Shows & Tickets
Classes For Children Ages Three Months to Nine Years Include ‘Everybody Gets a Song’, ‘Superhero Training’ and ‘Secret Agent Spy Training’
LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2011 – Parents all across Los Angeles can officially cease the struggle to find creative, physically-active and incredibly entertaining programs options for their children. Starting in early May, the Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates are offering new morning and after-school courses held at the Geffen Playhouse Kinross Annex. Known for their award-winning literacy initiatives in schools across the country, the Story Pirates are stepping out of the classroom and extending their performance-based learning style to the families of Los Angeles. By tailoring the classes to the specific interests of each age group, the Pirates have designed a learning curriculum disguised as puzzles, riddles and pure play that features classes including Everybody Gets a Song, Superhero Training and Secret Agent Spy Training.
“We don't just play drama games, we create a whole theatrical world for every class,” said Story Pirates CEO Jamie Salka. “And in the process, we teach creative problem solving, promote original thinking, and teach a love of learning, while wrapping it all in a larger, playful dramatic framework.”
The 2011 Spring session classes run from May 9 through June 30 and will include:
Everybody Gets a Song (Ages 3 months to 3 years)This is a truly unique offering by the Story Pirates – while everyone else is singing the same ol’ songs, your child will have a song created just for him or her! Knowing that creativity and language skills develop at a young age, Everyone Gets a Song was created for toddlers as a program to nurture imagination and personality through music and stories. During each class the Pirates lead and observe children through sing-a-longs, puppet shows, storytelling, playtime and the session ends with a personalized song for each child about their lives and interests.
Superhero Training (Ages 5 to 7)Designed to empower individuality in children, Superhero Training is a forum for kids to create their own superhero, decide on a superpower, make a costume and track it all in their own comic book. Through storytelling, theater and visual arts, kids will explore how their heroes can defeat villains and save the world, while the Story Pirates help them develop a supernatural knack for imaginative, nonviolent problem solving.
Secret Agent Spy Training (Ages 7 to 9 years)The Story Pirates’ Secret Agent Spy Training is a workshop series for boys and girls that puts kids smack in the middle of a world of mystery and intrigue, complete with plot twists, secret letters to decode, and missions for the kids to accomplish. Once a child has gone through the curriculum of the training program they are given a chance to see one of their own stories brought to life at a Story Pirates weekly Saturday shows in Westwood.
The Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates offer 8 week class sessions that are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Geffen Playhouse Kinross Annex. Class session prices and schedules can be found at geffenplayhouse.com/classes.
Story Pirates has been committed to providing high quality arts and education programs to children since 2003. What began as a pilot in a single low-income Harlem school has grown to become a nationally respected arts integration curriculum in place annually at over 150 schools from coast to coast. Story Pirates has been recognized and sponsored by partners such as Penguin Books, Sirius XM Radio, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and The Daily Show on Comedy Central. By pairing first-rate actors and comedians with world-class educators, Story Pirates is working to redefine dynamic teaching in America, creating rich, cultural experiences that engage children while effectively tackling core elements of national learning standards.
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:Geffen Playhouse Kinross Annex10920 Kinross AvenueLos Angeles, CA 90024www.geffenplayhouse.com
ABOUT THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSEThe Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and musicals, the Geffen Playhouse continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company is helmed by Producing Director and President of the Board Gilbert Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney, Managing Director Ken Novice and Chairman of the Board Frank Mancuso. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen Playhouse welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains an extensive education and outreach program, designed to engage young people and the community at large in the arts. For more information, please visit geffenplayhouse.com.
ABOUT THE GEFFEN’S EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMSThe Geffen Playhouse’s education and outreach programs seek to make the cultural resources of the theater available to all of Los Angeles’ diverse communities. The wide range of programs focuses on serving populations in need from ages 3 to 100 through programs such as Saturday Scene, School Tours, Student Matinees, Golden Ticket and the theater’s award-winning CREATE program. For more information, please visit geffenplayhouse.com/education.
ABOUT THE STORY PIRATESStory Pirates has been committed to providing high quality arts education to children since 2003. The Play/Write Program began as a pilot in a single low-income Harlem school and has grown to become a nationally respected creative writing and drama curriculum in place annually at over 100 schools across the country. The Story pirates’ assemblies and performances has been recognized and sponsored by partners such as Penguin Books, theaters like the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and on respected television programs such as The Daily Show on Comedy Central. Story Pirates' curriculum focuses on core elements of national standards for Arts Education and English Language Arts, while providing rich cultural experiences that push the boundaries of traditional enrichment to tackle substantive educational goals like vocabulary development, story structure, revision and confident self-expression.
