Sun, Oct 13, at 2 pm
Fall under Scheherazade’s storytelling spell in Aladdin and Other Enchanting Tales in the kickoff of the Jorgensen Kids Corner on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013, at 2 p.m. Set to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov, with stunning costumes, masks, puppets, illusion and mime, this Enchantment Theatre production is sure to soften your heart through the great tales of Persian literature.
To soothe the Sultan’s anger against an unfaithful wife – and to defuse his wrath against his kingdom and womankind – Scheherazade weaves the tales of Sinbad, Aladdin, Ali Baba and The Kalandar Prince. Sinbad sails to distant lands where he battles giants and rescues an enchanted bird; Aladdin discovers a genie’s lamp in a hidden cave; Ali Baba and his brave servant girl outwit the robbers. Through the magic of the stories, the Sultan makes a journey of self-discovery, and becomes the hero of each tale, ultimately discovering his true capacity to forgive and to love.
Even in our times, when faced with betrayal, do we all choose forgiveness right away? Aladdin and Other Enchanting Tales will demonstrate to an audience of young and old the importance of oral story-telling and the sheer power of a tale told well.
Enchantment Theatre, which in past seasons brought The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and The Velveteen Rabbit to Jorgensen, plays off an accomplished staff of professionals in theater, television, music and the arts. The Enchantment experts include Aladdin director Leslie Reidel, a 25-year classical and children’s theater veteran. He served as a member of the MFA faculty at Temple University and was a founding member of the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Delaware.
Landis Smith, a founding member of Enchantment in 1979, has appeared with major orchestras nationwide, including the recent premiere of Enchantment’s theatrical adaptation of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade with The Cleveland Orchestra. A longtime performer in Enchantment productions, Landis collaborated with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to premiere The Symphony and the Sorcerer, the first of a series of programs introducing young people to the magic of symphonic music.
Jennifer Blatchley Smith, also a founding member of Enchantment, has created roles as diverse as the Broom in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice to Beauty in Beauty and the Beast. She has performed in Enchantment productions at Lincoln Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Reidel and the Smiths all collaborated in creating Enchantment productions of The Velveteen Rabbit, The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon, and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. The Smiths have toured with Enchantment in Asia six times.
Jorgensen was named Best College/University Performing Arts Center in the Hartford Advocate Best of Hartford Readers’ Poll for 2012 and 2013.
Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is located at 2132 Hillside Road on the UConn campus in Storrs. Tickets are $16 for adults and $14 for children. For tickets and information, call the Box Office 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon–Fri at 860.486.4226, or order online at: jorgensen.uconn.edu. Free, convenient parking is available across the street in the North Garage.