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  2. Celebrate the Season

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    Come to the Hundred Acre Woods this Christmas season at ARIEL Theatrical for the heart-warming holiday adventure,  A Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas Tail. Eeyore has lost his tail which casts gloom on the Christmas festivities. All of your favorite characters in A.A. Milne’s beloved children’s book must pitch in to help their friend on his quest to retrieve his lost treasurer.

    Performances are Friday and Saturday, December 4, 5, 11, 12, 18 and 19 at 7 pm; and Saturday Matinee, December 5, 12 and 19 at 2pm. Tickets are $13 Adults; $11 Military, Seniors and Students; $9 Children 3 to 12; under 3 are FREE. All performances take place at The Karen Wilson Children’s Theatre, 320 Main Street, Salinas. Tickets can be purchased online at www.arieltheatrical.org, at the Box Office in Oldtown Tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm or by calling 831-775-0976.

    For close to 30 years, ARIEL Theatrical has provided opportunities for children, adolescents and adults to come together on stage in an environment that demands hard work while at the same time inspiring participants to bring the best of themselves to the experience.

    For more information call 831-775-0976 or go to www.arieltheatrical.org.

     

  3. Dinner Theatre Returns to ARIEL

    Come join us for dinner and show!

    Mayhem erupts onstage at ARIEL Theatrical’s murder mystery dinner theater, Trouble at the Talent Show. Watch the cast of Lunch Ladies and Maintenance Guys as they crash the All-School Talent Show as you become part of the unfolding commotion.

    Two performances only!  Saturday, October 10 and 17.

    The evening events begin at 6:30 pm with appetizers; the show starts at 7 pm and includes a three-course dinner from Gordon Chin’s Gold Star Catering.

    Tickets are $50 per person, all inclusive.  Tables for 6 may be purchased / sponsored for $240.  Parties of more than 6 patrons are easily accommodated.

    Support ARIEL with an evening of live theatre and a great meal!

    All performances are at ARIEL’s home, the Karen Wilson Children’s Theatre, 320 Main Street, Oldtown Salinas. For more information call 831-775-0976 or go to www.arieltheatrical.org to purchase tickets.

  4. Classes at ARIEL

    Registration for ARIEL Theatrical’s The Play’s The Thing! (so why not learn to act?), a series of classes in acting for the stage is open through September 25 or until classes are full. Tuition is $160 per student and includes all necessary materials. When registering two or more students, the first student is full price and additional students are $140 per student. Classes will be Friday mornings from 9:30 to 11:30 am from October 2 through November 20. The series will conclude with a recital on the evening of Friday, November 20. All classes, as well as the recital, will be held at ARIEL’s home, the Karen Wilson Children’s Theatre, 320 Main Street in Oldtown, Salinas. To register, go to www.arieltheatrical.org or call 831-775-0976.

    This eight-week series offers students grades 1 through 12, of all talents and abilities, an opportunity to develop performance skills in a positive environment. Each two hour class will focus on a specific element of theatre performance and incorporate Academic content standards for Visual and Performing Arts adopted by the California State Board of Education. Classes will include discussion plus lively, hands-on activities exploring how those skills can be utilized on stage and can benefit students’ lives off stage.

    Click here for registration information.

  5. 2016 Season Announced

    ARIEL Theatrical is pleased to announce its upcoming 2016 Season.

    Shows will include:

    • Little Red Hen
    • Pinocchio
    • Fabulous Fable Factory
    • Goldilocks and the Three Bears
    • Disney’s 101 Dalmatians
    • Jungle Book
    • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
    • The Berenstain Bears on Stage
    • Little Red Riding Hood
    • A Year with Frog and Toad

     

  6. It’s a Tradition! Join us for our 9th Annual Benefit!

     

    Traditions, traditions. Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as … as … as a fiddler on the roof!
    –Tevye, from Fiddler on the Roof

    It’s an ARIEL Tradition not to be missed! Come join us and the people of Anatevka at The Karen Wilson Theatre for our Annual Benefit! It will be a great time!  Purchase tickets in person, by phone, or here.

    For information on the rest of the run of Fiddler on the Roof, click here.

    2015 annual benefit

  7. ARIEL to Present Schoolhouse Rock Live! at Sherwood Hall

    Schoolhouse Rock Live! to Play at Sherwood Hall, Salinas

    One Public Performance – March 27 at 7 pm

    SALINAS, CA  – March 6, 2015 – Learn history, grammar and math with the cast of ARIEL Theatrical as they sing and dance their way across the stage at Sherwood Hall in Salinas in Schoolhouse Rock Live!. This musical adaptation of the Emmy Award winning 1970s Saturday morning cartoon celebrates the process of learning through a series of vignettes with upbeat music and catchy lyrics.

    This production, ARIEL’s Spring Conservatory Accelerated program, has a cast of 38 who will also perform 10 shows in five days for more than 8,000 Monterey County schoolchildren the week prior to the public show.

    The only public performance of Schoolhouse Rock Live! will be at Sherwood Hall, Salinas on March 27. Tickets are: $16 for adults; $13 for students, seniors and military; $11 for children 3 to 12. This performance is NOT at ARIEL’s home, The Karen Wilson Children’s Theatre.

    Schoolhouse Rock Live! is sponsored by Taylor Farms and is funded in part by the Ruth L. and Wilbur K. Amonette Fund, the Farrell/Allen Rotary Fund and the Ausonio Family Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County, as well as The Arts Council for Monterey County.

    For more information, call 831-775-0976 or email ariel@arieltheatrical.org.

    ARIEL is celebrating 29 years of serving children in the Monterey County community and 15 years in Oldtown Salinas at the Karen Wilson Children’s Theatre. During this time, more than 4,000 young people enrolled in 200 programs, participating in more than 1,000 performances were seen by more than 300,000 people!

