23/24 Student Matinees

PreK – 3rd Grade

A Year With Frog and Toad KIDS

PERFORMANCES: Oct 6th – 9:30AM & 11:30AM | Oct 10th – 9:30AM & 11:30AM | Oct 12th – 9:30AM & 11:30AM
VENUE: Helgeson Learning Lab Theatre, Waite Park
RECOMMENDED GRADES: This performance will be best for those in PreK-3rd grade.
SHOW LENGTH: 40 minutes + dismissal  & bus loading time.
TICKETS: Students $8 | Adults $10 | 1 free adult ticket for every 15 paid student tickets

Join the lovable Frog and Toad as they hop from page to stage singing and dancing their way through a year of adventure.

Based on Arnold Lobel’s well-loved books, this whimsical musical follows two best friends – cheerful Frog and rather grumpy Toad – through four fun-filled seasons. Celebrate the differences that make us all unique and the importance of friendship with Frog, Toad, and their woodland friends. The jazzy score bubbles with upbeat melody and charming wit, making it an altogether lovable musical for our youngest audience members! 

This is our Fifth Annual Youth Artist Project, directed and designed by high school students and features an all youth cast! 

3rd Grade – 12th Grade

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

PERFORMANCES: Nov 30th – 9:30AM & 12:00PM
VENUE: Paramount Center for the Arts
RECOMMENDED GRADES: This performance will be best for those in 3rd-12th grade.
SHOW LENGTH: 90 minutes + dismissal & bus loading time.
TICKETS: Students $10 | Adults $12 | 1 free adult ticket for every 15 paid student tickets.

Students will be enchanted by this spectacular production, featuring spellbinding songs, imaginative theatrical design, and, of course, a fairy-tale ending.

Be our guest this school year for this “tale as old as time” based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast tells the musical story of Belle, a bright and independent young woman, who stumbles upon a secluded castle. Taken prisoner by a prince cursed into the form of a beast, Belle discovers there may be more to the castle and its curious inhabitants than meets the eye.

The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical

PERFORMANCES: Tuesday, Feb 6th – 9:30AM & 12PM| Thursday, Feb 8th – 9:30AM & 12PM
VENUE: Paramount Center for the Arts
RECOMMENDED GRADES: This performance will be best for those in 3rd-12th grade.
SHOW LENGTH: 90 minutes + dismissal & bus loading time.
TICKETS: Students $10 | Adults $12 | 1 free adult ticket for every 15 paid student tickets.

An action-packed mythical adventure featuring heroes from the best-selling novels.

Based on the best-selling novel series by Rick Riordan, this brand-new musical features a thrilling original rock score in an action-packed theatrical adventure “worthy of the gods.”  As a son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson has newly discovered powers he can’t control, a destiny he doesn’t want, and otherworldly monsters on his trail. When Zeus’s lightning bolt is stolen and Percy becomes the prime suspect, he and his friends embark on an epic journey to find and return the bolt to prove his innocence and prevent a war among the Greek gods.

6th Grade – 12th Grade

Little Women  by Kate Hamill

PERFORMANCE: Thursday, Nov 2nd – 10:00AM
VENUE: Paramount Center for the Arts
RECOMMENDED GRADES: This performance will be best for those in 6th-12th grade.
SHOW LENGTH: 2 hours + dismissal & bus loading time.
TICKETS: Students $10 | Adults $12 | 1 free adult ticket for every 15 paid student tickets.

A clever reimagining of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel put to stage.

Set during the Civil War, this play follows Jo and her three unforgettably distinct sisters, Meg, Beth, and Amy, as they navigate a war-torn world defined by gender, class, and circumstance. Yearning for a future beyond what society expects them to be, they discover what it means to stay true to themselves as they grow from young girls to little women.

Silent Sky  by Lauren Gunderson

PERFORMANCE: Thursday, March 14th – 10:00AM
VENUE: Helgeson Learning Lab Theatre
RECOMMENDED GRADES: This performance will be best for those in 6th-12th grade.
SHOW LENGTH: 2 hours + dismissal & bus loading time.
TICKETS: Students $10 | Adults $12 | 1 free adult ticket for every 15 paid student tickets.

A true story of the determination, passion and sacrifice of the women who redefined our understanding of the cosmos.

This brilliant play follows the true story of Henrietta Leavitt, a 19th-century astronomer far ahead of her time. After starting her work at the Harvard Observatory, she quickly discovers her voice is not welcomed in the male dominated field of science. Despite this, she spends her free time exploring ground breaking research that changed the way we study space. This inspiring drama examines a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries. 

