STOOPKID STORIES LIVE! Will Be Performed at Summer Theatre New Canaan This Summer

Stoopkid Stories LIVE!, a new Theatre for Young Audiences musical, comes to the Summer Theatre New Canaan in New Canaan, CT this summer. This new and exciting show is a live adaptation of the hit children's podcast, Stoopkid Stories, written and narrated by Melissa Victor. Victor, also known to her listeners as Melly, started her podcast in January 2020, two months before the Broadway shutdown. It was a way for her to try something new in the midst of audition season, stay creative, and connect with kids.

The podcast, Stoopkid Stories, is a children's story podcast for ages 5 and up, featuring all original stories that follow 7 young Black characters on adventures through their lives. We listen to them navigate everyday kid-like situations as they go through school, deal with friendships and family as well as learning lessons about being confident, empathy and other social-emotional skills. Throughout the pandemic, the podcast gained a lot of traction with listeners all throughout the US and internationally. The podcast was also featured on the New York Times podcast list, "A Big List of Podcast for Bigger Kids".

With its fast growing fan base, Victor was approached by Artistic Director, Melody Libonati of Summer Theatre of New Canaan, to gauge interest about turning one her podcast episodes into a live production for their outdoor summer 2021 season. Victor who recently performed in their 2019 summer season as Leading Player in Pippin and the season before that as Hattie in Kiss Me Kate, jumped at the opportunity. Four songs, a Baltimore Club Mix and multiple drafts later, Stoopkids Stories the podcast is now set to open on stage as Stoopkid Stories LIVE!, on July 17. While the book, music and lyrics were created by Victor, Baltimore natives Ray Redditt and Evander McLean lended their musical abilities to help orchestrate the score as well as an original Baltimore club mix produced by Don Trunk.

"The heartbeat of the show is very rooted in Baltimore culture. I love my city and everything about it. It's very important for me to show my city in not just a positive light but a vibrant light as well. Baltimore's energy is just unmatched", Victor says. Since Stoopkid Stories LIVE! is so close to Victor's heart and pulls a lot of inspiration from her childhood experiences growing up in Baltimore, Victor stepped up to the plate and will be making her professional debut as director and choreographer on this show. Joining the creative team is Broadway's Arbender Robinson as assistant director and David Rowen as music director. The cast includes Shaunice Alexander, Brett Hennessey Jones, Justin Lowery, Sharae Moultrie and Olyvia Shaw. "The show is loud, it's energetic, its very BLACK, and that's what we need to see more of, what I want to see more of. Black Girl Magic and Black Boy Joy on stage, not trauma, just Black joy, and what a better way to show us joy than through the eyes of young kids", says Victor.

Stoopkid Stories LIVE! Opens July 17 and runs weekends until August 1. For tickets, go to www.stonc.org. You can also check out the podcast, which is in its 4th season, by searching Stoopkids Stories on any podcast platform.

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