The
Children’s Circus of Middletown will be celebrating its 30th annual
summer performance with The Children’s
Circus Grows Up! on Friday, August 3 at 5 pm at Macdonough School in
Middletown.
Thirty
years old and finally ready to grow up, The Children's Circus Grows Up! will
play with the theme of growth and growing up. Featuring some 150 youth performers ages 5-16, the expansive
outdoor spectacle will offer acts ranging from unicycle traffic jams while en
route to work to a full blown acrobatics mid-life crisis! See a hungry
caterpillar eat through an overgrown jungle before its incredible metamorphosis
into a butterfly! Witness an epic tale of a curious school of young fish exploring
the depths of their ocean! Experience the young people of Middletown sharing
their incredible circus skills, hoops of fire, giant puppets and the raucous
music live circus band. The Children’s Circus of Middletown is a Connecticut
tradition like no other!
The
30th annual Children's Circus of Middletown will also be a celebration of OUR
growth over the past 30 years as one of Connecticut’s most exciting and unique
summer learning experiences for kids, their families and the community. Started
by Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater with 60 kids at Powder Ridge ski area in
Middlefield in 1988, the Children’s Circus has been embraced by the City of
Middletown and grown into a program which has become a national model as a
partnership between a non-profit arts organization and a municipality. The
Children’s Circus performance is the culmination of a five week day camp as
part of the City of Middletown’s Kids Arts program. Over the five weeks the
young people are trained in performance skills, acrobatics, juggling,
unicycling, clowning, stilt dancing, balancing and other circus arts.
The
Children’s Circus of Middletown and Oddfellows Playhouse were recognized this
year by the National Summer Learning Association as winners of the 2018 New
York Life Foundation Excellence in Summer Learning Award.
This
year’s performance will begin with a short pre-show performance at 5 pm sharp
by the “Teeny Tiny Troupe” of 5 – 7 year old performers, then Middletown Mayor
Dan Drew will welcome the audience and introduce the main event. The
performance annually draws over 1000 people, so audience members are encouraged
to arrive early to get a good spot. Bring a blanket, lawn chairs, a picnic, and
enjoy The Children’s Circus Grows Up! In case of rain, the performance will be held
on Saturday, August 4 at 5 pm.
Alumni
of the Children’s Circus over the last 30 years are invited to join us for this
summer’s performance. Please be in touch with the Playhouse to let us know that
you are coming.
Tickets to the Children’s Circus of Middletown are $5 for
adults and $3 for kids and can be purchased with cash at the door. Macdonough
School is located at 66 Spring Street in Middletown. There is street parking
available throughout the neighborhood; the school’s parking lot is reserved for
elderly and handicapped only.
The Children’s Circus is part of the Kids Arts Program of the
City of Middletown’s Office of the Arts and is directed and produced by
Oddfellows Playhouse. Additional support is provided by the United Way of
Middlesex County, the Middletown Commission on the Arts and the Community
Foundation of Middlesex County.
For additional
information, contact info@oddfellows.org, call (860) 347-6143 or go to
www.oddfellows.org.
A few rehearsal shots by Lauren Sitz:
