Enchantment Theatre Company

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Seven in One Blow!

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By Rachel Hulsart, Marketing Intern

We at Enchantment Theatre Company are excited to introduce to you The Brave Little Tailor, our newest Enchantment Everywhere production that is based on the Grimm Brothers fairy tale of the same name. When a feisty little tailor kills seven flies with one blow in his workshop, he gains an air of confidence as he proudly displays Seven Dead in One Blow on his sash while walking about town. Many are stunned to see his sash as they assume that he killed seven knights in one blow rather than flies. Because of this misunderstanding, he ends up facing the challenges of defeating two giants, a rhinoceros, and a ferocious dragon from the kingdom where he would be rewarded by having the Princess’ hand in marriage.

In German culture, a tailor used to be seen as the poorest of the poor, and his value would be mocked by saying “Nine tailors make one man.” However, a tailor was also viewed in German culture as someone who would surprise everyone with his wit. The tailor in this story uses his wit to overcome the challenges he faces by thinking on his feet. The Grimm Brothers were interested in making the main character a tailor in order to inspire people to not let their outward appearance prevent them from accessing the power and wit they have inside them. So for the kids reading this out there, know that you are not too small to accomplish anything. Just use your brains, wit, and courage!

At an Enchantment Theatre Company performance, audience members of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to explore creative worlds and embrace the experience of live theater. Enchantment Theatre is dedicated to a unique style of performance by including expressive masks, puppetry, magic, music, movement and pantomime in our productions. In The Brave Little Tailor, we will again use these performance modes to create a world where, for a moment, kids will share a space with a giant, see a battle with a dragon and witness the courage of a simple man. It is our hope to create a magical experience for all ages, one where a child can dream big.  

The Brave Little Tailor will be touring the five-county area from April 27th to June 12th.  There will also be public performances at three local venues:

  • Sunday, May 10th / 2:00pm / Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street / FREE for everyone
  • Sunday, May 31st / 11:00am & 12:00pm / Smith Memorial Playground, 3500 Reservoir Drive / FREE for members
  • Saturday, June 6th / 2:00pm / Morris Arboretum, 100 E. Northwestern Avenue / FREE with admission

Are you an educator or presenter that is interested in bringing Enchantment Theatre Company to your school or venue? Contact us at 215-496-9160.

Meet Our Team Monday: Aaron Lathrop

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The Brave Little Tailor, our newest Enchantment Everywhere production, is coming to schools and other venues in the Philadelphia area April 27 through June 12. Maybe this isn’t news to you. Maybe you already know all about our local touring program, Enchantment Everywhere. Maybe you are a teacher that helped book a performance for your school this spring. Or maybe you are already looking forward to seeing the show at one of our public performances (May 10 at the Philadelphia Free Library, May 31 at Smith Memorial Playground, June 6 at Morris Arboretum). But do you know who makes all of the magic happen?

Fear not! We are launching Meet Our Team Mondays to introduce you to the talented group of artists that are currently helping create this original production of The Brave Little Tailor just for you.

First up is actor and puppet-maker Aaron Lathrop. All interviews are conducted by our Marketing Intern, Rachel Hulsart.

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Actor: Aaron Lathrop

Rachel: Our audience primarily consists of children with a wide range of dreams of what they want to be. When you were a kid, what did you want to be?

Aaron: When I was quite young I wanted to be a paleontologist and a pilot. Around age ten or so I decided I wanted to be an actor, and I discovered puppetry after college.

Rachel: Where did you attend college and were there any professors that influenced you as an artist?

Aaron: I attended Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU). I had one professor, David Pellegrini, who I got along with famously. He wasn’t delicate about art and theatre, and wasn’t afraid to call out bad art for what it was. Though I’d have to say my biggest artistic growth came outside of school. In high school I started working with Flock Theatre, a community-based theatre group in New London, CT. I continued working with them until 2008 when I moved to the West Coast. The Artistic Director is Derron Wood and he’s always been a mentor and dear friend. He was the one who really helped give perspective to all the things that I learned in school and helped set me up to get there in the first place. He’s also the person who brought me to puppetry, which was what really made my career click.

Rachel: What was your first time performing onstage like?

Aaron: I was so young, but I don’t remember being scared. I’ve never really been prone to stage fright. Though I must have been thrilled.

Rachel: How is working with Enchantment Theatre Company different from other theatre companies that you have worked for?

Aaron: There’s an impressive level of organization for a small theatre company. The folks in charge have really been able to use their various strengths to make a strong company. So often in the arts you either have administrative types with no interest in the artistic side or artists with no knowledge of the nitty-gritty. ETC has managed to marry both.

Rachel: What was the first theatrical production you saw when you were little?

