TESSERACT ANNOUNCES SPRING PRODUCTION OF
"WILLY WONKA"
PHOENIX, ARIZONA—May 12, 2011—Opening night for Tesseract School’s 2011 middle school spring musical “Willy Wonka” is Thursday, May 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Paradise Valley Community College Center for Performing Arts. This vibrant musical is based on the classic children’s book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," written by Roald Dahl, and includes music from the movie as well as several new songs.
An event the entire Tesseract community looks forward to every year, the performances were moved from the school’s stage to a professional theater three years ago. “We were consistently selling out all the performances—which was wonderful—but we wanted to make sure everyone was able to see the students perform,” noted Terri Scullin, Tesseract drama and music educator and middle school musical director. “In addition to the increased seating capabilities, staging the musical in a professional venue provides the students with an authentic and exciting experience.”
Part of Tesseract’s innovative, student-centered curriculum, and in keeping with its “whole child” approach, its middle and high school programs offer a variety of performing arts options that the students can take advantage of throughout the year including music classes, chorus, band, rock band, drama, musical theater and dramatic film. Through the drama and theater classes students learn pantomime, improvisation, character development and how to deliver monologues, as well as scene study and backstage elements of the theater.
In the spring semester, middle school students are given the opportunity to join the musical theater after school program. In this program the students rehearse and prepare to participate in a large-scale musical theater production at the end of the school year. The process began in January when all of the students went through a weeklong audition process where they performed for staff as well as members of the local theater community.
In addition to the students’ participation and performances in the musical—from costume design and fittings to set-design and ticket sales—Tesseract parents are also very involved in the production, making this a true Tesseract community event.
All proceeds from Tesseract’s performances of “Willy Wonka” will go to Tesseract’s performing arts fund. The show will run May 19 through May 21, 2011 at 6:30 p.m., with a matinee on May 21 at 2:00 p.m., at the Paradise Valley Community College Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are $16.50 and are available at www.tesseractschool.org/news-index.htm and www.showtix4u.com. For more information please call 480.991.1770.
About Tesseract:
A leader in education in the Valley, Tesseract School prepares students to excel in college and beyond, lead lives of purpose, and become ethical and compassionate citizens with a global perspective. Tesseract’s innovative educational approach engages students in learning, enabling them to master the basics and become critical thinkers. As a non-profit, independent private school for students in preschool through grade 12, resources are directed to recruit and retain outstanding educators and continually enhance the school’s two campuses in Phoenix and Paradise Valley. For information visit www.tesseractschool.org or call 480.991.1770.
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