Class Acts Education Series
Welcome!
We look forward to providing your students unique opportunities to experience professional performing arts performances that complement their classroom learning and expand their cultural horizons! Let us help you enrich your school day and plan your perfect educational fieldtrip! Use our online reservation form at thecarsoncenter.org or if you need help, call us at 270.450.4444.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
November 8, 2023, 9:30 & 11:30 AM
Recommended for Grades 3-6
Just in time for Election Day (Nov. 7) is a performance that takes students back to the birth of the freedoms they now enjoy! It’s History in 50 minutes! Seven actors, two feet off the ground share 21 square feet of space and recreate the entire American fight for independence from Lexington to Yorktown. Using only the actors' bodies, voices, and (pantomimed) cannons, The American Revolution displays Chicago-Based Theater Unspeakable's rowdy brand of bare-boned and imaginative physical theater.
FANCY NANCY’S SPLENDIFEROUS CHRISTMAS
December 13, 2023, 10 AM
Recommended for Grades Pre-K-3
What could be fancier than Christmas? Presents with elegant wrapping paper, festive decorations, Christmas cookies with sprinkles - and who could forget the tree? After all, there is no such thing as too much tinsel. Ooh la la! This year, Nancy is especially excited. After selling some of her old gowns and accessories, Nancy has enough money to buy a brand-new sparkly tree topper. She can't wait to decorate the Christmas tree. But when things don't turn out the way Nancy planned, will Christmas still be splendiferous?
DINOSAUR ZOO
January 17, 2024, 10 AM
Recommended for Grades 1 through 5
Get ready for the ultimate playdate - 65 million years in the making - as Erth’s DINOSAUR ZOO LIVE guides your students on a breathtaking tour that begins in pre-historic Australia. You’ll observe, meet and interact with an eye-popping collection of amazingly life-like dinosaurs and other creatures presented in a theatrical performance that will thrill and entertain students while stimulating their imaginations in ways that will forever connect them to their world. Brought to life by a team of skilled performers and puppeteers, and designed with the help of professional paleontologists, Erth’s DINOSAUR ZOO LIVE’s puppets are so extraordinarily realistic you may feel the urge to run and hide - but don’t! Because you won’t want to miss a minute of this fun, unique, entertaining and educational live show created by Erth Visual & Physical of Sydney, Australia. While it may indeed have been 65 million years in the making, we think you’ll agree, it’s well worth the wait.
CAT KID COMIC CLUB, The Musical
January 26, 2024
Recommended for Grades: 1 though 5
Cat Kid and Molly Pollywog have started an epic club to teach 21 rambunctious baby frogs how to make their own comics! Their fishy father Flippy is overjoyed that his kids will learn to unleash their creativity, but when the frogs’ constant bickering and outrageous imaginations send their comics comically off the rails, Flippy flips out! Will the club survive? Will the frogs ever get along? And will creativity finally save the day? All will be answered in this madcap musical based on Dav Pilkey’s irreverently hilarious book series. This hilarious musical adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man spin-off series, Cat Kid Comic Club, is written by Kevin Del Aguila and Brad Alexander - the team that brought you DOG MAN: THE MUSICAL!
LITTLE WOMEN, The Broadway Musical
February 5, 10:00 AM
Recommended for Grades 5-12
Expose your students to great literature and to the excitement of a full-scale Broadway production! Based on Louisa May Alcott's own family experiences (and novel), Little Women, The Broadway Musical, follows the adventures of Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March as they grow up in Civil War America. The beloved story of the March sisters is timeless and deals with issues as relevant today as when they were written.
MINIMUM GROUP BOOKING is 20 Students. Little Women is part of The Carson Center’s Broadway Series. We are thrilled to be able to offer this very special performance for schools. No single tickets and no comp tickets will be available for this performance.
THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR SHOW
February 9, 2024
Recommended for Grades: Pre-K-3
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show has been dazzling audiences around the globe for over seven years, faithfully bringing to the stage Eric Carle’s timeless classics.
Created by Jonathan Rockefeller, each production of the critically acclaimed show features a menagerie of over 75 magical puppets, including the star of the show –The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Alongside The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the show features three other Eric Carle stories. Audiences may meet the colorful characters of Brown Bear, Brown Bear; travel the world with 10 Little Rubber Ducks; or help The Very Lonely Firefly find the friends he’s searching for. These beloved tales and their messages of community, self-expression, and the power of creativity are brought to life by a captivating cast of storytellers, sweeping original music, and stunning puppetry.
THE CANINE STARS
February 11, 2024
Recommended for All Grades
The Canine Stars educational entertainment act features a world-class team of dog trainers and their adopted dogs from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, The Netherlands and South Korea. Touring North America since 2012.
SHOW WAY: The Musical
February 21, 2024
Recommended for Grades 1 through 5
Follow the stitches of a family’s lineage. Adapted from the book by Jacqueline Woodson. Directed by Schele Williams. Music by Tyrone L. Robinson
Soonie's great grandma was just seven years old when she was sold to a big plantation without her ma and pa, with only some fabric and needles to call her own. She began to stitch a Show Way, a quilt with secret meanings to show enslaved people the way to freedom. As each generation passes, the Show Way shines a light on the past and paves a road to the future, stitching together possibility and promise.
Education Artist-in-Residence Jacqueline Woodson’s award-winning story of history, love, and resilience becomes a world premiere stage adaptation directed by Schele Williams with new music by Tyrone L. Robinson. This moving, lyrical account pays tribute to women in Woodson’s own family whose strength and knowledge illuminate their daughters’ lives over seven generations.
THE PLANETS featuring Paducah Symphony Orchestra
March 11, 2024
Recommended for Grades 3 through 7
Join the Paducah Symphony Orchestra and blast-off to explore our solar system during this orchestral performance. The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its supposed astrological character. The orchestra will be accompanied by a visual exploration through the solar system that will corelate with the performance.
123 ANDRÉS
March 27, 2024
Recommended for Grades Pre-K-4
Andrés and Christina are the Latin Grammy-winning music duo 123 Andrés who have performed all over the world including The Kennedy Center and Lollapalooza. Their catchy songs and lively concerts get the whole family dancing and learning, in Spanish and English.
360 ALL STARS
May 14, 2024
Recommended for All Grades
BMX, basketball, breakdancing, beatboxing, acrobatics, drumming and more, the international smash hit returns! A non-stop energy packed urban circus, complete with dancing, beat boxing, acrobatics, BMX biking and more, 360 ALLSTARS is a spectacular fusion of the extraordinary artistry that emerges from street culture. Boasting a stellar international cast of World Champion and World Record-holding athletes and artists, the show has had sold out runs on Broadway, Sydney Opera House and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Seen by over one million people worldwide 360 ALLSTARS entertains audiences of all ages! Check back about adding a customized workshop and demonstration to show your students the limitless possibilities of the future.