Live theatre at TYKEs is BACK!
Join us for our upcoming 17th season – live and in person at the JCC Hart Theater – opening this fall with..
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!
Whatever you do, don’t let the Pigeon star in his own musical production! With a script written by Mo Willems, the creator of the #1 New York Times best-selling, Caldecott Honor award-winning “Pigeon” picture books, and featuring music by Deborah Wicks La Puma (Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play!), Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical! is even more fun than staying up late and having a hot dog party!
It’s not easy being the Pigeon-you never get to do ANYTHING! But when the Bus Driver has a crisis that threatens to make her passengers (gasp!) late, maybe that wily bird CAN do something.
Details and tickets available soon!
About Us
For the past decade, TYKEs is honored to rank as the #1 children’s theatre and one of the top places in town to bring kids.
Looking forward to its 17th season, TYKEs captivates families with beloved plays and musicals brought alive on stage by adult professional actors.
TYKEs strives to inspire an appreciation of the arts, literary awareness, and social skills while teaching key life lessons.
Performances, school field trips, after-school classes and summer camp take place in the warm, welcoming Hart Theatre at the JCC in Brighton.
Subscribe + Save
Subscriptions for our upcoming 2021-22 season will go on sale this summer.
Subscribers enjoy the best seats, save on show costs and also receive convenient ticket exchanges at no cost.
Auditions
TYKEs’ AUDITIONS for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (directed by Matt Mayne) and Last Stop on Market Street (directed by Esther Winter) are on Saturday, August 28 at 11am and Monday, August 30 at 5:30pm at the JCC. Actors need to attend one date only, no reservations required. Performers receive $75 per performance, meals on two-show days and a free JCC membership during the rehearsal/performance period.
You’ll need:
• 16 bars of an up-tempo song appropriate for children’s theatre (accompanist provided)
• comfortable, casual clothes/shoes appropriate for dancing
• list of any conflicts
Performance dates:
Pigeon – November 6 to 14; rehearsals begin in Sept.
Market Street – April 2 to 10; rehearsals begin in Feb.
Rehearsal/performance schedule distributed at auditions.
Excellent roles for fully vaccinated adults of all genders and ethnicities. For the safety of our cast, crew, and young attendees not yet eligible for vaccination, we are requesting that all actors attending auditions please bring proof of full Covid vaccination.
ROLES:
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
6 actors, any gender/age/ethnicity
Most actors will play multiple roles and also operate Avenue Q-style puppets.
Last Stop on Market Street
Fully-BIPOC cast, 3 female and 3 male actors
• CJ – Black or Latino younger adult able to portray a 7-year-old boy
• Nana – Afro Cuban female
Ensemble – two male and two female actors who play multiple roles including:
• Mr. Chow – Chinese male
• Vernon – male actor able to play the guitar for a short time without looking (portraying a blind man)
History
TYKEs has been entertaining audiences for 16 years!
Group Sales
Come enjoy your birthday party, scouting event or family get-together at TYKEs! We welcome groups of all sizes. Parties of ten or more save $1 on the price of each ticket; groups of 20 or more save $2 per ticket.
Contact us for group pricing.
School Groups
School performance schedules will be posted here for each show. Tickets are $7 each and a study guide will be included for discussion!
Contact us to book your show.
Volunteer
To learn more about volunteer opportunities, including backstage, front of house, and ushers, contact us.
Contact Us
Freyda Schneider, Director of TYKEs, Theatre Young Kids Enjoy
Marc Cataldi, Administrative Assistant
Event Schedule
Crafted from the actual testimonies of Rochester-based Holocaust Survivors, CenterStage Theatre and the Louis S. Wolk Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester commissioned this new play to put a human face on this important time in history. A cautionary tale on the risks of normalized hate, this inspirational and uplifting play ensures that the voices of our Survivors will never be silenced.
Community Partners
