Theatre Raleigh to debut first show for children

Theatre Raleigh's Hot Summer Nights series launched a decade ago to bring small, intimate professional theater to downtown Raleigh.

This week, the nonprofit will present its first children's show, which artistic director, Broadway star and Raleigh native Lauren Kennedy tells me will be the first of many for the company.

"The Wolf" runs this Wednesday through Friday and Feb. 18 to Feb. 20 at the Fletcher Opera Theater at the Duke Energy Center for Performing Arts in Raleigh. Both matinee and evening performances are scheduled. The one-hour show is designed for kids ages 5 to 12 and their families.

"It takes ... the well known fairy tales you thought you knew and turns them inside out and upside down ... where Little Red, Peter and the three little pigs work together to outsmart The Wolf!" she tells me in an email.

Kennedy said she is already working on next year's children's show. 

"This is absolutely something we will be doing every year," she said. 

"I have always felt a deep sense of wanting to give back to the community that formed me ... which is why I have come back to Raleigh in the first place to run Theatre Raleigh and our critically acclaimed series Hot Summer Nights," she said. "With creating the not-for-profit theatre company, ... I want to also educate the audience on how to be great audience members and to embrace the value of live theatre  And having a budding educational program is vital to that mission. 

"You get kids in those theatre seats and you can teach them to love and appreciate live theatre for the rest of their lives," she said. "Plus, there is something so wonderful about making an impression and an impact with a formative generation and showing them simple skill of how to be the best human being they can be."