Adventures in the Performing Arts
Weekday Field Trips to the Theater
We would like to extend an invitation to you and your students to attend some of the wonderful performances scheduled for the coming school year. There is nothing quite like the performing arts to stir the imagination and elicit critical thinking skills in students.
Individual tickets are available and the public is welcome.
See also our remarkable collection of School Assemblies we can bring to your school.
Order Now for the Best Seats. Tickets for shows at the Scherr Forum Theatre are $9.00 per seat for groups of 10 or more, $14 for individuals. All other shows are $8.50 per seat for groups of 10 or more, $12 for individuals. $100 deposit holds your reservation. Please make sure your ticket count includes teachers and parent chaperones. All children regardless of age must have a ticket.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase tickets for one of the shows in the Adventure series, you will not receive a printed ticket. Your name will be placed on a list that the ushers will have on the show day. Simply give them your name and you will be seated. Seating is general.
Your seat location at the Fred Kavli Theatre is determined by the order in which we receive full payment. You will be assigned a particular section of the theater based on the date of payment, but your actual seats within that section, will be determined by your arrival time.
PreSchool 
Primary K-3 
Upper Elementary 4-6 
Middle School 6-8 
High School 9-12 
Jason and the Argonauts
Visible Fictions
Friday, October 15, 9:30am and 11am
Scherr Forum Theatre, Thousand Oaks
Grades 4+
Following two enormously successful U.S. National tours which included runs at The New Victory Theatre on Broadway and The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Visible Fictions will return to North America for a third tour of Jason and the Argonauts to thrill even more audiences with their imaginative and inventive take on a classic tale. Using two actors, a handful of action figures and one incredible wooden cart, Visible Fictions creates an adventure story that will inspire the hero in each of us. This is a very creative and entertaining production. This show received a standing ovation from students last season. visiblefictions.co.uk | video | study guide
I have been going to see daytime theater at the Civic for the past 9 years and I have never seen a more innovative production as the one I saw today. There were two men who put on this classic Greek play with 23 different roles to play. They magically transformed a wagon, 6 action figure dolls, and each other to tell this amazing story. If it ever comes here again, I will be the first one in line.
– A Ventura County parent
Charlotte Diamond
Monday, November 29, 9:30am & 11am
Scherr Forum Theatre, Thousand Oaks
Tuesday, November 30, 10am
Pacifica High School Auditorium,
600 E. Gonzales Road, Oxnard
Wednesday, December 1, 10am
Center for Spiritual Living in Ventura
Grades PreK-2
A Juno award winning singer from Canada, Charlotte takes students on a musical journey around the world. Sure to sell out, purchase your tickets early! www.charlottediamond.com | video | study guide
Strega Nona
Tuesday, December 7, 10 am -
Fred Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks
Grades K-4
Strega Nona is the musical tale of a friendly magical witch- with a funny name- who strives to cure the ills of her tiny Italian town of Calabria. The baker has bunions ("As big as an onion"), his daughter wishes for witchery, and the local single ladies are always unlucky in love. The town faces real problems when a local lug named Big Anthony sneaks a peek at Strega Nona's magic book and uses Strega Nona’s magical ways for selfish means. When Anthony fools with the magic pasta pot, and can't figure out how to turn it off, pasta threatens to engulf the whole town -- unless Strega Nona can save the day. With an energetic and tuneful score by composer Aron Accurso, this fantastical tale teaches that witches can be good, and that and you can’t judge a pot by its pasta!
Curriculum Connections: Performing Arts — Theater, Music, Magical Illusions, Movement. Language Arts — Reading, Literature. Visual Art s— Drawing, Sculpture, Special Effects, Creativity Uses Storytelling and Fiction Writing with a focus on role-playing, concepts of imagination, and problem solving. video | study guide
Comedy Pet Theatre
Friday, January 14, 10am
Fred Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks
Grades K-12
We are delighted to present the World Famous Popovich Comedy Pet Theater. A perennial favorite at performing arts centers across the US, the show will return in the 2010-11 season with a new production featuring Gregory and his cast of jugglers, clowns, house cats, dogs, geese, white doves, and parrots. This performance was a favorite of students.
The Popovich Comedy Pet Theater has performed in more than 20 countries, and is currently in its 4th season at the Planet Hollywood Resort/Casino in Las Vegas.
Mr. Popovich and his Pets have been featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, and as a finalist on NBC's 'America's Got Talent'. Feature stories have appeared in People, The New Yorker and USA TODAY. Most recently Gregory wrote a book about the cats: You CAN Train Your Cats. www.comedypet.com | video
Giggle Gaggle, Quack
The Dallas Children’s Theatre
Thursday, January 27, 11am
Fred Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks
Grades PreK-4
Voted one of the top ten best children’s theatres in the US by Time Magazine. When the farmer’s away, the animals will play! In this hilarious sequel to the barnyard blockbuster, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, good ol’ Farmer Brown has left his city-slicker brother in charge of his farm while he takes a much-needed vacation. He’s left detailed instructions on how to take care of the animals so that nothing will go wrong, including the important warning “Keep an eye on Duck. He's Trouble." But when the instructions fall into the wrong hands (or wings!), Duck takes the opportunity to do a little re-writing – with a few creative embellishments that result in madcap musical mutiny. Soon it’s pizza for the hen, bubble baths for the pig and movie night for the cow! Will the Duck be discovered as the true author? What will happen when Farmer Brown returns?
