Bay Area Children's Theatre to Bring JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH to Shanghai This Summer

Actors, artists and educators from the Bay Area Children's Theatre (BACT) will travel to Shanghai this summer to perform the new musical version of James and the Giant Peach for family audiences and to offer educational drama workshops for children.

BACT has been invited to China by the Shanghai Children's Art Theatre as part of a cross-cultural exchange.

"The Shanghai Children's Art Theatre is a dynamic performing arts organization that is bringing cutting edge children's programming to the families of Shanghai," said BACT Executive Director Nina Meehan. "We are honored to be included in the theatre's roster of international visitors for 2015. Our cast and design team are very excited about taking our work abroad for the first time and introducing a vibrant new play in the great tradition of American musical theatre."

BACT presented James and the Giant Peach in its California debut this past winter to sold-out Bay Area audiences. Inspired by Roald Dahl's classic tale, with music and lyrics by Tony Award-nominated composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the play, written by children's playwright-educator Timothy Allen McDonald, tells of James's escape from his awful aunts, when the magical peach in their garden grows so big it falls off the tree, plunges over the cliffs of Dover, and takes off across the ocean, with James and a bevy of astounded insects aboard.

The executive director of the Shanghai Children's Art Theatre attended one of the performances and subsequently invited BACT to present James and the Giant Peach there. BACT will debut the musical in China with four performances on August 1 and 2.

The Shanghai Children's Art Theatre is that city's largest theater dedicated to professional productions for young audiences, with a seating capacity of more than 1,000. BACT will benefit from the theatre's highly sophisticated projection system, which makes it possible to use animated images for the production instead of the show's original sets, which would be difficult to transport. Projection designer Erik Scanlon is working with set designer Martin Flynn to create the enhanced video design for the production.

As part of the cross-cultural exchange, BACT will also offer a participatory musical theatre workshop to children in Shanghai.

Watch a trailer for JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH below!

About the Bay Area Children's Theatre - Established in 2004, the Bay Area Children's Theatre, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, serves more than 68,000 children and adults throughout the Bay Area, with main stage performances in Berkeley, Oakland, Mill Valley, San Francisco and San Ramon; selected productions in local schools; and classes and summer camps in more than 10 East Bay communities.

Our Mission: To inspire young audiences with imaginative productions, introduce children of all backgrounds to the excitement of live theatre, and create an engaging, entertaining, and educational environment in which children and their families can explore and enjoy the arts.

How We Carry Out Our Mission:

· Bring high quality, professional theatre to children and their families, with artists who create vibrant worlds that are intriguing to young audiences

· Encourage young people to explore literature, language, and the arts by producing stage adaptations of great children's books

· Engage preschoolers in the world of theatre with productions specially designed for them

· Develop and perform exciting new work for the stage

· Reach out to children who might not otherwise experience live theatre with free tickets, special performances for school groups, and touring productions at local schools

· Create touring productions for young audiences nationwide

· Partner with communities to meet the need for theatre education

· Introduce children to the joy of performance through our theatre education program

Photo Credit: Joshua Posamentier