Aaron: When I was six years old my mother took me to see Richard Burton’s farewell tour of Camelot, in Providence, RI. She’d always played the original Broadway recording for me and I loved it. I don’t remember a whole lot of the actual production, bits and pieces mostly, but I sat through the whole thing and was entranced. And just knowing I saw a master performing the role he made famous is a good feeling.

Rachel: If you could bring any of your favorite fairy tales or childhood stories to life onstage, which would you choose and why?

Aaron: I’d love to do a series of Norwegian folk tales, stories of trolls and the various creatures that lived in the fjords. These were the stories that my grandfather brought over from Norway and would tell me before bed. He had them all memorized, sadly I do not. I think they could be a visual treat and give just the right amount of scary that a fairy tale is supposed to have.

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Thanks, Aaron!

2013-2014 Annual Report

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Some of you may only engage with Enchantment Theatre Company when we visit your town on a national tour. Some of you only see our annual December productions in Philadelphia. Some of you know that we are the company that runs an arts residency at your school because your child told you about us, but you have never seen our work for yourselves.

With such a scope as this, we realize that it’s hard to understand exactly what kind of company we are. So we want to share something with you. Take a look at our annual report from the 2013-2014 season, freshly prepared for your viewing pleasure on ISSUU. Now’s the time to read up on what Enchantment Theatre really is. Do we do large-scale theatrical productions for national and regional stages? Yes! Do we have smaller, portable productions that we take directly to schools and communities? Yes! Do we have a thriving Arts in Education Program? Yes! Learn something new today. Learn more about the theater company that has shown you the magic in the everyday and transformed popular myths and fairy tales into something new and inspiring.

FREE Flounder Performance at MCCC on Oct 11

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On Saturday, October 11, we will present a FREE performance of The Fisherman and the Flounder at Montgomery County Community College. The show is at 11:00 AM in the theater inside the Science Center, and seats are on a first-come, first-served basis.

Enjoy the magic of our first Enchantment Everywhere production! Recommended for children in grades K-5. Production is approximately 40 minutes long, and there is a talkback after the show, in which the cast answers your questions from the stage!

College Address: 340 Dekalb Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422

ENCHANTMENT THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES FOUR CAPTIVATING TALES FOR UPCOMING 2014-15 SEASON

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, June 26, 2014

Contact: Carin Brastow, Managing Director
Telephone: (215) 496-9160
Email: carin@enchantmenttheatre.org

Breathing life into 4 classic stories onstage across the United States and in classrooms and
community venues across the Philadelphia region

Philadelphia, PA:  Known nationally and internationally for thrilling young audiences with imaginative productions of classic stories that enchant young and old alike, Enchantment Theatre Company is poised to present yet another captivating collection of shows for its 2014-15 season. Today, Enchantment’s Artistic Directors Landis Smith, Jennifer Blatchley Smith and Leslie Reidel revealed the programming that will comprise the 2014-15 season. This October, Crockett Johnson’s beloved tale of “The Adventures of Harold and Purple Crayon” sails across the United States to enchant thousands on our annual National Tour. This December, the timeless fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” transforms Philadelphia’s Arts Bank stage into a winter wonderland. In addition, through the regional touring program Enchantment Everywhere, Enchantment will present two Brothers Grimm tales, “The Fisherman and the Flounder” and “The Brave Little Tailor,” to thousands of children across the Philadelphia region – providing access to high-quality productions to those who have limited access to the arts.

We’re delighted to offer these marvelous tales that celebrate imagination, friendship, family and possibility.  We can’t wait to share these spellbinding theatrical experiences with children and families across the nation and in our hometown of Philadelphia.” says Artistic Director, Landis Smith.

The season opens in October with our National Tour of “The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon.” Children and families across the United States will join Harold (and his magical purple crayon) in an amazing on-stage adventure. Harold is a curious, imaginative and resourceful little boy who creates the worlds he wants to explore, using nothing more than a big purple crayon and his sky’s-the-limit imagination. Adds the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, “Harold is pure MAGIC! The brilliant use of projections and seamless transitions from ‘markings’ of the crayon to the elaborate (and very copious) props transforms what could easily have been a theatrical nightmare into a truly remarkable theatrical experience. The Brooklyn Center audience was astounded, as evidenced by the cheers during the final curtain call. Enchantment delivered yet another home run for our family and school audiences!” Visit EnchantmentTheatre.org for information about the Touring Itinerary or contact Barbara Simon at Brad Simon Organization: (212) 730-2132 or barbara@bsoinc.com if you would like to book “Harold.”

