Matchbox ready for adventure; Latest children’s theater play to open this weekend
Published 10:28 am Thursday, April 10, 2014
The Rain King tries to persuade a boy to work for him during the dress rehearsal for Matchbox Children’s Theatre’s “After the Rain King” Wednesday. The show opens on Friday. — Trey Mewes
The sky darkens and a mist forms on the Paramount Theatre stage. A shadowy figure steps into view, dressed in a steampunk outfit, clearly up to no good. As the audience will find out, this gentleman is the Rain King, and he’s here to cause trouble.
Despite a looming antagonist, area residents will find Matchbox Children’s Theatre’s latest performance, “After the Rain King,” to be a positive experience, according to director Lucas Johnson.
Long John Silver’s pirate crew discusses what to do with a treasure map during the Matchbox Children’s Theatre dress rehearsal for “After the Rain King.”
“It deals with a number of issues, like bullying, which is a big issue nowadays,” Johnson said Wednesday at a dress rehearsal for “After the Rain King.”
The show opens at 7 p.m. Friday inside the Paramount, with 2 p.m. performances on Saturday and Sunday as well.
Matchbox Children’s Theatre production of “After the Rain King” is an adventure story designed to appeal to kids of all ages. Glory finds herself in big trouble when she opens an old book and releases the devious and evil Rain King. The plot thickens when he captures her friend and disappears back inside the magical book. Glory recruits friends to rescue Pete and the adventures begin. They time travel through stories in the book meeting pirates, knights, cowboys and even insects along the way. They eventually learn about friendship and unravel the mystery of the red balloon.
This is a larger performance for Matchbox, according to Johnson. There’s about 30 cast and crew members in total.
The Rain King makes a spooky entrance during the Matchbox Children’s Theatre dress rehearsal for “After The Rain King” at the Paramount Theatre Wednesday.
“I was really excited when I first read the script,” he said. “There’s so much for the kids to cover. The story jumps around from starting in the 1930s, to going back to Treasure Island.”
Tickets are available at the door and at HyVee of Austin. Call the Paramount at 507-434-0934 for more information. All seats are General Admission at $5 for students ages 14 and younger, $7 for adults and children ages 2 and younger are admitted free.