A journey to the Klondike during the gold rush, a bilingual musical tour of the Americas and even the excitement of a soccer match await student audiences who attend performances through Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s 2018-19 Season for Young People.

The 14-work season, consisting of national, international and local productions, is curated especially for school groups and students from pre-K to 12th grade and brings life to literature, history, science and other subjects through theater, music and dance.

Reservations are open now, and teachers interested in bringing students to performances at TPAC or scheduling in-school tours, can do so now at TPAC.org.

“Classic literature is a theme of the season overall. We’re bringing great literary works to life, along with specific periods in American and British history,” said Roberta Ciuffo, TPAC’s Executive Vice President for Education and Outreach. “Overall, we’re staging powerful stories, hearing different voices, and exploring some serious, challenging issues that matter to young people.”

123 Andrés y Christina. Photo by Dario Treviño.

TPAC’s Season for Young People is presented through the Humanities Outreach in Tennessee (HOT) program, started in 1983 to present rich learning experiences for children from across the state as part of the organization’s nonprofit mission. With the support of generous sponsors and donors, admission prices for student performances are kept affordable for children from public, private and home settings, so no child is turned away for inability to pay.

In addition, each performance meets a multitude of curriculum standards, integrating the arts into subjects like history, literature, science, and social studies. Teachers are provided with free resources, including guidebooks with detailed lesson plans, opportunities for professional development and collaborations with teaching artists in the classroom.

“Academically, socially and personally, arts education sets the stage for meaningful learning today and contributes to the creative thinking and problem-solving that our world will need tomorrow,” Ciuffo said. “In addition to connections to classroom learning, our season honors what’s important to students and provides opportunities for reflection, discussion and debate. We want the arts to prepare them for a pathway of discovery as they learn and grow.”

The full line-up for the upcoming school year, with artistic companies noted, is:

STAND, Sept. 24-28, 2018, Writer’s Stage, inspired by a true story of friendship between a homeless man and a volunteer at Nashville’s Room at the Inn;

The Curious Picnic, in-school tour, Oct. 1 – Nov.2, 2018, Theater Craft, tapping into the natural curiosity of early childhood, with humor and STEM learning woven into a light-hearted story;

The Phantom Tollbooth, Oct. 22-26, 2018, Enchantment Theatre Company, an exciting adventure adapted from the popular novel for young readers, brought to life with inventive puppetry, masks, and special effects;

Invisi-BALL, Nov. 13-15, 2018, Nadine Bommer Dance Company, immersing the audience in a soccer match from an innovative organization which is dually-based in Rishon Lezion, Israel and New York City;

Around the Americas with 123 Andrés, Nov. 26-28, 2018, Uno Dos Tres Andrés, featuring a Latin Grammy Award-winning artist and his band, blending language, geography, and culture into an interactive concert;

A Christmas Carol, at TPAC Nov. 29-30, 2018 and on tour to schools November 26-December 14, an action-packed, high-energy staging of the Charles Dickens’ classic produced by Mark Cabus;

Call of the Wild: Illustrated Edition, Dec. 3-7, 2019, Theatre Heroes, a fast-paced, multi-media adventure which recreates Jack London’s novel about a magnificent dog;

Fisk Jubilee Singers, Feb. 5, 2019, the annual appearance of the world-renowned choir which preserved the unique American tradition known today as Negro spirituals;

A Literature to Life Stage Presentation of The Giver by Lois Lowry, Feb. 11-15, 2019, Young Audiences New York, a staged version of the award-winning book about a boy who learns haunting, buried truths about his seemingly utopian society;

The Crucible, Feb. 19-22, 2019, National Players, Arthur Miller’s examination of McCarthyism through a story based on the Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600s;

The Rainbow Fish, Feb. 25 – March 1, 2019, Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, adapted from children’s literature with innovative puppetry, stunning visual effects, and original music;

Me … Jane: The Dreams and Adventures of Young Jane Goodall, March 4-8, 2019, The Kennedy Center, a musical adventure with the young Jane Goodall, now a renowned primatologist and anthropologist; and

Two invited dress rehearsals with Nashville Opera: Verdi’s masterpiece La Traviata, Oct. 2, 2108, and Tales of Hoffmann, April 2, 2019, a fantastic voyage into the human heart.

STAND, Invisi-BALL, The Giver, The Crucible, The Curious Picnic, The Rainbow Fish, The Phantom Tollbooth and Me … Jane also are focus works of TPAC’s ArtSmart, an arts integration program that pairs professional teaching artists with teachers in their classrooms.

For more information on the 18-19 Season for Young People, teacher workshops, project-based learning units, and collaborations in the classroom with trained teaching artists, visit TPAC.org, contact us or call 615-782-4084.

Institutional sponsors for TPAC include Nissan North America and Coca-Cola. TPAC is funded in part by support from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission. TPAC reminds ticket buyers that the only official place to buy tickets online is TPAC.org.