This funny and colorful musical for young audiences teaches respect, compromise, and the value of friendship. Giggle, Giggle, Quack is based on the popular barnyard series of books by Doreen Cronin which includes Click, Click, Moo: Cows that Type and Dooby, Dooby Moo, and is brought to life to by the award winning Dallas Children’s Theater, thrilling audiences of all ages for 26 seasons. study guide
Let Freedom Ring
Pushcart Players
Wednesday, February 23, 10am
Pacifica High School Auditorium,
600 E. Gonzales Road, Oxnard
Grades 2-6
Let Freedom Ring is a robust musical review that celebrates our nation's birth and development. It is a compilation of authentic folk songs and vignettes that illustrate significant moments in history. In examining this early period in American History, we chose to focus on people -- what they thought and how they felt. Our objective throughout Let Freedom Ring is to convey a sense of "what it was like" to be in that time and place in history; a sense of the courage required to leave the familiar and explore the unknown; a sense of ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary goals; and a sense of the legacy of immigrant groups coming to America since its earliest beginnings to contribute to its democratic ideals. study guide
Anne of Green Gables
Artspower
Friday, February 25, 9:30am and 11am
Scherr Forum Theatre, Thousand Oaks
Grades 3-7
Follow the misadventures of everyone's favorite red-headed orphan girl with Artspower's national touring production of Anne of Green Gables. This timeless classic comes to life in a charming musical adaptation.Thinking they were adopting a boy, Anne Shirley is mistakenly sent to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a plainspoken farmer and his spinster sister. The irrepressible Anne wins over the Cuthberts, and all of Prince Edward Island, with her indomitable spirit and imagination. A warm and poignant story about love, home, and family, Anne of Green Gables will touch everyone with her humorous adventures. www.artspower.org| audio | study guide
King Tut
Theatreworks
Tuesday, March 15, 10am
Fred Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks
Grades 3-8
Theatreworks' exciting musical tells the stories of Tutankhamen, the "boy king" who ruled Egypt in the 14th century B.C., and Howard Carter, the archeologist who made him famous by discovering his tomb in 1922. Our authors began with the grain of fact about Tut's life that has survived thousands of years, but had to do a bit of storytelling in order to fill in the historical gaps (including he cause of his death, which continues to be debated among scholars). The result is a compelling tale of two men looking to leave their marks on history in two very different worlds. study guide
Soul Street Dance Co.
Thursday, March 31, 10am
Pacifica High School Auditorium,
600 E. Gonzales Road, Oxnard
Grades 2-12
Catch the excitement of Street Dance, as these energetic performers demonstrate its varied styles, discussing the distinctive features and origins of each. This inspirational group of young men, formerly considered at risk, found focus through dance and now are working as professional dancers. They take students on a high-flying participatory trip from Brazil's copoeira to New York's break dance through the multi-component form of dance meets the music of the 17th century composer Vivaldi.. www.soulstreetdance.com | study guide | video
Leo Lionni’s Swimmy, Frederick and Inch by Inch, Mermaid Theatre of Canada
Monday, April 18, 10am
Fred Kavli Theatre, Thousand Oaks
Grades PreK-3
Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia’s latest production is drawn from Leo Lionni’s exquisitely crafted Caldecott Honor books, Swimmy, Inch by Inch and Frederick. Swimmy is a tiny fish who uses ingenuity to fend off danger. Frederick, a poetic mouse, makes everyday life an artful experience. A lovable inchworm shares his facility for measuring absolutely everything. All these stories provide wonderful scope for translation to puppet theatre through the gentle storytelling style which has earned international acclaim for Mermaid Theatre. The show features an assortment of innovative puppetry styles and imaginative lighting techniques as well as an original musical score. www.mermaidtheatre.ns.ca | video
12th Annual Ojai Storytelling Festival Outreach
Wednesday May 4,
9:30am Grades K-3
11am Grades 4-12
Donald Davis, Antonio Sacre, Dianne Ferlatte
Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 600 Hobson Way, Oxnard
Special: All students in Oxnard area schools (Port Hueneme, Rio, Oxnard, Oceanview) just $4.25 per ticket!
Friday May 6, 9:30 am,
Grades K-3
Regi Carpenter, Billy Jonas, Donald Davis
Graduation Grounds, Chaparral High,
414 East Ojai Ave, Ojai
Friday May 6, 11:15 am, Grades 4-12
Jude Narita, Diane Ferlatte, Dan Keding, Antonio Sacre
Graduation Grounds, Chaparral High,
414 East Ojai Ave, Ojai
Stories come alive and reach students with powerful and humorous performances by our featured tellers. The Ojai Storytelling celebrates the imagination and honors storytelling traditions from around the world.
Billy Jonas
Thursday, May 5, 10am
Scherr Forum Theatre, Thousand Oaks
Grades PreK-4
A Billy Jonas performance is an explosion of energy. In singalongs, bangalongs, whisperalongs, as well as improvised songs, his primary instrument is the audience. Everyone becomes part of a performance that reaches out and ". . . touches even the most hardened of hearts." (Fayetteville Morning News)
Concerts begin with a simple "tuning" of the audience; from there a whimsical trajectory carries listeners through stories of life, love, and triumph over 'Murphy's Law.' Jonas' original pieces are played on fanciful "industrial re-percussion" instruments made from found objects. He sings in a clear tenor voice; his guitar work is adventurous, alternately percussive and lyrical. www.billyjonas.com
See also our remarkable collection of Assemblies we can bring to your school.