures Sylvester meets, and what kind of adventures unfold around him!
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Link to Study Guide
Below you will find the link to our comprehensive study guide for Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. This guide is usually sent to our audiences before our performance, and is filled with interesting information about the story and fun activities you can do in the comfort of your own home!
Sylvester Study Guide
If you want to learn more about our Enchantment Everywhere initiative, our upcoming virtual projects, or just more about Enchantment in general, sign up for our mailing list! We will be sharing new performances and projects over the summer, and if you sign up, you’ll be the first to know!
If you want to support Enchantment in making new virtual works, including vibrant virtual lessons designed to bring our detailed Study Guides to life, then we encourage you to donate by clicking the link below! Come and join the Enchantment family!
And finally, we invite you to sit back, relax, and enjoy our production of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble!
My Father’s Dragon
Hello dear friends and families,
From all of us at Enchantment Theatre Company, we hope this email finds you safe and in good health. As we try to navigate a creative path through this difficult time, we have been thinking about you and your children, and how we might bring little a joy and wonder into your home. Today we are thrilled to share another Enchantment performance with you! My Father’s Dragon, based on the book by Ruth Stiles Gannett, is a delightful tale of adventure and self-discovery. This is a performance from our national tour in 2017-2018. And now, we are thrilled to be bringing it into your homes to enjoy as a family!
Link to Video
In this production, we are told the wonderful story of Elmer Elevator, and his journey to rescue a baby dragon from Wild Island. Elmer meets many creatures along the way, each attempting to sidetrack him on his mission. Click the link below to see if Elmer will succeed!
Link to Study Guide
Below you will find a link full of fun information about the show and activities you can do from home! Use this guide to enrich your experience of My Father’s Dragon
My Father’s Dragon Study Guide
As always, we hope you enjoy this new way of experiencing the magic of Enchantment during these unprecedented times. Enchantment has not been immune to the effects of the pandemic, and if you enjoy the work we have provided and want to see more, we encourage you to donate to us using the link below!
Thank you for continuing to engage with us! We hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy. We invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy My Father’s Dragon!
The Beast in The Bayou
Hello to all of our audiences far and wide!
As you know, Enchantment Theatre Company is committed to bringing high quality, transformative theatre experiences to audiences throughout the country. This is exemplified by our Enchantment Everywhere program, which seeks to bring fully produced shows to Philadelphia schools for little to no cost. These shows are meant to bring the magic of Enchantment literally Everywhere and anywhere, from auditoriums and cafeterias, to lobbies and outdoor gatherings. Unfortunately, in the current climate, our local tour of The Beast in The Bayou has been postponed. However, we have decided to bring this performance to your homes so the work of Enchantment Everywhere can continue!
Video Link
Below, you will find a link to a professional recording of our locally touring show from this season – The Beast in The Bayou. This is a modern take on the classic Beauty and The Beast tale, and has an environmental spin to it. Click below to enjoy the magic of this show!
Link to Study Guide
In addition to the performance, we have also attached a Study Guide for The Beast in The Bayou. This is normally sent to teachers and students who will be seeing the show live in their school, and contains lots of interesting information about the show, a version of the story you can read aloud, and other fun activities!
These times have proven difficult to many theatre companies and arts groups, and Enchantment is not immune. If you are able and compelled to contribute a donation, we would be grateful. Support from our audiences allows us to provide arts programs like Enchantment Everywhere to students and families across the country.
Our Enchantment Everywhere initiative is very important to us, and in these uncertain times we are very happy to be expanding that program to bring our magic into each of your homes. Please give us feedback about engaging with Enchantment in this new way; we hope to hear from you soon! Stay safe and healthy, and enjoy The Beast in The Bayou!
Bring Enchantment Home
To our dear friends and families practicing social distancing,
During this uncertain time, we at Enchantment believe that engagement in the arts is more necessary than ever. We know this has been a difficult time for many, and activities that can entertain, stimulate the imagination, and promote learning are vital and welcome, especially when isolated!
This has inspired us to bring Enchantment into each and every one of your homes. We are very excited to extend our initiative of Enchantment Everywhere during this time, by bringing our fully produced shows to you!
Video Link
Below, you will find a link to a professional recording of our recent national tour – Peter Rabbit Tales . As many of you know, our national tour had to be suspended in order to keep actors, crew and audiences safe and healthy. But now, you can be a part of our audiences at home! Simply click on the link below, and settle in for our production of Peter Rabbit Tales!
