Show Notes: January 2024
The Newsletter of All-of-us Express Children's Theatre
In this issue:
Next on stage: The Addams Family
Top of the Town awards
Show recap: The Witch’s Princess
Holiday show recap: A Christmas Carol
Upcoming auditions: The Wind in the Willows
2023 rewind
Season 35 productions
Happy new year! We have lots to look forward to in 2024…read on for news from the All-of-us Express Children’s Theatre (AECT) nonprofit Board, and we would love to see you on Facebook and Instagram as well!
Next on stage: The Addams Family
“One normal night?” Not likely, with this show!
Based on the delightfully creepy members of the Addams Family show, this musical embraces the wackiness in every family.
Directed by Jocelyn France (the AECT veteran who brought you School of Rock and Frozen Jr. last season), this show features every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family—a man her parents have never met. There are bound to be some…challenges.
Show times
Fridays, February 2 and 9: 7:00pm
Saturdays, February 3 and 10: 3:00pm
Sundays, February 4 and 11: 3:00pm
Ticket information
Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for anyone under 18 and are available at the front desk of the East Lansing Hannah Community Center, by phone at (517) 333-2580 ext. 0, or online. Tickets are date-specific, but are still for general seating. Season ticket holders should trade in tickets at the front desk for a specific performance date. Doors open approximately 30 minutes before the show.
Opening night reception
The AECT Board of Trustees invites you to join us for some pre-show fun on Opening Night. Our free reception includes appetizers, beverages, kids' games, and conversation. The Addams Family reception will be Friday, February 2 in the Hannah Center Banquet Room from 5:30-6:30pm. Please RSVP by January 26 via the link below to help us with planning. Feel free to bring your whole family after dropping off your cast or crew member for their Opening Night call.
Seeking volunteers!
We are always looking for helping hands (attached to humans, not like Thing in The Addams Family)! Can you do a stint at Concessions? Cover the Green Room one night? Supervise the ushers for a performance or two? Please explore our volunteer openings below.
AECT named in Top of the Town ratings!
We placed in two categories
Thank you for your votes in the City Pulse Top of the Town contest! AECT placed second behind our friends at Riverwalk Theatre for “Best Local Theatre Organization,” which is pretty thrilling for a children’s theatre company!
We were also a runner up in the “Best Local Attraction for Kids” category, after Impression 5 Science Center and the East Lansing Family Aquatic Center. For a kids’ attraction where the kids actually have to sit still, we’ll take runner-up as a win!
Show recap: The Witch’s Princess
The most dangerous, most noblest, and most glorious of all AECT fall productions
Congratulations to the cast, crew, and production team (led by director Jen Shaw) who brought us this hilarious and clever show. It truly has something for everyone... from juice to a Jabberwock, mushrooms to Medusa (er, Megoosa!), Beowulf to bonfires, swordplay to sorcery.
Thank you to the front-of-house and backstage volunteers for helping the kingdom run smoothly and remain stocked with Jabberwocks. Thanks also to our sponsors, whose support is so very appreciated: Jackson, the Arts Council of Greater Lansing, the National Endowment for the Arts, Ingham County Hotel/Motel Association, and the Michigan Arts and Culture Council.
And of course, thank you to the 900+ audience members who spent time in Artemesia in November, told friends and neighbors about it, shared it on social media, and helped us spread the word to make this our largest fall production ever.
Holiday show recap: A Christmas Carol
This show was no humbug
Though it was on stage for two performances only, this holiday classic brought nearly 400 audience members to watch as as Ebenezer Scrooge was visited by three ghosts trying to help him change his miserly ways. Directed by AECT alumna Elena Forman, the small cast and tiny crew of this studio production provided a glimpse of Christmas in Victorian London.
This was our most successful studio show (typically much smaller than our main stage productions) ever, and we are grateful to be able to bring theatre experiences to more and more community members of all ages.
Upcoming auditions
The Wind in the Willows comes to the stage this spring
Audition spots and the crew signup for our spring production of The Wind in the Willows will open in February; auditions will be held February 22 and 23. This beloved classic, based on bedtime stories British novelist Kenneth Grahame told his son over a century ago, will be directed by AECT’s Assistant Artistic Director Blake Weil. Auditions are open to youth ages 9 and up; minimum ages for crews depend on the crew. Visit our website to learn more about the audition process and how our crew system works.
2023 rewind
A banner year here at AECT!
We had a fabulous 2023 thanks to our talented actors, amazing crews, stellar production teams and leadership, dedicated families, hard-working board members, a host of fabulous behind-the-scenes volunteers, generous donors, and everyone who has supported us by coming to see our shows. Thank you for a fantastic 2023, and we can’t wait to see you again soon!
Remaining Season 35 productions
Save these dates!
More information about auditions and audition workshops, performance dates and times, and plot details can be found in the Season 35 brochure.
Winter 2024: The Addams Family *On stage February 2-11*
A kooky musical based on the endearingly creepy TV characters
Directed by Jocelyn France
Spring 2024: The Wind in the Willows *Auditions February 22-23*
A beloved tale of two best friends and their adventures
Directed by Blake Weil
Studio Class 2024: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time *On stage May 10-11*
In which a brilliant but misunderstood teenager attempts to solve a mystery
Directed by Ayden Soupal
Summer 2024: The SpongeBob Musical *Auditions May 16-17*
Can our favorite yellow sponge save Bikini Bottom from certain destruction?
Directed by Jocelyn France
Thanks for reading Show Notes—we hope to see you on Facebook and Instagram as well! Keep up between issues on our website.