In December, just in time for winter, “The Snow Queen” blows into town for our Philadelphia audiences for what The Inquirer simply calls “Holiday Magic.” When a young boy vanishes, his best friend sets out on a magical journey to bring him home. So begins the tale of Gerda who is determined to rescue her beloved friend Kai from the wicked Snow Queen. This fantastic adventure through the land of snow and ice is told with life-size puppets, expressive masks, original music and imaginative theatrical effects and brings this story of a brave young girl to life in a uniquely magical way! Adds the LA Times, “Brave little Gerda’s cry for help against The Snow Queen’s demon guards is eloquently answered with heavenly intervention in the form of a gauzy, graceful puppet. It’s a moment of narrative and visual beauty, one of many that illustrate how aptly this company from Philadelphia is named.” For more information about this production, we invite you to visit EnchantmentTheatre.org.

Throughout the 2014-15 year, Enchantment will tour regionally with their new arts access program, Enchantment Everywhere. These imaginative, professional, portable productions travel to schools, arts venues, parks and retirement communities, literally anywhere there is a community of families and children. Enchantment Everywhere productions ensure that children and families within the region have access to high-quality theatrical productions, regardless of their ability to pay. This past spring, Enchantment toured “The Fisherman and the Flounder” inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, to 35 schools and over 10,000 children across the Philadelphia region. Because of its popularity, Enchantment will tour “Flounder” this fall throughout the region from September 29-October 11, 2014. In April of 2015, Enchantment will premiere its second Enchantment Everywhere production of “The Brave Little Tailor” by the Brothers Grimm. These magical productions are designed to breathe life into classic literature. They are a perfect introduction to the performing arts while also providing children a creative way to interact with literature. To book “Flounder” or “The Brave Little Tailor” please contact info@enchantmenttheatre.org or call (215) 496-9160.

About Enchantment: Enchantment Theatre Company is a professional non-profit theatre company with a reputation for excellence in both theater and arts education. For more than 35 years, Enchantment has been guided by our mission: to create original theater for young audiences and families. We accomplish this through the imaginative telling of stories that inspire, challenge and enrich our audience, onstage and in the classroom. All of Enchantment’s productions are original adaptations of new and classic fables, myths and legends, set to classical or original music. Our unique style of performance – incorporating expressive masks, life-size puppets, magical illusion, music, dance and pantomime – is accessible to all children, regardless of language barriers and encourages ethnic minorities, whose theatrical participation is among the lowest, to learn and grow through the expressive arts.

Enchantment Theatre Company became a not-for-profit theater in 2000. Since then, we have provided imaginative professional theater performances and in-school arts residency programs for over 150,000 local students through long-term partnerships with the School District of Philadelphia and PA School for the Deaf.  In addition to its arts education work in schools, Enchantment performs a regional holiday production for families and takes one of its major works on the road each year to reach school groups and families in 30-40 states reaching on average 100,000 children each year, totaling more than 1 million since the year 2000.  The presentation venues range from a huge tent at a North Carolina Festival to sophisticated theaters like the Lincoln Center in New York or the Kennedy Center in DC. Enchantment has toured in the Far East six times. We also provide a unique in-front-of-the-orchestra theatrical experience for young people with more than 60 symphony orchestras nationwide and in Canada, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. We have been the recipient of major grants from many national and local organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wyncote Foundation, The Independence Foundation and The Victory Foundation, to name a few. We are a company that retains the founders’ original philosophy that “experiencing live theater is essential for children to thrive.”

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If you would like more information about our season, please contact Carin Brastow, Managing Director at (215) 496-9160 or carin@enchantmenttheatre.org.

Proposed Funding Increase for PA Council on the Arts

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We recently learned that Governor Corbett has proposed an increase of 5% in the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) grants budget for 2014-2015 – about $400,000. This is wonderful news! From 2009 to 2011, the PCA’s grants budget was cut from $15,225,000 to $8,179,000. That decrease resulted in the elimination of a number of valued PCA programs. We urge you to write or call your legislators in support of this important funding increase, which would benefit hundreds of arts organizations throughout the state of Pennsylvania, including Enchantment Theatre.

As a non-profit organization, Enchantment relies on city and state funding as well as funding from foundations, corporate sources, and individuals to bring our mission of creating original theater for children and families to fruition. PCA funding supports our company in all areas, from making possible the groundbreaking In-School Theater Residencies we conduct in Philadelphia area schools to enabling us to hire talented designers and performers for all of our productions.

So if you value Enchantment and other arts organizations in your state, please use this link to find your legislators and contact them today in support of this important increase in state funding!

You may also be interested in knowing about a recent report from the US Department of Commerce that identifies the creative sector as contributing 3.2% of the country’s GDP – larger than agriculture and tourism. An important distinction!

Enchantment Everywhere Update: 2 Weeks Down, 6 To Go!

