Theater Vision kicks off season 28 with new words, vampire rabbits and U.S. presidents

A scene from Rock the Presidents. Enlarge

Since its inception in 1984, Lourdes University’s Theater Vision program has provided curriculum-based theater arts education to more than half a million students throughout the region.

Each season, more than two dozen performances are presented by professional touring companies who specialize in children’s theater. Through a new partnership with the historic Valentine Theatre in Toledo, Theater Vision will present its Season 28 productions at both the Valentine and Franciscan Center of Lourdes University.

Here's the new season's lineup:

Rock the Presidents – 10/24, 10 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. (Valentine Theatre)

Perfectly timed for inclusion in a study of the 2012 Presidential election, this high octane, multimedia filled musical spans 223 years of the American Presidency — from George Washington to Barack Obama. The 44 men who rose to the highest office in the land are brought to life through all-new rock, pop and folk music. As they learn about the Presidents, students may see something of themselves reflected in the very human stories presented onstage. With songs like "The Sons of Washington," a rock anthem honoring Washington’s revolutionary idea of peacefully giving up power, and “Who in the World is Millard Fillmore?” which celebrates some lesser-known Commanders in Chief, Rock the Presidents will inform and entertain young learners.

Bunnicula – 11/9, 10 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. (Franciscan Center)

Lock up your lettuce! Protect your parsley! This spine-tingling new musical based on James and Deborah Howe’s best-selling Bunnicula books, stars a floppy-eared bunny with mysterious habits. The mystifying orphaned rabbit that the Monroe family brings home has sharp fangs instead of buck teeth and he sleeps all day and prowls around his cage all night. Suddenly all the vegetables in the house are drained of their color and they turn a ghostly white. Chester the cat and Harold the dog suspect that Bunnicula is to blame — and that he might even be a vampire! Chester will stop at nothing until he vanquishes the new arrival, even if it means the end of his friendship with Harold.

Actors from Bunnicula pose. JEFF LARKIN Enlarge

Frindle – 12/3, 10 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. (Franciscan Center)

In this quirky, imaginative tale about imaginative thought and the power of words, 5th grader Nick Allen’s “creativity” takes an unusual turn. Influenced by a language arts teacher who is a fanatic about the dictionary, Nick learns about words and where they come from and he hatches his greatest plan — to invent a new word. From now on, a pen is no longer a pen; it’s a “Frindle.” Soon “Frindle” takes root and spreads uncontrollably beyond Nick’s school and town. Frindle is about discovering the true nature of words, language, thought, community and learning. It’s also about great teaching and great teachers and the life that surges through corridors and classrooms every school day.

Visit Theater Vision online at www.lourdes.edu/theater. For additional information or to purchase tickets, please call 419-824-3986.