Special Event

GET READY TO GROOVE WITH AESOP BOPS

A Zoo Full of Animals Comes Alive in This Fast-Paced, Musical Production Which Teaches Children About Sharing and Friendship

 

Saint Paul, MN, Wednesday, March 20, 2024: Park Square Theatre and Live at the Square proudly present AESOP BOPS written and performed by David Gonzalez on the Proscenium Stage on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 2:00pm.

AESOP BOPS is a fast-paced, funny, one-man show for children ages 4 and up. Aesop, the famous Greek writer and gatherer of fables, left a treasure of imagination and learning for countless generations and people across the globe. In AESOP BOPS, David Gonzalez brings several of Aesop’s most beloved tales to life with funny, funky storytelling that gets kids excited and involved with the simple beauty and direct message of these timeless stories. Audiences can expect to hear familiar stories such as The Lion and the Mouse, The Fisherman and His Wife, and How the Turtle Got a Checkered Shell.

“I grew up hearing these fabulous fables and wanted to make them come alive with laughter for the kids of today,” says David Gonzalez. 

David Gonzalez engages with young audiences through physical storytelling, original music on his guitar, and audience participation, leaving children feeling they have performed the show, too. Don’t miss out on this fun-filled, interactive show! AESOP BOPS will play for one day only on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 2:00pm.

“With speech, sound, music and, above all, inspired imagination, Mr. Gonzalez has the gift of creating magical worlds and drawing his audience into them.”

  • New York Times

 

CALENDAR INFORMATION:

Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 2:00pm

Tickets for AESOP BOPS are available at www.parksquaretheatre.org:

  • $30 for Adult Ticket (including taxes and fees)
  • $15 for Child 12 and under (including taxes and fees)

 

DAVID GONZALEZ is the recipient of the International Performing Arts for Youth “Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustained Excellence”. Mr. Gonzalez was named a Joseph Campbell Foundation Fellow and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for “Unique Theatrical Experience” for his production of The Frog Bride at Broadway’s New Victory Theater. He has created numerous productions, including the critically acclaimed ¡Sofrito! with The Latin Legends Band, and MytholoJazz, both of which enjoyed sold-out runs at New Victory Theater. David completed Wounded Splendor, a two-year residency and commission from the University of Maryland that celebrates the natural world and our responsibility to it. Sleeping Beauty, featuring Bach’s Goldberg Variations, premiered at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. David was a featured performer at the National Storytelling Festival, and has performed at festivals in Spain, Switzerland, France, Costa Rica, Norway, Puerto Rico, and throughout the United States. He also appeared for three seasons at the Royal National Theatre in London. Mr. Gonzalez was the Artistic Director for The Alliance for a New Humanity, an international service organization dedicated to peace and sustainability. The Man of the House was commissioned by and premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Gonzalez’ work Double Crossed: The Saga of the St. Louis toured nationally, including a run at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1998. The same year, David was honored with the Helen Hayes Performing Artist of the Year Award. As If the Past Were Listening, a suite of creation myths, was selected for Lincoln Center Institute’s repertory for three seasons. David’s Latin Jazz poetry project City of Dreams was commissioned by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and premiered at La Mama Theater. He wrote Finding North, a one-man play based on Underground Railroad hero John Parker that was commissioned by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and performed at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; Aesop Bops! and co-wrote Mariel, an Afro-Cuban musical set in the turbulent times of the Mariel boatlift from Cuba, with Grammy-nominated songwriter John Forster. Mariel is the winner of the Macy’s “New Play Prize for Young Audiences.” David is also the author of the opera libretto Rise for Freedom! produced at the Cincinnati Opera, and Jimi and Mr. B, a musical commissioned by the Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center. His long form poem Oh Hudson in collaboration with violin virtuoso Mark O’Connor commemorates the Hudson quadricentennial, and his version of The Carnival of the Animals with classical piano virtuoso Frederic Chui, has toured nationally. David received his doctorate in Music Therapy from New York University and taught there for ten years.

David’s poetry was featured at Lincoln Center’s Out-of-Doors Festival, Bill Moyers’s documentary Fooling with Words on PBS, NPR’s All Things Considered, and the World Science Festival among many other venues. His poetry book, Soundings, is available wherever books are sold. He was the host of New York Kids on WNYC for eight seasons. He earned a doctoral degree from New York University in Music Therapy and has conducted numerous seminars, workshops, and lectures, and worked as a music therapist in clinical and educational institutions. He is the Artistic Director of Crisalida Communications, an organization that supports communities through arts outreach.

Park Square Theatre presents the Broadway Songbook Series with James A. Rocco

The award-winning cabaret concert series returns to the Twin Cities for Live at the Square

 

Saint Paul, MN, Tuesday, January 16, 2024: The Broadway Songbook Series finds a permanent home in Park Square Theatre’s Live at the Square programming. This acclaimed series, created right here in the Twin Cities by industry veteran James A. Rocco, are cabaret-concerts that take an intimate look at the stories behind the songs that have become the soundtrack of our lives, exploring different Broadway themes and topics. 

“It’s a comfortable atmosphere with lots of laughs and knockout performances by some of the Twin Cities’ best musical theater artists,” says Rocco.

This wildly successful theatrical anthology series ran for over 7 seasons at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, where it played to standing room only crowds and became a subscription series of its own. As the winner of Broadway World’s “Best Concerts of the Decade,” the Broadway Songbook Series has become a fan favorite for its unique blend of storytelling and musical performances. 

