For Immediate Release
Media Contact: John Cain
Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
707.800.7513
Santa Rosa, Calif., July 18 – Luther Burbank Center for the Arts (LBC) announced that, after two years of virtual presentations, its Clover Sonoma Family Fun Series returns to the live stage this fall for a new season of playful, family-friendly theater. The live productions this year also bring back pre-show family arts activities, chances to meet cast members for autographs, pizza on the concessions menu, and a special visit from Clover Sonoma’s Clo the Cow.
The 2022-23 season will include five shows from national and internationally touring artists, selected to be enjoyed by family members of all ages. Shows include Doktor Kaboom!, Sunday, November 6; The Pout-Pout Fish, Tuesday, November 29; The Peking Acrobats®, Monday, January 30, 2023; The Lightning Thief, Monday, March 6, 2023; and Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie Starring Indigo Blume, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Subscriptions, offering a discount of more than 20 percent, go on sale July 19. Individual tickets are available starting August 23 for members and August 26 for the general public.
Sponsored by Clover Sonoma and Exchange Bank, LBC’s Family Fun Series is a subscription-based program of dynamic, child-positive stage performances. Employing imaginative costuming and dynamic staging, they often are inspired by children’s books or topics like science and cultural exploration. Each performance also presents themes that foster social emotional learning, such as overcoming adversity, processing feelings, and creative thinking.
LBC hosts one of the most extensive family series programs in California, presenting for four decades in one of the largest theaters designated for family shows, according to Melanie Weir, LBC’s Associate Director of Education and Community Engagement and current President of California Presenters, a nonprofit presenters’ organization. LBC also often presents more family shows in a season than most other centers in the state. To ensure accessibility for families, LBC sets subscription and ticket prices as low as possible.
“LBC’s Family Fun Series is the perfect entry point to prepare kids to be lovers of the arts and theatre for the rest of their lives,” said Weir. “We want children to experience the magic of live theater, when there’s only one chance to see a show and when it commands special attention because there’s no pausing or rewinding it.”
Subscriptions for all five shows range in price from $52 for children to $70 for adults. Subscriptions include a meet-and-greet with most artists after each show (Peking Acrobats excluded), plus an invitation for a backstage tour and on-stage activity. Individual tickets range in price from $12 to $16 for children and $17 to $20 for adults. A special flex package offers a 10 percent discount on the purchase of any three or four shows. For more information about individual shows and to purchase subscriptions and tickets, visit lutherburbankcenter.org/family-fun.
All shows run 60 minutes except where indicated.
LBC’s Family Fun Series 2022-23 Season
All performances take place in the Ruth Finley Person Theater and run approximately one-hour, except Peking Acrobats, which runs 2 hours with intermission. Free Fun with Art activities begin one hour before each show.
Doktor Kaboom!
Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 3:00 pm
The original Doktor Kaboom! Show, in which the good Doktor takes his audience on an educational tour of the modern scientific method, using humor and comedy while demonstrating spectacular applications of the physical sciences.
The Pout-Pout Fish
Tuesday, November 29, 2022, at 6:30 pm
Mr. Fish discovers there is more to him than his permanently plastered pout when he sets out to find Miss Clam’s missing pearl in a musical oceanic adventure, featuring whimsical puppets and live performers.
The Peking Acrobats®
Monday, January 30, 2023, at 6:30 pm
The Peking Acrobats® perform daring maneuvers, while displaying incredible technical prowess at such arts as trick-cycling, precision tumbling, juggling, somersaulting, and gymnastics. They push the limits of human ability, defying gravity with amazing displays of contortion, flexibility, and control – all accompanied by live musicians, skillfully playing traditional Chinese instruments. Two-hour runtime, includes an intermission.
The Lightning Thief
Monday, March 6, 2023, at 6:30 pm
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school. Again! When the gods of Mount Olympus emerge from his Greek mythology textbook, Zeus’s master lightning bolt is stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. To find it, Percy must come to terms with the father who abandoned him and solve the riddle of the Oracle in this musical adaptation of Rick Riordan’s children’s book.
Acoustic Rooster’s Barnyard Boogie Starring Indigo Blume
Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at 6:30 pm
A feathery adventure about being scared, being brave, and believing in yourself, adapted from two children’s books by Kwame Alexander: Acoustic Rooster and Indigo Blume. With special guests, like Duck Ellington and Ms. Dairy Parton, this musical adaptation will have children and families dancing in their seats. Most enjoyed by ages 5 and up. Please note: This performance contains haze effects.
About Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts is home to world-class performances, nationally recognized education programs, contemporary visual art, and many popular events. The Arts Center is located in the heart of the Sonoma wine country and ranked among California’s top performing arts presenters. Together with its resident companies, the Center presents more than 230 performances in music, dance, theater, renowned speakers, and comedy; provides education programs serving more than 50,000 children and adults; and hosts more than 800 community events a year. Owned and operated by the Luther Burbank Memorial Foundation, the Center relies on charitable community donations to achieve its mission – to enrich, educate, and entertain.
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New Year’s Day – January 1
Martin Luther King Jr. Day – Third Monday in January
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Juneteenth – June 19
Independence Day – July 4
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Christmas Day – December 25
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How I spent my summer vacation with LBC 
