Press Release Fun: The Snail and the Whale at the New Vic

The New Victory Theater presents
Tall Stories’
The Snail and the Whale

Beloved Bedtime Story Hits Stage for Limited Engagement

October 18 – 19, 2014

New York, NY (September 9, 2014) – A tiny snail’s big adventure blazes a trail to the Big Apple when London’s Tall Stories (The Gruffalo, New Vic 2004; Snow White New Vic 2003) collaborates with Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler on the stage adaptation of the award-winning story The Snail and the Whale (Blue Peter Book Award, 2005). Created for ages four to seven, The Snail and the Whale runs at The New Victory Theater, New York’s premier performing arts venue for kids and families, for a limited engagement from October 18-19, 2014.

Seen through the eyes of an intrepid young girl and her seafaring father, The Snail and the Whale captures the amazing journey of a small snail who travels the world by hitching a ride on the tail of a humpback whale. Together they spy penguins on icebergs, find fiery volcanoes and dive down to deep water caves, discovering that even little friends can be big heroes. Combining storytelling, live music and sound effects from a viola player on stage, the production incorporates every line from the original book, a specialty of Tall Stories’ adaptations.

“This story uses the characteristics and personalities of the animals in the book to shape the characters on stage,” says Toby Mitchell, director of The Snail and the Whale. “The little girl is adventurous and risk-taking like the snail, and the father is solid and brave, just like the whale,” he continues.

This stage adaptation of The Snail and the Whale was inspired by the work of UK’s Storybook Soldiers, an organization that helps British military personnel abroad record bedtime stories for their children back home. It was discovered that one of the soldiers’ favorite books to record was The Snail and the Whale, and Tall Stories saw a parallel between the story’s protagonist and a child wanting to join a parent aboard a navy vessel. To devise the show, they worked with Storybook Soldiers’ founders Kirsty Alderson and Rosemary Meeke and listened to various soldiers’ recordings of this epic tale.

The Snail and the Whale stars Patrick Bridgman as the Whale/Dad, Lucy Grace as the Snail/Daughter and Rosalind Steele as the Viola Player/Narrator. The show’s creative team includes Toby Mitchell, director; Olivia Jacobs, creative producer; Isla Shaw, set designer; James Whiteside, lighting designer; Richard Heacock, composer; and Pete Foster, company stage manager.

Watch a trailer of Tall Stories’ The Snail and the Whale on the New Victory website.

The Snail and the Whale is supported, in part, by a Presenter’s Grant from The Jim Henson Foundation.

Performance Schedule: 4 performances

Saturday         10/18                11am and 3pm

Sunday           10/19                11am and 3pm

The Snail and the Whale has a running time of 55 minutes and is recommended for everyone ages 4 through 7.

General Ticket Information

Tickets for The Snail and the Whale at The New Victory Theater (209 West 42^nd Street) are $17 for Members and $25 for full price tickets. Theatergoers who buy tickets to three or more New Victoryshows qualify for free Membership, with benefits including up to 35-percent savings on tickets all season long, invitations to special events and unlimited free ticket exchanges. Purchase tickets online or by phone at 646-223-3010. Beginning September 2, the New Victory box office (209 West 42nd Street) is open Sunday and Monday from 11am-5pm and Tuesday through Saturday from 12pm-7pm. For more information, visit the New Victory website.

About Tall Stories

Tall Stories is a not-for-profit theater company that creates entertaining and imaginative performances for audiences of all ages. The company is a registered charity which tours the UK and the world. Since 1997, when Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell founded the company, Tall Stories has toured as far afield as Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Dubai, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore and the U.S. The Gruffalo has been released on DVD by the Really Useful Group and a picture book has been published based on the Tall Stories show The Snow Dragon.

About The New Victory Theater

The New Victory Theater introduces extraordinary performing artists from around the world to extraordinary audiences in New York City, bringing kids to the arts and arts to kids. Created in 1995 for young New Yorkers, their families and schoolmates, The New Victory Theater presents a diverse season of international companies at low ticket prices year after year. Through the theater’s award-winning education programs, The New Victory continues to provide access to schools and communities of New York City who seek to experience and engage with the work on our stages, often for the very first time. The Off-Broadway theater’s contributions to the cultural landscape of the city were celebrated by the prestigious New York critics’ organization, The Drama Desk, which presented The New Victory Theater with a 2012 Special Award for “providing enchanting, sophisticated children’s theater that appeals to the child in all of us, and for nurturing a love of theater in young people.”

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