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News Releases 
Imagination Unwrapped: CTC Unveils New Building and Hosts Biggest Open House Ever 
For Immediate Release: September 12, 2005
Minneapolis, MN - After seven years of planning, five years since the capital campaign budget was approved by the Board of Governors, $29 million raised toward a $30 million capital campaign goal and two years of construction, The Children's Theatre Company will celebrate its 40th anniversary by unveiling its new building and host its biggest open house ever.
On October 8 and 9, 2005, CTC will welcome young people and families, artists and educators, teens and toddlers, old friends and new to weekend-long events and activities intended to tickle the imagination and introduce CTC's new space to the Twin Cities. Imagination Unwrapped is proudly sponsored by Target.
CTC's 45,000 square foot expansion, designed by Michael Graves and Associates, houses the McGuire Education Center, with four classrooms, a dance studio, a student performance space and the Best Buy Education Lounge; expanded scenic, costume and prop shops; and the Cargill Stage, which will be programmed primarily for teen and pre-schoolers.
Highlights of Imagination Unwrapped include the Grand Parade and Unwrapping Ceremony, with 11 units of young paraders who will drum, dance, sing and strut their stuff. Participants in the parade are an honor guard from the Northern Star Council of the Boy Scouts of America, North Minneapolis Boys and Girls Club 30- piece Drum Corps, CAAM Chinese Dancers, the Jugheads, the Quetzal Aztec Drummers and Dancers, Mu Daiko Taiko Drummers, Edina High School 25-piece Band, students from the Whittier Community School for the Arts and City of Lakes School along with costumed characters from CTC, and a Minneapolis fire truck. The parade route will begin at Yummy's restaurant on 25th and Nicollet, go east on 24th at Nicollet, and then head south on 3rd Avenue South into CTC's circle drive. After opening remarks from CTC leadership and guest speakers, all the children from the parade and in attendance will literally pull on gigantic ribbons to unwrap the new rotunda and officially open CTC's new building. The unwrapping will be accompanied by a choir and confetti cannons.
Commissioned especially for teens and the grand opening weekend is a composition with orchestration by renowned guitarist John King. Electric Guitar Orchestra will be performed by dozens of Twin Cities' teens on electric guitars. King auditioned teen guitarists last June to assemble this unique orchestra and gave them exercises and open chord structures to work on over the summer. Since then, King has composed the piece, been in touch with the teens via email and will rehearse the piece with the teens from September 26 – October 8.
JOHN KING, composer and guitarist, is originally from Bloomington, MN. He has presented his unique style of composed and improvisational music in many major festivals, including the Next Wave Festival (NY) and Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival (Hamburg); has had many working bands over the last 5 yearsincluding ELECTRIC WORLD (with Abe Speller and Jean Chaine) and VIBROVERB (with Nioka Workman and Michael Wimberly); and has been commissioned by or collaborated with the Kronos Quartet, Bang On A Can – All-Stars (NY), and the Royal Danish Ballet. He also presented his music with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, broadcast nationally on CBS. His recent opera "la belle captive" was premiered at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina in April 2003.
Launching the McGuire Education Center will be internationally recognized speaker, Sir Kenneth Robinson. A much sought after speaker, Robinson confirms the importance (even urgency) of applying creativity and imagination to arts, education, business and our lives in general. His reputation is based on his own groundbreaking research and leadership in creativity, education and training. He is remarkably inspirational and has a unique talent for conveying a profoundly serious message with enormous humor, passion and wit. He speaks to audiences throughout the world on the changing needs of business and education as they impact organizations in the new global economy. Sir Robinson's keynote speech is proudly sponsored by General Electric.
SIR KENNETH ROBINSON's most recent book is Out of Our Minds – Learning to be Creative. His world renowned speeches include “Out of Our Minds - Learning To Be Creative;” “Creativity - The New Bottom Line;” “You're Smarter Than You Think - The Intelligence Of Creativity;” “Unlocking The Genius Of Creative Groups;” and “Leading The Creative Company.” Currently, Ken Robinson is senior advisor to the President of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles. Prior to assuming his position at the Getty, he was Professor of Education at Warwick University. In addition, he consulted for the Council of Europe international project: Culture, Creativity and the Young, which involved over 20 European countries. In 2000, Sir Kenneth Robinson was voted Business Speaker of the Year by over 200 European companies.
Continuously throughout the weekend will be the opportunity to see all of CTC's new spaces on self-guided tours, sample Theatre Arts Training classes, taste foods from Sinbad's Deli & Market, Rainbow Chinese, Marissa's Bakery and Black Forest in the Eat Street Kids' Café, dress-up in costumes, listen to stories for toddlers, see break-dance demos for teens, paint a picture, paint your face, register for classes and win prizes.
Images/renderings/logos for The Children's Theatre Company's expansion project, and the productions of Sleeping Beauty, 4-ISH and The Cat's Journey are available on-line at www.ctcpix.org.
Minneapolis-based Target serves guests at 1,351 stores in 47 states nationwide by delivering today's best retail trends at affordable prices. Target is committed to providing guests with great design through innovative products, in-store experiences and community partnerships. Whether visiting a Target store or shopping online at Target.com, guests enjoy a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to thousands of unique and highly differentiated items. Target (NYSE:TGT) gives back more than $2 million a week to its local communities through grants and special programs. Since opening its first store in 1962 Target has partnered with nonprofit organizations, guests and team members to help meet community needs.
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IMAGINATION UNWRAPPED
The Children's Theatre Company's Grand Opening Weekend
Here's the schedule. Come early. Stay Late.
Friday, October 7, 2005
IMAGINATION UNWRAPPED: LAUNCH OF PRE-SCHOOL PROGRAMMING
- Cargill Stage
Swedish Puppet Theater Dockteatern Tittut for ages 2-5
5:30pm The Cat's Journey (preview)
7:00pm The Cat's Journey (opening)
Saturday, October 8, 2005
IMAGINATION UNWRAPPED: CTC PARADE AND GRAND OPENING CEREMONY
- 9:30am Parade of Young People and Grand Opening Ceremony including unwrapping of building (literally) with confetti cannons
- 10:30am–4:00pm Self-guided tours of new facility including sample classes, student performances, food, Eat Street Kids' Cafe, interactive activities, storytelling for toddlers, costumed characters
- Main Stage
An American premiere by Welsh playwright Charles Way. Directed by Greg Banks.
11:00am Sleeping Beauty
2:00pm Sleeping Beauty
An American premiere. Amsterdam's hot troupe, ISH, brings inline skating, DJs & hip-hop to the stage
7:30pm 4-ISH
- Cargill Stage
An original electric guitar concert created and orchestrated by John King
8:00pm Electric Guitar Orchestra (call for tickets)
10:00pm Electric Guitar Orchestra (call for tickets)
Sunday, October 9, 2005
IMAGINATION UNWRAPPED: OPEN HOUSE AND TICKETED EVENTS
- 11:00am–3:00pm Self-guided tours of new facility including sample classes, student performances, Eat Street Kids' Cafe, interactive activities, storytelling for toddlers, costumed characters
- Cargill Stage
2:00pm Electric Guitar Orchestra (call for tickets)
7:00pm Internationally renowned speaker, Sir Kenneth Robinson launches the McGuire Education Center with a keynote address about the importance of imagination in every aspect of our lives (call for tickets)
8:30pm Reception for Sir Robinson
- Main Stage
2:00pm Sleeping Beauty
5:00pm Sleeping Beauty
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