BUSSING, ARRIVAL & DISMISSAL PROCEDURES

Please carefully read the information below and pass this onto your bus drivers. Make sure you are looking at the correct venue. Bus policies have been put into place at each location to ensure the safety of you and your students. Please review the policies before your field trip.

PARAMOUNT THEATRE

913 West St. Germain Street, St. Cloud, MN 56301

ARRIVAL We ask that you arrive no earlier than 25 minutes prior to showtime. Tell your bus driver to unload students directly in front of the Paramount Theatre. If we have more than two busses parked in front, the bus driver will be asked to pull around the block to wait on 9th Ave N until our bus patrol volunteer motions for them to pull around front. Upon your arrival, a GREAT Theatre volunteer or staff member will board your bus and provide parking, unloading, and loading instructions to the driver. After students have unloaded, busses will be directed to continue down St. Germain Street and park at the St. Cloud Regional Library. 

SEATING We will begin seating approximately 20 minutes before the show starts. The performance will start on time! A GREAT volunteer will help usher your students into their seats. If you need to rearrange students, please do so after everyone has been seated or have them exit the bus in the order you would like them to be seated.

RESTROOMS Please find your seats prior to using the restrooms. The restrooms are limited and easily congested, so plan accordingly. The performance will start on time! If you need to use the restrooms prior to leaving, please notify a GREAT volunteer when you arrive so we can plan dismissal accordingly.

DISMISSAL About 20 minutes before the show is over, the GREAT bus patrol volunteer will let your driver know when to report back to the Paramount Theatre. In order to return students to their schools in a timely manner we will dismiss you by school during the cast Q&A. It is important to follow instructions on order of dismissal as well as which door to park in front of. The students are simultaneously being dismissed from the theatre with the same instructions. For the safety of all, we ask that you wait inside until a GREAT volunteer lets you know that your bus has pulled up. Please count your students as they wait in line to load. We cannot allow buses to remain parked in the loading area for head counts. Your cooperation will make everyone’s departure a smooth and quick process.

EMERGENCY If an emergency arises on the day of your show, please call GREAT at 320.258.2787

Helgeson LEARNING LAB THEATRE

710 Sundial Drive, Waite Park, MN 56387

Park to unload students directly in front of the South East doors (near the back of the building). Look for the blue GREAT Theatre flags. Drivers may park in the parking lot directly behind and adjacent to the building.

BEFORE YOU ARRIVE

• Please include all students, teachers, and chaperones in your ticket order.
• When ordering seats please include any accessibility needs (wheelchair seating, difficulty with stairs, low vision, hard of hearing, etc.) and any special requests (first dismissal, last dismissal, need to use bathrooms before boarding bus, etc.). GREAT will try to accommodate all requests within reason.
• You will receive a bus arrival time in your email within the weeks before your performance.
• Remember to turn off all cell phones and electronic devices before the performance begins.
• Please make sure that everyone in your group knows that there is NO recording or photography is permitted during any GREAT performance. (Photos of your students under the marquee, etc. are permitted.)
• Inform students that there is no food, drink, or gum allowed in the theater.
• On the performance day if you are delayed and you will be arriving after the performance begins please call 320-258-2787.

SEATING

• Groups will be seated by ushers upon arrival.
• Seating is determined by many factors. Accessibility needs, group size, and grade level are all taken into account when seating charts are created.
• Please allow ushers to seat your entire group before rearranging student seating and taking groups to the bathroom, etc.
• If you have an absent student please see an usher about a student voucher.

IN THE THEATRE

• Notify the nearest usher if there is a medical emergency.
• After the performance please remain in your seats. Schools will be dismissed through the PA system. When your school is dismissed an usher will guide you to the correct door.
• While dismissal is happening, actors will be on stage to answer questions from the audience.
• When leaving remind students to look for all hats, coats, mittens etc.
• When at the Paramount please count students as they board the bus so that the bus can leave the front of the building as soon as possible.

AFTER LEAVING THE THEATRE

• After the performance an email will be sent to the person who reserved the seats.
• Let us know what you think of the show! Feedback from students and staff is always appreciated. Letters can be mailed to: GREAT Theatre, 710 Sundial Drive, Waite Park, MN 56387 or email colinn@GreatTheatre.org
• If you have any additional questions, please call GREAT at 320-258-2787 or email our Education Manager – ColinN@GREATTheatre.org