Young Audience Series returns to
Northwest New Jersey and Centenary Stage Company
in Hackettstown, NJ

A Year with Frog and Toad   (Musical)
Book by:   Arnold Lobel
Adapted to stage by:   Robert and Willie Reale
Conceived by:   Mr. Lobel’s daughter, Adrianne Lobel

Saquan Williams and Megan   McGill in Centenary Young   Audience Series performance   of A Year With Frog and Toad   Musical

The musical, A Year with Frog and Toad remains true to the spirit of the original stories as it follows two great friends, the cheerful Frog and the grumpy Toad, through four fun-filled seasons. Waking from hibernation in the spring, they proceed to plant gardens, swim, rake leaves, and go sledding, learning life’s lessons along the way, including a most important one about friendship and the unique attributes that make every individual different and special. A Year with Frog and Toad is adapted for the stage by Robert and Willie Reale from the book by Arnold Lobel.
 

A Thousand Cranes 
Adapted for the stage by:   Kathryn Schultz Miller
Story about Sadako written by:  Eleanor Coerr
 
A Thousand Cranes is based on the true story of the young Japanese girl Sadako Sasaki who inspired an international peace movement. A poignant and highly stylized piece, A Thousand Cranes combines Japanese and American language, music and dance, and highlights Japanese society in the after-math of World War II.

The inspiration for a monument in her name both in Hiroshima Peace Park and Seattle’s Peace Park, the story of Sadako Sasaki is said to have inspired peace throughout the world. It was adapted for the stage by Kathryn Schultz Miller from a story about Sadako written by Eleanor Coerr, and the play has won numerous awards.

The heroine of the story is Sadako Sasaki, two years old when the bomb fell on her home of Hiroshima. While she seemed to be unharmed, as she grew older she grew ill from the effects of the bomb. With boundless optimism, she takes an old story to heart: If a sick person folds a thousand paper origami cranes the gods will grant her wish and make her well again. Her wish: "that there would never be another bomb like that again." Today children in Japan and all over the world fold a thousand cranes and lay them at the feet of Sadako's statue in the Hiroshima Peace Park. Their wish is engraved at the bottom of the monument: "This is our cry/ This is our prayer/ Peace in the world."

If You Give A Mouse a Cookie
Book by:   Laura Joffe Numeroff
 
Based on the beloved book by Laura Numeroff Joffee, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is adapted for the stage by Jody Davidson. It is an adventurous, fun-filled performance appropriate for ages pre-k through 5th grade.

When a rather demanding mouse in coveralls wearing a backpack shows up in a curious boy’s kitchen one day, the boy soon finds himself figure skating on scrub brushes, wrestling a boa constrictor, and climbing mountains, as an innocent milk and cookie snack time goes from mishap to calamity to catastrophe faster than the twitch of a whisker.
 
More Mouse Photos!

If You Give A Pig a Pancake
Book by:   Laura Joffe Numeroff

From the Laura Numeroff Joffee repertoire, If You Give A Pig a Pancake follows the enterprising journey of a young girl who accommodates the demands of a quirky piglet after eating pancakes. Their adventure is an escapade which becomes embroiled in taking a bubble bath, a little tap dance, taking a photo, mailing a letter, building a tree house, and of course, going back for more pancakes.