Flat Stanley, the beloved children’s book character, will be brought to life on stage when the Portland School of Ballet (PSB) takes the audience on a whirlwind tour of the globe during its performance of Flat Stanley on Saturday, April 19 at 11:00 a.m. at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center. This performance is part of Portland School of Ballet’s Kids 4 Kids Arts in Education Initiative.

This fun, family-friendly and innovative production, entitled Around the World with Flat Stanley - the Case of the Red Shoes, will follow the premise introduced in author Jeff Brown’s book about a boy who was flattened by a falling bulletin board, only to discover how easy it is to travel when one can fit in an envelope. The performance features Portland’s Joshua Dow as Flat Stanley, James Kramlich of Raymond as the Postmaster, Annie Moore of Alfred and the Little Ballerina, and Maggie McGovern of Windham as the Prima Ballerina.  The cast also includes all the students of Portland School of Ballet.

In this ballet, Stanley is asked to help solve a mystery. The red toe shoes of a famous ballerina have been stolen, and Stanley must follow a string of clues that will take him around the world. Along the way, he will need assistance from the audience to decode the clues that lead him to Ireland, Africa, Brazil, Hungary, Greece, China, Russia and back home. The audience will follow Flat Stanley’s travels as Google Earth is projected onto the stage during his journey.

Portland School of Ballet has been granted the rights from the estate of the author to use the name and concept of Flat Stanley and is working with Scott Nash, a Maine resident and illustrator of several of the Flat Stanley books. Keith Beyland of Dramatic Repertory Company has created this original storyline and book for this production of Around the World with Flat Stanley - the Case of the Red Shoes.

PSB will also present a special performance of Around the World with Flat Stanley – the Case of the Red Shoes for school groups. A Pre-Performance Educational Guide will be provided to students and all participating schools. 

Tickets are $5 for children and $10 for adults and are available at the door of the Westbrook Performing Arts Center at the Westbrook Middle School, 471 Stroudwater Street, Westbrook, Maine, day of the performance.

For more information, please contact Portland Ballet at 207-772-9671 or visit www.portlandballet.org.

BIOS

Windham resident Maggie McGovern will perform the role of the Prima Ballerina.  Maggie is in Portland School of Ballet’s CORPS pre-professional program, and has done summer intensives at Boston Ballet and Interlochen Summer Arts.  She has performed in Portland Ballet productions of Victorian Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf, La Bayadere, and  Swan Lake.  Maggie is multi-talented: in addition to her dancing, she is an accomplished vocalist (Windham Chamber Singers), violinist (Portland Youth Ensembles) and actress (Windham productions).

Alfred resident Annie Moore will dance the role of the Little Ballerina. Annie has studied ballet at Portland School of Ballet since 2009. She is currently a member of the elite CORPS pre professional program. Annie has been accepted to prestigious summer intensive programs including Washington Ballet, Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, and Ballet Austin. She has performed in The Victorian Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf, and Little Red Riding Hood.

Portland resident Joshua Dow will perform as Flat Stanley. Joshua has studied at Portland School of Ballet for 11 years. He has attended prestigious summer programs, including Cincinnati Ballet and Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts. He has been featured as Fritz in The Victorian Nutcracker with Portland Ballet Company, and performed in numerous PSB productions. This will be his second year portraying Flat Stanley, a role that involves dancing and speaking!

Raymond resident James Kramlich will portray the Postmaster in our upcoming production of Around the World with Flat Stanley.  James is an apprentice with Portland Ballet Company and has toured to Canada with PBC’s Giselle. He was featured as the Soldier in the debut of The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, and will reprise his role as the Postmaster is PSB’s production of Around the World with Flat Stanley this spring. He has danced in PBC’s 2013 Halloween Spooktacular and Victorian Nutcracker, and was recently seen in Boy Meets Girl.

About Portland School of Ballet: Portland School of Ballet was founded in 1980 with a mission to enrich the community through classical ballet training, education, outreach, and performance. PSB offers year round training in ballet for all ages and abilities. School programs include CORPS, the performing arts high school partnership with Portland High School providing transcript credit; Kids 4 Kids theater series; and Dance Discover Days, which bring an interactive dance experience into the schools. PSB is the affiliated training school of Portland Ballet Company.