'Pete the Cat' comes to town Saturday
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 9 months AGO
Theatreworks USA/courtesy photo ‘Pete the Cat’ will rock the Wallenstien Theater Saturday as the final show in Columbia Basin Allied Arts’ Green Turtle series.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | March 8, 2018 2:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — Columbia Basin Allied Arts will sponsor the Theatreworks USA production of “Pete the Cat” at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Wallenstien Theater on the Big Bend Community College campus.
The show is part of the organization’s “Green Turtle” series, performances designed for children. “Pete the Cat” is the Green Turtle finale for the 2017-18 season.
“Pete the Cat” is based on the series of books by James and Kimberly Dean targeted for children in kindergarten through third grade. Pete has starred in more than 40 books.
Pete has blue fur and is the coolest cat in his class. In the Theatreworks adaptation, Pete didn’t go to bed like he was supposed to, so he’s sent to stay with the Biddle family to learn some manners. They’re squarer than square, the Biddles, but Pete’s the sort of groovy cat who can get anybody rocking.
Except Jimmy Biddle, a second-grader who’s not interested in Pete or being cool. It’s almost the end of second grade; Jimmy has tests and no time for a jazzy cat. Oh, but – Jimmy has an art project that’s too much for him, and he needs the help of an imaginative blue friend.
Tickets are $7 per person for all seats. Tickets can be purchased at the CBAA website, www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake is a regular stop for Theatreworks USA; the company performed “Charlotte’s Web” in 2017 and “Curious George” in 2016.
The non-profit company is based in New York and was founded in 1961, with the goal of providing “access to professional theater for young and family audiences nationwide.” The company’s repertoire includes many children’s classics, from Dr. Seuss to C.S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and Frosty the Snowman, to popular modern characters like Junie B. Jones and Percy Jackson.
The Green Turtle series presents three performances per year. Traditionally one is a visit from the Missoula Children’s Theater, but for 2017-18 the MCT came to town twice. The company presented “Gulliver’s Travels” in September and “Aladdin” in February.
There’s also the Premiere series, works for adults and children. Two performances remain in the 2017-18 Premiere series. New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players will present the “Pirates of Penzance” March 24, and comedian and magician Jay Alexander will perform March 30.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].
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