Event Calendar
Upcoming Events
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Kronos Quartet - Awakening
A 90-minute program that not only memorializes the events of 9/11, but also offers audience members a chance to reflect on the tragedy in a way that offers both healing and hope.
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Laurie Anderson - Homeland
A series of songs and stories that creates a poetic and political portrait of contemporary American culture, and addresses the current climate of fear, obsession with information and security.
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Shakespeare & Company in Hamlet
Renowned company’s first national tour features a real-life mother and son in the roles of Queen Gertrude and Hamlet.
Nickelodeon’S THE BACKYARDIGANS LIVE! TALE OF THE MIGHTY KNIGHTS! COMES TO GAINESVILLE’S BACKYARD ON JULY 24
Performer: The Backyardigans Live! Tale of the Mighty Knights!
Filed under Phillips Center, Press Releases on July 2, 2008.
PRESS CONTACT:
Amy Douglas
University of Florida Performing Arts
352-273-2476
adouglas@performingarts.ufl.edu
(Gainesville, Fla. – July 2, 2008) - Nickelodeon and Broadway Across America announces a brand-new, national touring production of The Backyardigans Live! Tale of the Mighty Knights! The Backyardigans Live! will be making a stop in Gainesville on July 24 for two performances. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Phillips Center Box Office at 352-392-ARTS (2787) or from any Ticketmaster outlet. Fans can visit http://www.nickjr.com/ for additional local market tour dates and to find a link to purchase tickets.
“We’re excited about our latest live theatrical endeavor for families,” said Stuart Rosenstein, Senior Vice President, Resorts and Theatricals, Nickelodeon Recreation. “The Backyardigans has proven to be a huge hit with Nickelodeon families, and based on the enormous success of the Dora and Diego live shows, we’re confident The Backyardigans Live! will have the same fantastic response from kids and parents across the country.”
“We are incredibly proud to be partnering again with Nickelodeon on this new tour of The Backyardigans Live!,” said Jennifer Costello, Senior Vice President Theatrical - Production, Broadway Across America. “Combining a top-notch creative team with one of the highest-rated shows on children’s programming, we are excited about producing another smash-hit with this production.”
The Backyardigans Live! Tale of the Mighty Knights!, based on the primetime Nickelodeon special which premiered January 14, 2008, follows Nickelodeon’s backyard friends, Uniqua and Tyrone, as they become knights and embark on a quest to protect King Pablo’s unpredictable egg. Along the way, Grabbing Goblin Austin and Flighty Fairy Tasha join the medieval mayhem as the runaway egg hatches feet and makes an unexpected dash all the way up to Dragon Mountain. The Backyardigans will need the audience’s help to face a mighty dragon and return the egg to the king. The Backyardigans Live! will have the entire family singing, dancing and laughing along to songs of courage, friendship and the power of imagination.
The Backyardigans Live! includes some of the same creative team that produces The Backyardigans for Nick Jr. television, including Emmy-nominated writer, Adam Peltzman, and choreographer, Beth Bogush. Drama Desk Award-nominated director, Lou Jacob, has also signed on to direct the production.
On Tuesday, January 22, Nickelodeon and Sony BMG released the ultimate playtime playlist when The Backyardigans: Born to Play CD hit retailers nationwide. The third CD from the hit series features 22 new tracks, with six songs from Tale of the Mighty Knights! including Adam Pascal performing the “Zeppelinesque” rock-opera ballad, Not an Egg. The CD is also available digitally on iTunes, with a special deluxe edition that includes four exclusive bonus tracks and a digital folder. Additionally, on February 26 The Backyardigans Tale of the Mighty Knights! one-hour television movie was made available on DVD at retailers nationwide.
Since its debut on Nickelodeon’s preschool weekday lineup, The Backyardigans has become the number-two-rated preschool show on all of commercial TV among the target audience of preschoolers.*
Nickelodeon and Broadway Across America’s most recent project, Go, Diego, Go Live! The Great Jaguar Rescue, has sold more than 600,000 tickets and has set the bar for touring family shows as the top grossing touring family show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Go, Diego, Go! Live will travel to 40 markets across the United States and Canada in 2008. For more information, visit http://www.nickjr.com/.
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The Backyardigans Live!
Tale of the Mighty Knights!
Thursday, July 24, 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
Ticket Prices: $16-30
Web sites: University of Florida Performing Arts: http://www.performingarts.ufl.edu/
Nick Jr.: http://www.nickjr.com/
To Purchase tickets, call the Phillips Center Box Office at 352-392-ARTS (2787) or 800-905-ARTS (toll-free within Florida) or call Ticketmaster at 800-277-1700 (toll-free). Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Phillips Center Box Office, the University Box Office at the University of Florida Reitz Union or from any Ticketmaster outlet, or online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/. Cash checks, MasterCard and Visa are accepted.
For interviews and other press inquiries, please contact Amy Douglas at 352-273-2476.
For high resolution photos and/or artwork, please click here.
Performance dates, times and programs are subject to change.
About University of Florida Performing Arts
University of Florida Performing Arts does more than entertain. It breaks down walls. It breaks down the walls between people by increasing cultural awareness through programming that attracts artists and audiences from around the globe. It breaks down the wall between patron and performer with educational programs such as master classes, artist residencies and pre- and post-performance discussions. It breaks down the wall between health and illness with AIM Together, a collaborative program between UFPA and Shands HealthCare that brings world-class performing artists to those who are hospitalized. It breaks down the wall between idea and realization by commissioning and nurturing new work. Art doesn’t have walls. But sometimes life does. UFPA breaks down the walls, enriching the lives of the citizens in the Heart of Florida, helping to make Gainesville “the #1 place to live.”
About Broadway Across America
Formerly Live Nation Theatrical, Broadway Across America presents first-rate touring Broadway shows, family productions and other live theatrical events throughout a network of 42 North American cities. A leader in subscription series programs and group ticketing, Broadway Across America is dedicated to creating memorable and accessible experiences for all guests, selling more than five million tickets to more than 3,000 performances each year. As a producer, current and recent Broadway productions include Hairspray, Chicago, Monty Python’s Spamalot and The Producers. It also manages, operates or consults in the operation of eight theaters across North America. For more information or to purchase tickets through an authorized agent go to BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.
About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon Recreation is one of the leading producers of top quality theatrical and touring shows for kids and their families. Strategically leveraging Nickelodeon’s hits into high quality Broadway level stage productions that tour both domestically and in international markets, the division has executive produced 14 unique multimillion dollar theatrical stage productions that have grossed in excess of 100 million dollars in tickets sales.
Nick Jr. is a specially designed programming block airing on Nickelodeon weekdays from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. (ET/PT). Completely dedicated to preschoolers ages 2-5, Nick Jr.’s Emmy, Peabody and Parents’ Choice Award-winning programs are curriculum-based, fun and commercial free. At Nick Jr., kids play to learn with innovative, original shows created just for them.
Nickelodeon, in its 28th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).
*Source: Nielsen Media Research