Children’s Theatre Company Announces Cast and Creative Team for The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories
By Reiko Ho and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth Ensemble
Directed by Reiko Ho
January 16-February 18, 2024
Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) is pleased to announce the cast and creative team for The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories by Reiko Ho and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth Ensemble. Directed by Ms. Ho, The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories will run from January 16-February 18, 2024 at CTC’s Cargill Stage (2400 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55404). Opening Night is Saturday, January 20, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
See a heroic carp climb up a waterfall (and so much more) in The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories, an energetic and interactive retelling of traditional fables from Japan and Okinawa. Through artful puppetry and three imaginative actors, you’ll also meet a grateful crane, a wonderfully generous mouse, and an industrious rabbit who teaches everyone to do the mochi dance! During this invigorating show from Hawaii, live music played on the koto, shakuhachi, and taiko drum will accompany young audiences as they dance, clap, and sing along.
“We are thrilled to welcome The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories to our stage,” says CTC Artistic Director Peter C. Brosius. “This production created by the Honolulu Theatre for Youth bring to vibrant life dynamic, comic and tender stories from Japan and Okinawa. You will be transported by the music, puppetry and wonderful audience interaction. You will learn words and phrases in Japanese and sing along with the talented cast. Get ready to go on magical journeys, laugh along with the characters and amazing animals and thrill to the warmth and creativity of the cast. I can’t wait to share these tales with you all.”
“This show was a joy to create, and we are thrilled to be sharing it with audiences at CTC,” says Playwright/Director Reiko Ho. “Celebrating our cultural stories is one of the most important things I do as a theatre maker. I’m delighted to adapt a few of my own favorite childhood stories for the stage and introduce some of the beautiful performance traditions and aesthetics of Japanese and Okinawan culture to a new generation of young people and families.”
The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories will play from January 16-February 18, 2024 at CTC’s Cargill Stage (2400 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55404). Opening Night is Saturday, January 20, 2024 at 7:00pm. Tickets may be purchased online at childrenstheatre.org/carp or by calling the Ticket Office at 612.874.0400. Ticket prices start at $15 for kids and $25 for adults.
The performers for The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories includes Serina Dunham, Mattea Mazzella, and Hermenigildo Tesoro, Jr.
In addition to Reiko Ho and The HTY Ensemble, the creative team for The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories includes Mattea Mazzella (Original Music), Iris Kim (Set and Costume Design), Chesley Cannon (Lighting Design), Eric West (Puppet and Prop Design/Technical Director), and Sarah Danvers and Hermenigildo Tesoro Jr. (Additional Props).
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets to The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories may be purchased online at childrenstheatre.org/carp or by calling the Ticket Office at 612.874.0400. Ticket prices start at $15 for kids and $25 for adults.
School groups interested in attending The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories can contact schools@childrenstheatre.org for more information.
The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories has a run time of 50 minutes (no intermission).
This production is the perfect first theatre experience for your younger theatre goers. Due to the capacity of the Cargill Stage, a limited number of lap passes for those 18 months and younger will be available for this production.
The Carp Who Would Not Quit and Other Animal Stories
By Reiko Ho and the Honolulu Theatre for Youth Ensemble
Directed by Reiko Ho
January 16-February 18, 2024
Cargill Stage
The perfect first theatre experience for your youngest theatre-goers!
Creative Team
Written by | Reiko Ho and The HTY Ensemble
Directed by | Reiko Ho
Original Music by | Mattea Mazzella
Set and Costume Design by | Iris Kim
Lighting Design by | Chesley Cannon
Puppet and Prop Design by | Eric West
Additional Props by | Sarah Danvers and Hermenigildo Tesoro Jr.
Technical Director | Eric West
Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) is the nation’s largest and most acclaimed theatre for young people and serves a multigenerational audience. It creates theatre experiences that educate, challenge, and inspire for more than 250,000 people annually. CTC is the only theatre focused on young audiences to win the coveted Tony Award® for regional theatre and is the only theatre in Minnesota to receive three Tony® nominations (for its production of A Year with Frog and Toad). CTC is committed to creating world-class productions at the highest level and to developing new works, more than 200 to date, dramatically changing the canon of work for young audiences.
CTC’s engagement and learning programs annually serve more than 93,000 young people and their communities through Theatre Arts Training, student matinees, Neighborhood Bridges, and early childhood arts education programs. ACT One is CTC’s comprehensive platform for access, diversity, and inclusion in our audiences, programs, staff, and board that strives to ensure the theatre is a home for all people, all families, reflective of our community. childrenstheatre.org