    “ARIEL inspires young people to understand that integrity, respect for others and personal responsibility for choices made are the keys to building a principled and productive life,” said Gail Higginbotham, ARIEL Theatrical’s Artistic Director.

  8. TIKKI TIKKI TEMBO

    The playful re-telling of the Chinese folk tale, Tikki Tikki Tembo, comes to life this weekend at ARIEL for two days only.  The cast invites you to join them today (Saturday), February 21 at 2pm or 7pm.

    Tickets are: $7 for adults: $6 for students, seniors and military; $5 for children 3 to 12; children under age 3 are free. Performances will be held at ARIEL’s home, The Karen Wilson Children’s Theatre, 320 Main Street, Salinas. Tickets are available online at www.arieltheatrical.org, by calling 831-775-0976 or at the Box Office in Oldtown Salinas, Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm.

     

     

  9. Tikki Tikki Tembo Kicks Off ARIEL’s 2015 Season

    ARIEL Theatrical Kicks Off Its 2015 Season with Tikki Tikki Tembo

    Show times are February 20 at 7 pm and February 21 at 2 pm and 7 pm

     

    SALINAS, CA – JANUARY 23, 2015 – ARIEL Theatrical kicks off its 2015 season with Tikki Tikki Tembo, a playful retelling of the tale of “a short little boy with a long name.” This is ARIEL’s Spring Conservatory Beginning Program cast with children ages 5 to 12 who help tell the story of Tikki Tikki Tembo No So Rembo Icka Na Noona Konna Ron Tombo, his brother Wing and a well that the two of them can’t seem to stay out of.

    Show times are February 20 at 7 pm and February 21 at 2 pm and 7 pm. Tickets are: $7 for adults: $6 for students, seniors and military; $5 for children 3 to 12; children under age 3 are free. Performances will be held at ARIEL’s home, The Karen Wilson Children’s Theatre, 320 Main Street, Salinas. Tickets are available online at www.arieltheatrical.org, by calling 831-775-0976 or at the Box Office in Oldtown Salinas, Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm.

    Tikki Tikki Tembo is sponsored by Central Coast Cleaning. ARIEL is funded in part by the Ruth L. and Wilbur K. Amonette Fund of the Community Foundation of Monterey County and The Arts Council for Monterey County.

    For more information, call 831-775-0976 or email ariel@arieltheatrical.org.

    ARIEL is celebrating 29 years of serving children in the Monterey County community and 15 years in Oldtown Salinas at The Karen Wilson Children’s Theatre! During this time, more than 4,000 young people enrolled in 200 programs, participating in more than 1,000 performances were seen by more than 300,000 people!

    “ARIEL inspires young people to understand that integrity, respect for others and personal responsibility for choices made are the keys to building a principled and productive life,” said Gail Higginbotham, ARIEL Theatrical’s Artistic Director.

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  10. Monterey Herald reviews Tom Sawyer August 2012

    ARIEL Theatrical’s ‘Tom Sawyer’ a fun, inspiring production

    By JUDY HIGGERSON
    Critics Circlemontereyherald.com
    Posted:   08/15/2012 04:02:02 PM PDT
    August 16, 2012 3:42 PM
    GMTUpdated:   08/16/2012 08:42:11 AM PDT

    Tom Sawyer (Andrew Liddle),
    left, and Huck Finn (Alex Gomez) make big plans while fishing on the Mississippi
    River in ARIEL Theatrical’s production of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,”
    playing through Aug. 25 in Salinas.

    I read once where Mark Twain wrote that travelwas “fatal to prejudice,
    bigotry and narrow-mindness.” After seeing my first Ariel production, “The
    Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” directed by Gail Higginbotham, I believe that the
    word “theater” should be substituted in that Twainism.

    Higginbotham has shown the community with this production how the entire cast  and community comes together to join forces in a production that reflects the mission statement of the ARIEL Theatrical — seeking to use the art and
    discipline of the theater to inspire young people.

    The production helps young audience members to understand that personal
    integrity, respect for others and an acceptance of responsibility for choices
    made are the keys to building a principled and productive life.

    The examples are displayed by the adventures of Tom (Andrew Liddle): playing
    hooky from school, the consequences set forth by Aunt Polly, his punishment by
    whitewashing the fence.

    Or the extreme example of standing up in court to testify in front of the
    town stating that he had indeed observed a murder in the graveyard, knowing that he had no business being in the graveyard at night, and accepting the unknown consequences that might arise from his testimony.

    Like all young people, the temptation to “go off track, not follow the rules”
    was displayed when Tom and Becky (played by Naomi Oppenheim) deviated from the outing to visit the caves and become lost from the group for several days, leaving the town to search and worry about their survival.

    What a wonderful choice of theater to reflect all of the ARIEL mission
    statement: integrity, respect, acceptance of responsibility for choices.

    The use of the stage and the props were creative and fun. Having the cast run
    offstage toward the audience gave it the opportunity to see all the smiling
    faces of the cast.

    This reinforced the commitment of not just the young people, but the adults
    who have committed themselves to such a positive experience working with these dedicated young people, both on stage or those behind the scenes.

    The song “Ain’t Life Good” wasn’t justa song in which the audience joined the
    actors on stage, but a resonating theme throughout the production.

    It was a beautiful day for all 44 cast members (14 of whom had never been on
    stage before, captivating the audience with their insightful interpretation of
    the adventures of a hooky-playing, easy-going Tom Sawyer and his sidekick Huck Finn (Alex Gomez).

    This production earns a thumbs- up from this reviewer. GO!