“As for returning home to the Twin Cities, I am ecstatic. I love the Twin Cities theater community. It is rich with diverse artists and I cherished the opportunity to create beautiful things together. Having a home at Park Square Theatre to regularly explore the songs that shaped musical theater with artists I love and admire is a dream come true,” says Rocco. 

Previous Songbooks have explored the life and works of Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Rodgers & Hammerstein & Hart, Stephen Sondeheim, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, The Singer- Songwriters of the 1970s, The Sounds of the 1950s, Contemporary Broadway, The Golden Age of Broadway, The Hollywood Songbook, The Holiday Songbook, and others.

“We are thrilled to have James’ Songbook series at Park Square,” says Executive Artistic Director Stephen DiMenna. “He is a multi-talented performer and director of great acclaim and I’m honored to give him a permanent home at Park Square.” 

BROADWAY IN LOVE

The Broadway Songbook Series is reborn on the Park Square Theatre stage with a special Valentine’s DayBroadway Songbook: Broadway in Love- Text on background with a large red stylized heart edition, Broadway in Love. This highly anticipated concert will take audiences on a journey through the ups and downs of love, as told through the iconic songs of Broadway’s greatest musicals. 

“Love is a universal theme that has been explored in countless Broadway musicals,” says Rocco. “With the Broadway in Love Songbook, we wanted to delve deeper into the stories behind these beloved songs and hear more about the songwriters themselves, their inspiration, and experiences.”

Audiences can expect to hear songs from popular musicals such as South Pacific, Show Boat, Rent, Wicked, and more. 

Broadway in Love is a reunion of the original Minnesota Musical Director of the Broadway Songbook series, Raymond Berg, who helped get the original series off the ground. 

Broadway in Love will run on the Park Square Theatre Proscenium Stage from Friday, February 16 – Sunday, February 18, 2024.

CALENDAR INFORMATION:

Tickets for Broadway in Love are available for $40 (including taxes and fees) at www.parksquaretheatre.org. 

JAMES A. ROCCO is a multi-hyphenated practitioner of the performing arts. Director Producer-Performer-Writer are just a few of his Award-Winning passions. His freelance work as a director/choreographer includes award-winning productions of 33 Variations at Park Square Theatre (Broadway World’s, Best Regional Production of the Decade), Maladies (Winner 2023 Best Play, Create Theatre Festival, Theatre Row, NYC), Grey Gardens, Yankee Doodle Dandy (World Premiere), Sweeney Todd, The Wizard of Oz (with Eartha Kitt, and Mickey Rooney), Chess, She Loves Me, Violet, South Pacific, As Bees in Honey Drown, A Little Night Music, Songs For A New World, Damn Yankees, Pirates of Penzance, Guys & Dolls, On the Town, A Christmas Story, and more. Rocco’s theatrical career started at three years old as the youngest member of the (Art) Linkletter  Totten Tots! He appeared in Oliver! with Ray Walston and Jules Munschin; Carousel as Enoch  Snow Jr with John Raitt; Sheppard in Sidney Lumet & David Merrick’s Paramount motion  picture Child’s Play and played The Rum Tum Tugger on Broadway in CATS. He is the first  man to play The Witch in Into The Woods and received critical acclaim for his performance of  Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. He is the visionary CEO of Thirty Saints Productions and the creator of the Songbook Series and Broadway Songbook®. Thirty Saints Productions is a dynamic and innovative company that excels in creating original theatrical works for a diverse range of venues across the globe. In 2022, the company expanded its horizons, venturing into negotiating, consulting, and acquiring music licenses for popular jukebox musicals, solidifying its position as an industry leader. From 2005-2017, Rocco was Producing Artistic Director of The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, where he presented and booked the best of touring Broadway (August, Osage County, An American In Paris, Kinky Boots, Les Misérables) and produced and directed award-winning theatricals (In The Heights, Love, Janis, Cabaret, West Side Story.) As the Ordway’s representative and member of the Broadway League and the IPN (Independent Producers Network), he was a producing partner and investor in Fun Home, Legally Blonde, The Color Purple, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and others, as well as serving on the IPN’s Governance Committee. In 2019, he was recognized by The Broadway League and The Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds for “30 years of dedication, craft, and contribution to the theater” at their annual Broadway Salutes ceremony.

 

PARK SQUARE THEATRE. 20 W. Seventh Place, Saint Paul

www.parksquaretheatre.org

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Have You Heard of the Margolis Method?

Park Square actors, creative teams, and all theatre lovers, check out this FREE opportunity presented by Metro State University Theater Underground/Student Life Leadership Development.

We are invited to this workshop with award-winning theatre artist Kari Margolis on Monday, Oct 21, 6:30 – 9 p.m. in the Andy Boss Rehearsal Hall in the lower level of the Hamm Building.

Please dress in clothing fit for movement (sweatpants, t-shirts, yoga gear, etc.). Note: Kari encourages participants to work barefoot. Join us for a night to Discover, Explore, Expand and Connect!

To register, send an email to jonathanbeller@metrostate.edu

margolismethod.org

Master Class: Musical Theatre/Tap Dance Audition Prep

Master Class: Musical Theatre/Tap Dance Audition Prep

June 18, 2016 | 9:00 am – Noon | Thrust Rehearsal Hall

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Older Than Ireland

Older Than Ireland

April 28-30, 2016 on the Proscenium Stage |

A landmark documentary film telling the story of a hundred years of a life as seen through the eyes of thirty Irish centenarians.

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Tickets

The box office is currently closed. Please email tickets@parksquaretheatre.org with any questions.

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