KIDS + FAMILIES

Eleven Houston-area children ages 8 - 14, currently the students of Main Street Theater’s Kids On Stage Rehearsal and Performance By Audition class, explore a foreign world in Anansi the Spider and the Middle Passage by Frank Higgins.

The play will be performed Friday and Saturday, February 12 and 13, at 7:30pm; and Sunday, February 14, at 3:30pm. Performances are at Main Street Theater – Chelsea Market, located at 4617 Montrose Boulevard. For tickets, call 713-524-6706 or log on to mainstreettheater.com. All tickets are $5.00.

About the Play
Long ago, the trade route called the Middle Passage brought stories as well as slaves from Africa to America. Kidnapped from her village, young Shontay is frightened and helpless. Shontay's mother comforts her by telling her legends of Anansi, the trickster spider, and how he won an amazing box of stories from Nyame the Sky God. In each tale, Anansi springs to life along with the story characters for action-packed, light-hearted adventures. Shontay and her mother have brought Anansi with them to America, where his stories of outwitting the greedy and powerful inspire them.

About The Production
The cast is comprised of eleven children from the Houston area and is as follows: Larissa Bernstein (77030), Devin Bollman (77096), Kaitlyn Calvin (77096), Grace Daley (77098), Paige Evans (77035), Joni Grommesh (77030), Elizabeth Harris (77083), Nalyah Johnson (77091), Chucky Medley (77085), Mario Salcedo (77021), and Kate Sundie (77019).

Professional artists direct and design all Kids On Stage R&P productions. Dabrina Sandifer is Anansi’s director. Macy Perrone designs costumes, and Art Ornelas is the set and properties designer.

About Kids On Stage
Kids On Stage (KOS), now in its 21st season, has been designed to spark a lifelong appreciation of theater by encouraging young people to participate in all aspects of play production, from movement and monologues to stagecraft and theater history. The curriculum teaches essential skills such as creative thinking, teamwork, self-confidence, and communication—skills that enhance the overall learning process. Through year-round classes, outreach programs, and camps both on-site and at satellite locations, students develop their voices, bodies, and imaginations in a challenging and fun curriculum, taught by professional artists and arts educators.

Main Street Theater’s KOS program offers a wide range of classes for students of all skill levels, including individual audition coaching sessions, movement and dance classes, comedy improv classes, high school workshops, and a Summer Performing Arts Camp throughout the summer. The KOS Rehearsal and Performance system includes classes for students at two levels: those who are ready to audition for plays for the public and those who want to hone their skills by producing a play in a “lab” context for family and friends. The current Winter R&P Lab class will perform Sally Cotter and the Censored Stone. Classes range from $160 - $500; camp ranges from $260 - $520. For more information or to register for classes and camps, please call 713-524-9196 x 104 or log on to mainstreettheater.com

Troy Scheid is Director of Education. Jonathan Gonzalez is Assistant Director of Kids On Stage.

Pictured above is Anansi the Spider (Mario Salcedo). Photo by Troy Scheid.