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Whew! Wow, have we learned a lot over the past two weeks. April 21 was the very first day of our local touring program, Enchantment Everywhere, and it has been thrilling to visit six different Philadelphia District schools over the past two weeks in order to bring them our newest production.

You may know that our first Enchantment Everywhere production is based on the classic Grimm tale The Fisherman and the Flounder, but what you probably don’t know is that our cast members not only perform the show, they (with our fearless Stage Manager Jamel) also serve as the crew, putting the set together before each show and packing it up again to move on the next venue! The first day was tricky, but now that we have two weeks under our belt, we have gotten very good at loading the show in and out of a new venue quickly and efficiently, which is great. It enables us to fulfill the purpose of Enchantment Everywhere – to bring portable productions directly to local communities!

Other things we learned:

  • Principals and teachers are awesome – and very helpful in organizing a tour like this.
  • Kids are amazed by the set , especially when the hut turns into a cottage and the cottage turns into a castle!
  • Kids ask good questions. Some that were asked during the Q & A session we provide after each show included: “What was the moral of the story?” and “Why did the actors want to play these characters?”

Over the next 6 weeks, we will visit a total of 30 schools in Philadelphia, Chester, and Delaware counties, serving over 7,500 children! Who knows what other cool things we’ll learn?

Philadelphia Sinfonia Association Press Release

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Contact:  Jonathan Hummel, Executive Director
Philadelphia Sinfonia Association
215.351.0363
jhummel@philadelphiasinfonia.com

March 30, 2014

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED PHILADELPHIA THEATER GROUP TO PERFORM WITH AWARD WINNING LOCAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Two Philadelphia based arts organizations, Philadelphia Sinfonia Association (PSA) and Enchantment Theatre Company (ETC), are collaborating for the first time to present “Myths & Fairy Tales” a one-hour concert that will appeal to all ages and features a little something for everyone. In addition to beloved classics like Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld Overture and Richard Rodger’s “Waltz” from the Broadway musical Cinderella, the concert’s climax is a beautiful fully staged performance of Maurice Ravel’s Ma Mere L’Oye (Mother Goose ballet) with four actors from Enchantment Theatre and the top level symphonic orchestra from Philadelphia Sinfonia.

“This truly unique and moving performance will present Ravel’s hauntingly beautiful ballet in its rarely-heard entirety, while providing our gifted young musicians the educational opportunity to work with one of the country’s finest professional theater groups. The result will be a visually and aurally rich evening of entertainment,” says Maestro Gary White, conductor and music director of the Philadelphia Sinfonia.

CONCERT INFORMATION: Thursday, April 10, 2014 at 7:30 PM at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, 3723 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA. Tickets are $20 and available at http://philasinfonia.ticketleap.com/sinfonia-enchantment/ or call 215.351.0363.

The Philadelphia Sinfonia Association, one of the region’s premiere youth orchestra programs, includes the Philadelphia Sinfonia (its award winning top symphonic orchestra composed of 100 talented musicians ages 13-22), an intermediate-level full orchestra, a string chamber orchestra and several smaller ensembles.

Philadelphia Sinfonia has performed at the Kimmel Center, the Mann Music Center, the Liberty Medal Ceremony honoring Colin Powell and at the 2000 Republican National Convention. Internationally, Philadelphia Sinfonia has performed to full houses in Holland, Great Britain, Russia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Belgium and Argentina. For more information about Philadelphia Sinfonia, directions to the concert, or spring auditions, please visit: www.philadelphiasinfonia.com, or call 215.351.0363.

Enchantment Theatre Company thrills audiences with its innovative and visually dramatic family theater productions. The company was founded in 1979 by Jennifer Blatchley Smith and Landis Smith, both actors and playwrights, and expanded to an artistic partnership with Resident Director Leslie Reidel in 1995. Enchantment Theatre Company’s distinctive artistry combines masked actors, puppets, magic, music, and more. Their original and inspiring productions have served more than a million children and families across North America and around the world including performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Lincoln Center in New York City; the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; the Academy of Music and the Kimmel Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra in their home town of Philadelphia; and in the Far East, performing in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. The company has appeared with major orchestras including those of Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Houston, Minnesota, Seattle and Montreal and with the Boston Pops on the PBS “Christmas at the Pops” television special. Other Enchantment symphonic concert productions include The Firebird, Mother Goose, The Merry Pranks of Till Eulenspiegel, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Scheherazade. Please visit http://enchantmenttheatre.org or call 215.496.9160.

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General operating support provided in part by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and Independence Foundation.

We are also honored to have received support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) since 2005 for the creation of North American touring productions.

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Enchantment Theatre Company
New Address
7715 Crittenden Street, #349
Philadelphia, PA 19118
267-469-0653