Menu
The Grand’s 2022-2023 Harris L. Kempner Children’s Series will include eight productions performed by professional touring companies presented on school days throughout the year. Many of the performances are based on popular children’s books and include curriculum study guides that follow the TEKS, which allow teachers to incorporate activities centered on the story.
Complimentary workshops are available to classrooms that have reserved tickets for a performance and are designed to enhance student learning experiences by providing a literary and live performance connection.
Tickets:
Adults $10 | Children $6
School Groups*:
$5 (with advance reservations and payment – cannot order online, you must call or email us.)
*One complimentary ticket for every 18 Student Tickets purchased).
For tickets, click here or contact the Box Office at tickets@thegrand.com.
Contact The Grand’s Director of Education, Sarah Piel: 409.770.5066 or spiel@thegrand.com to reserve workshops.
For school/group reservations, call 409.765.1894 or 800.821.1894, or email tickets@thegrand.com
We begin with Aesop’s classic fable of The Tortoise and the Hare but continue the story which find them 10 years down the road, now with children of their own and exploring modern day distractions. Smart phones and video games create a new landscape of lost connections to life experiences. The Next Gen features Tortoise Junior and Lil’ Hare in a whole new kind of race, where their adventures lead them into unexpected territory. Old man Tortoise and Big Daddy hare must come together despite their differences to find and save their children. What hurdles will they have to overcome to make it to the finish line? With dazzling visuals, poignant storytelling, and the creative use of music from classical to pop, this production brings this tale into a brilliant light.
Turn the poutiest of frowns upside down in this new musical featuring whimsical puppets and live performers in a sweeping oceanic adventure. When Mr. Fish sets out on a quest to find Miss Clam’s missing pearl, he discovers there is more to him than his permanently plastered pout.
This colorful adaptation of The New York Times bestseller is co-conceived, directed, and designed by the acclaimed puppeteers of AchesonWalsh Studios, whose work was featured in Broadway’s The King And I, On the Town, and Radio City’s New York Spectacular. Writing team includes New Victory LabWorks Residency recipients Christopher Anselmo, Jared Corak, Matt Acheson, and Fergus Walsh.
Now that Junie B. Jones has been going to school for over one-anda-half years, who better to write the book on EVERYTHING you need to know? From bus rules and Band-Aids to carpools to cookies, Junie B. and friends deliver the definitive word on surviving and thriving in style. With a jillion tips, tricks, and trip-ups, Junie B. shares her hard-won expertise and shows us all how school is sometimes scary, sometimes super-fun, and ALWAYS something to sing about!
Grades: K-4th
Join Mouse on a daring adventure through the deep, dark wood in Tall Stories’ magical, musical adaptation of the classic picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.
Searching for hazelnuts, Mouse meets the cunning Fox, the eccentric old Owl and the high-spirited Snake. Will the story of the terrifying Gruffalo save Mouse from ending up as dinner for these hungry woodland creatures? After all, there’s no such thing as a Gruffalo – is there?
Songs, laughs and monstrous fun for children aged 3 and up and their grown-ups, in the much-loved show that’s toured Britain and the world!
Meet the most unusual duckling the pond has ever seen!
In their nest at the edge of a pond, the baby ducklings wait impatiently for Mummy’s enormous egg to hatch. But their new brother doesn’t look like everyone else. He doesn’t even quack like a proper duckling!
Teased and called Ugly by his siblings, our hero goes on an adventure in search of a place to fit in. As the seasons change the woodland trees from dark weathered branches to silver sticks of frost, the lost and lonely fledgling meets a menagerie of mischievous animals…. But where does he really belong?
tutti frutti brings to life Hans Christian Andersen’s well-known tale with a menagerie of mischievous animals, inventive physicality, and live music and songs that quack and trill. This charming production plays with the importance of identity, self-worth and takes us on a journey to discover inner beauty.
Grades: K-4th
Bedtime has never been so exciting! It’s the end of the day for the Llama family. After a long day of adventures at the school and the store, Baby Llama can’t wait to put on his red pajamas. He and his friends the toys are ready to sing and dance their way to sleep…except…they need a bedtime story and a kiss goodnight and a drink of water. But, where’s Mama? This hilarious new musical based on the bestselling books by Anna Dewdney will warm every Llama and Llama Mama’s heart.
Grades: Pre-K – 1st
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school. Again. And that’s the least of his troubles.
Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology textbook and into his life. Worse, he’s angered a few of them. Zeus’s master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
Now Percy has ten days to find and return Zeus’s stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief. He must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves. Adapted from the book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.
Grades: K-4th
Three Billy Goats Gruff” a lively and colorful musical production for young audiences featuring the nine-foot-tall body puppets and a host of other characters from the internationally acclaimed Bits ‘N Pieces Puppet Theatre.
It is up to Bluff, Fluff and Tuff Gruff, the three goats, to cleverly cross a narrow bridge. “Trip, trap, trip, trap,” the goat’s feet go as they try to sneak across the bridge. “Who dares to cross my Bridge?,” asks Upchuk the Bully Troll. He wants no one to cross the bridge. Bluff, Fluff and Tuff must cooperate, communicate and negotiate to eat a dinner of fresh tasty green grass on the other side of the bridge.
Children will be delighted by the glo-in-the-dark puppets as they sing and dance and live happy ever after. Bluff Gruff, the innocent goat, uses his brains to cross the bridge. Fluff Gruff, played by live actress Holli Rubin, points out the fine points of avoiding a bully. Tuff Gruff shows that sometimes actions speak louder than words. Together they prove there’s nothing you can’t do.
Grades: Pre-K – 3rd
Serious Fun performances have been designated The Harris L. Kempner Children’s Series in honor of Mr. Kempner’s lifelong commitment to youth, education and The Grand’s programming. Support is provided by the following: Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund, Dr. Leon Bromberg Charitable Trust Fund, the Ippolito Charitable Foundation of Galveston, Kathrine G. McGovern, John P. McGovern Foundation, Daisy’s Friends, The National Endowment for the Arts and Texas Commission on the Arts.