Children's Theatre of Knoxville presents "The Swiss Family Robinson: Amazon Adventure" July 18, 2009

The intrepid Robinson fanily head out on an educational escapade and luxury cruise down the Amazon River with their cousins, the Switzers. But an unexpected log jam and a sudden flash flood separates the children from their parents, sending the kids on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure in one of our planet’s most fascinating places: the Amazon rain forest! This thrilling re-imagining of Johann Wyss’s timeless classic novel is a classic adventure story for all ages and teaches the audience much about the animals and plants of the Amazon jungle as well as about the environmental impact of logging in this delicate biosphere.

PERFORMANCE CALENDAR:
Friday, July 17 at 7 PM
Saturday, July 18 at 1 PM and 5 PM
Sunday, July 19 at 3 PM
Thursday, July 23 at 7 PM
Friday, July 24 at 7 PM
Saturday, July 25 at 1 PM and 5 PM
Sunday, July 26 at 3 PM
Thursday, July 30 at 7 PM
Friday, July 31 at 7 PM
Saturday, August 1 at 1 PM and 5 PM

MEET THE ROBINSONS
The play is being performed by ten of Knoxville’s most talented young actors. And eight of the ten are performing with CTK for the first time. Alli Acuff plays Cassie Robinson, the oldest child, who is suddenly thrown into the role of “authority figure.” Alli is a rising freshman at Christian Academy of Knoxville. Ten-year-old Will Kersey plays the amateur naturalist and survivalist Jake Robinson. And London Keller plays Ande, the youngest Robinson. At 7 years old, London is CTK’s youngest mainstage performer ever. The Robinsons are joined on this escapade by their cousins, Henry, Billy, and the twins Abbe and Claire Switzer. Fourteen-year-old Mac Bower plays Henry. Mac has performed previously with CTK and Theatre Knoxville. Eleven-year-old Sean Sloas plays Billy Switzer. Sean is a frequent performer at Grace Christian Academy. Ten-year-olds Caroline Dyer and Lauren Krahwinkel play the twins Abbe and Claire. This is Caroline’s third CTK appearance, and Lauren has appeared in several church productions. Michaela Hall, Bethany Moon, and Wheeler Moon round out the cast as children of the Amazon natives. Twelve-year-old Michaela recently appeared in Bearden Middle School’s production of “Once Upon A Mattress.” Bethany and Wheeler are making their stage debuts!

THE CREATORS
This unique re-telling of “The Swiss Family Robinson” is the brainchild of longtime performers and writers, Josh and Meg Beach. Longtime Blount County residents, Josh and Meg wrote and produced many wonderful children’s plays in 1990s for Blount County Junior Playhouse. Since then, both have acted for many local theatre companies and have had a lengthy association with Circle Modern Dance Company, for which they have created, choreographed, and performed. Look for them to bring their knowledge of dance and percussion to this intriguing adventure play! Josh is also a talented carpenter and designer, and audiences will surely love the boat and treehouse he has designed for “The Swiss Family Robinson,” as well as his unique stage design for the production.

TICKETS
Tickets go on sale to the public on Monday, July 6. Reservations are strongly recommended; for example, seven of the nine performances of “Charlotte’s Web” were sold out. The best way to reserve tickets is by e-mailing tickets@childrenstheatreknoxville.com. Include the number of child tickets and adult tickets you wish to purchase, along with your preferred show date and time, and you will receive a detailed reply about the performance. Reservations may also be made by calling (865) 599-5284.

Tickets are $11 per person. We are continuing our special rate with this show: any adult and child entering the theatre together may do so for $9 each. Reserved tickets may be paid for at the door by cash or check.

LOCATION
The play is being performed at CTK’s new theatre in downtown Knoxville, located at 800 Tyson Street. Heading north from downtown on Broadway, Tyson Street turns left (west) just past Old Gray Cemetery. Tyson Street is between the traffic lights on Broadway at Fifth Avenue and Central Avenue, and is directly across the street from historic Emory Place. The theatre is about 300 feet down Tyson Street, immediately next door to Dixie Kitchens. The CTK sign is visible from Broadway, looking down Tyson Street.

The play is made possible through the continuing support of UT Surgical Associates, Schaad Companies, and Signs ‘N’ Such.