Tag Archives: The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati

Dez Flynn Hutchens as Nemo.

Cincinnati – Just keep swimming! The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s production of DISNEY’S FINDING NEMO JR. opens at the Taft Theatre and runs April 20 – 29, 2024. Tickets are on sale now at https://thechildrenstheatre.com/shows/disneys-finding-nemo-jr/.

Explore the big blue world with this lively new stage musical based on the beloved Pixar film! DISNEY’S FINDING NEMO JR. is a musical adaptation of the beloved 2003 Pixar movie Finding Nemo, with new music by award-winning songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

Marlin, an anxious and over-protective clownfish, lives in the Great Barrier Reef with his kid Nemo, who longs to explore the world beyond their anemone home. But when Nemo is captured and taken to Sydney, Marlin faces his fears and sets off on an epic adventure across the ocean. With the help of lovable characters such as optimistic Dory, laid-back sea turtle Crush, and the supportive Tank Gang, Marlin, and Nemo both overcome challenges on their journey to find each other and themselves.

Featuring memorable songs such as “Just Keep Swimming,” “Fish Are Friends Not Food,” and “Go With the Flow,” DISNEY’S FINDING NEMO JR. brings a vibrant underwater world to life on stage in a story full of family, friendship, and adventure.

Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. Book Adapted by Lindsay Anderson. Music and Orchestrations Adapted and Arranged by Myrna Conn. Based on the 2003 Disney / Pixar film Finding Nemo written by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, David Reynolds and directed by Andrew Stanton. Stage Direction and Scenic Design by Nate Bertone. Music Direction by Mark Femia. Lighting Design by Ben Gantose. Choreography and Costume Design by TCT Artistic Director Roderick Justice. Technical Direction by Ben Adams and Maggie Foley. Dani Lobello, Director of Production. Production Stage Manager, Jadi Davis.

Ideal for ages 4+.

Showtimes for DISNEY’S FINDING NEMO JR. include:

• Saturday, April 20 at 2PM (ASL interpretation will be offered at this performance.)
• Saturday, April 20 at 5PM
• Sunday, April 21 at 2PM
• Friday, April 26 at 7PM
• Saturday, April 27 at 11AM
• Saturday, April 27 at 2PM
• Sunday, April 28 at 2PM

DISNEY’S FINDING NEMO JR. is made possible by Dress Run Sponsor TriHealth, Production Sponsor The Summit Hotel, and Season Sponsor The Charles H. Dater Foundation, with special thanks to Media Sponsor Local 12.  Additional funding for MainStage Ticket Subsidies is provided by PNC Foundation. The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati is supported by the tens of thousands of people who give generously to the annual ArtsWave Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. This project was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s Broadway-style MainStage productions, including DISNEY’S FINDING NEMO JR., are performed in the historic Taft Theatre, 5th and Sycamore Streets in Downtown Cincinnati. Tickets start at $12. Visit thechildrenstheatre.com or call the TCT Box Office at 513.569.8080 x10, Monday – Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM to purchase tickets.

CAST (In Alphabetical Order)

Ensemble ………………… LENA ANDREWS
Tad, Ensemble …………… *BENJAMIN ABES-FELDMAN
Ensemble ………………….*ISSIAH CURRENT
Sheldon, Ensemble …………… *CELIA JOY D’ASCENZO
Nemo, Ensemble ………….. *STELLA ELLEN D’ASCENZO
Ensemble ………….. EDRICO EVANS-PRITCHETT
Bruce, Ensemble ………….. JOSH GALLOWAY
Dory ………….. TOMMI HARSCH
Nemo, Ensemble …………..*DEZ FLYNN HUTCHENS
Ensemble ………….. ETHAN KUCHTA
Pearl, Ensemble………….. *ELLI MADDOCK
Marlin ………….. AARON MARSHALL
Ensemble ………….. GABRIEL KANAI NAKATA
Ensemble ………….. PARKER PATTON
Bubbles, Ensemble ………….. ELEXIS SELMON
Coral, Ensemble ………….. *CARLY SHEPHERD
Squirt, Ensemble………….. *LISA TAKAHASHI
Crush, Ensemble ………….. NOAH WARNER
Gurgle, Ensemble ………….. *KAVAN VAIDVELU
Ensemble ………….. *KEYA VADIVELU
Ensemble ………….. MIA ZINK

UNDERSTUDIES:
For Dory: Carly Shepherd; for Crush: Edrico Evans-Pritchett; for Marlin: Noah Warner; for Peach, Bubbles: Ellie Maddock; for Coral: Elexis Selmon; for Anchor, Professor Ray, Chum, and Nigel: Kavan Vadivelu; for Pearl: Mia Zink; for Squirt: Parker Patton; for Ensemble Swing: Issiah Current

*Denotes TCT’s Young Artists Company

DISNEY’S FINDING NEMO JR. is presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www.mtishows.com 

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Cincinnati – The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $15,000. This grant will support TCT’s touring production of Harriet Tubman: Straight Up Outta’ The Underground. In total, the NEA will award 958 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling over $27.1 million, announced as part of its first round of fiscal year 2024 grants.

“The NEA is delighted to announce this grant to The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, which is helping contribute to the strength and well-being of the arts sector and local community,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D. “We are pleased to be able to support this community and help create an environment where all people have the opportunity to live artful lives.”

Due to popular demand from educators throughout our region, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati will be reprising the TCT on Tour production of Harriet Tubman: Straight Up Outta’ the Underground in the Spring of 2024. Live productions of Harriet will tour to schools and other venues through March 1, 2024.

