Seventeen Years of Stories - South Florida School Children Experience Culture & Theatre

Oct. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- The Alan and Diane Lieberman Children’s Cultural Arts Series, presented through the Rabbi Norman Mussman Cultural Arts Department of the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center/Sanford L. Ziff Campus, 18900 NE 25th Ave., North Miami Beach, put on the first show of its 17th season with “Madeline and the Bad Hat” performed by ArtsPower National Touring Theatre.

“Madeline and the Bad Hat,” an original musical based upon the much-loved book, captures the blithe yet touching spirit of Ludwig Bemelmans’s Madeline series. It traced the adventures of a young Parisian girl who – despite starting off on the wrong foot with a mischievous new neighbor – eventually learns that first impressions aren’t everything.

Hundreds of elementary-age school children, from eight Miami-Dade area schools attended Monday morning’s production at the Julius Littman Performing Arts Theatre in North Miami Beach, and watched young Madeline as she and her teacher, Miss Clavel, and the other girls in her class, discover that the son of a Spanish Ambassador who moved next door, is a true horror! Rude and conceited, Pepito seemed at first to be nothing but trouble. When he unexpectedly finds himself in real danger, it’s up to the resourceful Madeline to get him out of it.

According to the MAR-JCC’s Assistant Executive Director, David Surowitz “Thanks to the generosity of Alan and Diane Lieberman, Commissioner Sally Heyman, The Children’s Trust, and The Department of Cultural Affairs of Miami-Dade County, this Series is committed to providing free, meaningful, enjoyable, and educational cultural arts experiences to young audiences through professional performing artists and theatre companies. This year, more than 3,500 elementary school children will attend the four part series.

Upcoming presentations of the Alan & Diane Lieberman Children’s Cultural Arts Series includes: Treasured Stories by Eric Carle, Black Violin, and The Ugly Duckling & Tortoise and the Hare. For more information about the Series, or about the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center, please call 305-932-4200, or go to www.marjcc.org

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The Michael-Ann Russell JCC is dedicated to the enrichment of Jewish life, representing a model of acceptance, understanding and diversity. The MAR-JCC is a beneficiary agency of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, and United Way of Miami-Dade.