Musical theater adventure "Laura Ingalls Wilder" November 14, 2009

Lakewood Cultural Center and
ArtsPower Present

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Lakewood Cultural Center in conjunction with ArtsPower presents the one-hour musical theater adventure Laura Ingalls Wilder at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 14. Tickets are $12 adult / $7.50 child and are available by calling 303-987-7845, online at www.Lakewood.org/CulturalCenter or at the Lakewood Cultural Center Box Office, 470 S. Allison Parkway (Wadsworth and Alameda). Senior, student and group discounts available. Free parking on-site.

Laura Ingalls Wilder follows the tomboyish Laura, her older sister Mary, her Ma, and her Pa as they travel across the unsettled frontier of the late-1800s American Midwest. Many challenges threaten the Ingalls family’s security, including Indian attacks, disease, and devastating crop losses. Powered by their devotion to each other and an unwavering “pioneering spirit,” they are able to overcome anything.

Written and directed by Greg Gunning with music by Richard DeRosa, Laura Ingalls Wilder has been a hit with audiences since its premiere in 1995. The show features a lush musical score with five original songs, among them “Move On,” which captures the restlessness and excitement of loading up the covered wagon to find a new home, and “Fishin’,” a duet in which Laura and Pa laugh and share tall tales at a favorite fishing hole. Ma would like Laura to pay more attention to her studies, but lessons make Laura feel like a misfit – especially when she compares herself unfavorably to the “smarter” Mary. Yet in the end, it is love for Mary that helps Laura overcome her insecurities. When Mary is blinded by scarlet fever, Laura becomes her sister’s eyes. She entertains Mary with outlandish descriptions of everything around them in another of the show’s songs, “Seein’ Things I Never Saw Before.” In the process, Laura discovers her own talent for storytelling, the same talent that will someday bring her national fame as one of America’s best-loved children’s authors.

Mark and Gary Blackman founded ArtsPower in 1985 and have been steering its course ever since. ArtsPower has grown into one of America’s premier producers of professional Equity theater for young and family audiences, the second-largest such company in the nation. Its 22 professional touring productions have been seen by nearly seven million people in 46 states – from Alaska to Florida – in some of the nation’s top cultural centers, including The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Lincoln Center in New York.

“At ArtsPower, we are committed to enriching children’s lives through the performing arts,” says Executive Producer Gary Blackman. “By introducing our audiences to enthusiastic characters like Laura, children can see new possibilities in life and in themselves.”

For more information, visit ArtsPower’s website at www.artspower.org.

Lakewood Cultural Center & ArtsPower - Laura Ingalls Wilder - Saturday, November 14. 1 p.m. $12 adult / $7.50 child. 303-987-7845, online at www.Lakewood.org/CulturalCenter - Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway (Wadsworth and Alameda). Senior, student and group discounts available. Free parking on-site.

The Lakewood Cultural Center 2009 - 2010 Performing Arts Season is generously supported by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) – with appreciation to the citizens of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District – Aura Spa and Wellness Center at the Sheraton Denver West and The Denver Post.