TCT Company Manager and Resident Artist Brandi La’Sherrill wrote the script for the show and will perform it across the Tri-state area. She has this to say about the show: “Harriet Tubman: Straight Up Outta’ the Underground is inspired by the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman, the most famous conductor of the Underground. This production is a one-woman interactive experience that brings the past to the present when you play a part in this historic retelling. On this journey, you’ll follow Harriet Tubman, the most recognized conductor of the Underground Railroad, from the plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland, to freedom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her bravery and leadership earned her the reputation as the “Moses of her people,” traveling back and forth from North to South over 19 times and freeing over 300 slaves.”

Celebrating 104 years this season, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT) is the oldest children’s theatre in the country and the only professional theater in the region that devotes its entire MainStage season to children. Its mission is to educate, entertain, and engage audiences of all ages through professional theatrical productions and arts education programming. Its vision is to awaken a lifelong love of theater in children and the young. Today, the Children’s Theatre brings art to life for audiences through three key programs: TCT MainStage at the Taft Theatre, TCT on Tour, and TCT Academy. TCT strives to reach more than 200,000 people in the Cincinnati region each season.

For more information on TCT on Tour, visit thechildrenstheatre.com/bookings.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

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Opens February 17 at the Taft Theatre

Cincinnati – Break out the glass slippers! The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA: YOUTH EDITION opens at the Taft Theatre February 17 – 26, 2024. Tickets are on sale now at https://thechildrenstheatre.com/shows/cinderella-23-24/.

This magical musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein will feature a BIPOC creative team, and diversity will be celebrated as your favorite characters show us that “Impossible” is possible! If you loved the 1997 film version of this classic musical, you won’t want to miss this enchanting production!

Originally presented on television in 1957 starring Julie Andrews, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella was the most widely viewed program in the history of the medium. Its recreation in 1965 starring Lesley Ann Warren was no less successful in transporting a new generation to the miraculous kingdom of dreams-come-true, and so was a second remake in 1997, which starred Brandy as Cinderella and Whitney Houston as her Fairy Godmother. As adapted for the stage, with great warmth and more than a touch of hilarity, this enthralling fairy tale still warms the hearts of children and adults alike.

Music by Richard Rodgers. Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Stage Direction by Chris Stewart. Choreography by Tina DeAlderete. Dani Lobello, Director of Production and Sound Designer. Scenic Design by Seth Howard. Lighting Design by Yelena Babinskaya. Costume Design by Daryl Harris. Music Direction by Jason Alexander Holmes. Technical Direction by Ben Adams and Maggie Foley. Resident Stage Manager, Jadi Davis.

Ideal for ages 4+. This production runs 60 minutes without an intermission.

Showtimes for RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA: YOUTH EDITION include:

• Saturday, February 17 at 2PM (ASL interpretation will be offered at this performance.)
• Saturday, February 17 at 5PM
• Sunday, February 18 at 2PM
• Friday, February 23 at 7PM
• Saturday, February 24 at 11AM
• Saturday, February 24 at 2PM
• Sunday, February 25 at 2PM

RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA: YOUTH EDITION is made possible by Dress Run Sponsor TriHealth, Production Sponsors The Summit Hotel and The Sutphin Family Foundation, and Season Sponsor The Charles H. Dater Foundation, with special thanks to Media Sponsor Local 12.  Additional funding for MainStage Ticket Subsidies is provided by PNC Foundation. The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati is supported by the tens of thousands of people who give generously to the annual ArtsWave Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. This project was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s Broadway-style MainStage productions, including RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA: YOUTH EDITION, are performed in the historic Taft Theatre, 5th and Sycamore Streets in Downtown Cincinnati. Tickets start at $10. Visit thechildrenstheatre.com or call the TCT Box Office at 513.569.8080 x10, Monday – Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM to purchase tickets.

CAST (In Alphabetical Order)

Ensemble …………………LENA ANDREWS
Herald…………… JATHAN “JB” BRISCOE
Cinderella …………………. JUNO BROSAS
Ensemble ……………….. *BRINLEY CULVER
Ensemble ………….. MARLO D’ASCENZO
Ensemble …………………… LUCÍA DUQUE
Ensemble …………….. ANTWNAZIA FANT
Ensemble ……………………… *AVERY FOX
Joy………………………. ANNA ROSE DELEON GUERRERO
Ensemble …………… *GRIFFIN HATFIELD
Ensemble …….. *DEZ FLYNN HUTCHENS
Ensemble ……………….. *NOAH JEFFREYS
Ensemble ………………… ETHAN KUCHTA
Prince…………………………… JT LANGLAS
Ensemble ……………. AARON MARSHALL
King ……………………… JAZZ MCMULLEN
Ensemble ……… GABRIEL KANAI NAKATA
Ensemble …………………. *SARINA PATEL
Stepmother …………. SPRING STARR PILLOW
Ensemble …………….. *KIP RICHARDSON
Ensemble …………….. CHELSEA RUSSELL
Fairy Godmother ………………… TIA SEAY
Portia…………………………… KARLI SMITH
Ensemble …………………… TRE TAYLOR III
Ensemble ……………….. *KEYA VADIVELU
Ensemble …………………. JORDAN WARD
Queen…………………… MICHELLE WELLS
Ensemble …………. *CAMRYN WILKINSON

UNDERSTUDIES:
For Queen and Stepmother: Lena Andrews; for Joy: Marlo D’Ascenzo; For Fairy Godmother: Antwnazia Fant; for Herald: Noah Jeffreys; for Prince: Ethan Kuchta; for Cinderella: Chelsea Russell; for King: Trey Taylor III; for Portia: Jordan Ward

* Denotes TCT’s Young Artists Company

RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA: YOUTH EDITION is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com   

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