Peter Rabbit Tales
Link to Study Guide
In addition to the performance, we have also attached a Study Guide for Peter Rabbit Tales. This is normally sent to families and audiences who will be seeing the show live, and contains lots of interesting information about the show, a version of the story you can read aloud, and other fun activities!
Link to Study Guide
We hope you enjoy engaging with Enchantment in this very different format, and we welcome your feedback. If this was a fun and interesting experience for you and your family, please let us know. We will be back in future weeks with more performances to view and new Study Guides!
And with that, we ask you sit back, relax, and open your imaginations, as we present to you – Peter Rabbit Tales!
Musicopia Is Our 2017 Eden Award Recipient
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2017
CONTACT:
Carin Brastow
Managing Director
215-496-9160 (office)
carin@enchantmenttheatre.org
ENCHANTMENT THEATRE COMPANY SELECTS MUSICOPIA AS THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2017 EDEN AWARD
Philadelphia, PA—Enchantment Theatre Company has selected Musicopia as the recipient of its 2017 Eden Award. Since 2009, Enchantment has presented this award to an individual or organization that exemplifies the values that guide Enchantment – imagination, originality, transformation and community. This award will be presented at our Annual Benefit on May 7, 2017 at the Philadelphia Zoo. Enchantment Theatre Company’s signature fundraiser, the Benefit brings in children and families from all over the Philadelphia region to celebrate the power of theater and arts education. This year’s event will include a special performance of our newest Enchantment Everywhere production, The Bremen Town Musicians; a buffet reception; an instrument petting zoo; and other creative music and theater activities for children (and adults) of all ages.
“We are thrilled to recognize Musicopia with our 2017 Eden Award,” says Carin Brastow, Managing Director of Enchantment Theatre Company. “Musicopia is dedicated to bringing the joy of music to thousands of underserved children across the Greater Philadelphia Region. Today, with fewer state and federal dollars supporting school districts, arts organizations like Enchantment and Musicopia are stepping up to fill the gap in order to keep the arts a part of children’s lives, regardless of their ability to pay.
With our premiere production of The Bremen Town Musicians, based on the classic Grimm fairy tale about individuals working together to discover their purpose and becoming musicians, it seems only fitting that we honor Musicopia. We feel that Mrs. Eden would have been proud of the Committee’s choice!”
“We are delighted to receive such an honor. Musicopia and Enchantment Theatre Company share complimentary missions to make the arts accessible to all children,” says Musicopia Executive Director Denise Kinney. “Both organizations work to provide artistic experiences to help children develop the socio-emotional skills necessary for a 21st century workforce. Our sincere gratitude to Enchantment Theatre!”
The Eden Award was established in 2009 to honor the late Judith S. Eden, friend, Advisory Board member and faithful supporter of Enchantment Theatre Company. Eden, a resident of Center City, was a zoning attorney and civic activist who died of cancer in August 2008. Eden was an exceptional leader in many civic organizations and causes, including the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight. This award keeps alive the memory of an extraordinary woman who devoted her energies to her family, her work and her community in a way that was truly transformational.
About Musicopia: Musicopia’s mission is to provide opportunities for children to experience, learn, perform, and appreciate music. Offering a wide range of in-school and out-of-school programs spanning Pre-K through 12th grade, and with a focus on economically underserved communities, Musicopia gives all children the opportunity to learn to play an instrument and be a member of a musical community. Through the operation of the Gift of Music instrument donation program, Musicopia collects and repairs used instruments to place them in the hands of a needy child or school.
About Enchantment: Enchantment Theatre Company is a professional non-profit theater company with a reputation across the country for excellence in both theater and arts education. Since 1979, Enchantment has inspired children to dream, explore, think and connect through imaginative storytelling onstage and in the classroom. We accomplish this by transforming great stories into great theater using our signature performance style, which blends music, puppetry, dance, magic and masks into an engaging theater experience. Our vision is to share Enchantment’s unique artistry with as many children and families as possible. This includes 50+ schools and nearly 20,000 children in the Philadelphia region reached by Enchantment Everywhere who many not otherwise have access to theater and also the more than 100,000 children reached by its national tours.
For tickets to Enchantment’s Annual Benefit, “Play with us at the Philadelphia Zoo,” visit http://enchantmenttheatre.org/benefit/
