Children's favorites brought to life Children's favorites brought to life (October 21, 2005)

PTY kicks off its eighth annual 'Stories on Stage' series

By Katie Vaughn

Like the battered storybooks you read over and over as a child, Peninsula Youth Theater's "Stories on Stage" series is down off the shelf again, carrying on a Mountain View tradition both literary and beloved.

Now in its eighth year, the annual series, which begins this Friday, features eight abbreviated performances of stories made popular in children's books. The 45-minute dramatizations serve as a way to get kids excited about reading, said PYT executive director Karen Simpson.

"We think it's really important to provide kids a visual representation of books," Simpson said. "It's stimulating."

Children benefit from seeing the stories acted out on stage, whether or not they've already read the books, Simpson said. Attending the performance of a well-known tale offers kids a fresh way to enjoy a favorite story, while seeing a new story on stage may motivate them to read the book version later.

But Simpson said watching a performance of a literary work won't take away an aspect of reading that parents and teachers often tout as an important difference between books and television. She said kids will still need to use their imaginations to bring the stories to life. That's because the sets and costumes are made from simple and abstract items that suggest scenes and characteristics rather than portraying them in full detail.

In this way, Stories on Stage productions differ greatly from the full-length musicals PYT also performs each year. Furthermore, the literary dramatizations feature small casts of roughly seven actors, ranging in age from 12 to 18, and small audiences of less than 160 people who sit around the stage on risers in the SecondStage room of the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.

"It's very different than going to see one of our MainStage musicals," Simpson said. "It's a much more intimate experience."

Each year, PYT chooses a new collection of books to act out, keeping in mind the goals of finding stories that represent a variety of backgrounds and are appropriate for a range of ages, from preschool to junior high kids.

This year's series begins with a production of Thomas Rockwell's "How to Eat Fried Worms." Other popular stories on the PYT schedule include Margery Williams' "The Velveteen Rabbit" and Laura Joffe Numeroff's "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." Lesser-known works, such as "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse" by Kevin Henkes and "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears" by Verna Aardema, are also featured.

Simpson said every production is suitable for audience members of all ages -- none of the shows include adult language or themes -- and she offered simple advice for deciding whether a child is old enough to follow the story lines of particular productions.

"If they're old enough for the book, they're old enough for the show," she said.

INFORMATION:

What: Peninsula Youth Theatre's 2005-06 Stories on Stage series. Each performance is 45 minutes. Where: SecondStage of the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St. When: Fridays at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Contact: Call (650) 963-6000 or visit www.pytnet.org

"Stories on Stage" Schedule: "How to Eat Fried Worms" (Thomas Rockwell), Oct. 21-22 "The Selfish Giant" (Oscar Wilde), Nov. 18-19 "The Velveteen Rabbit" (Margery Williams), Dec. 16-17 "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse" (Kevin Henkes), Jan. 20-21 "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears" (Verna Aardema), Feb. 17-18 "Prince Brat and the Whipping Boy" (Sid Fleischman), March 24-25 "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" (Laura Joffe Numeroff), April 21-22 "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" (Judith Viorst), May 19-20

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