Ashley Manning of Randallstown, Md. Takes the Stage in a Family Panto Performance of Jack and the Beanstalk at McDaniel College

2013 Nov 25

In celebration of the holiday season, McDaniel College presents an original British panto performance of the beloved fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk." Ashley Manning, a junior from Randallstown, Md., is included in the cast.

Performances are Thursday, December 19, and Friday, December 20, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, December 21, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., in WMC Alumni Hall at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster, Md.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for seniors, students, and those with a McDaniel College ID. (Please note: tickets are on sale beginning Monday, December 16.) For ticket information, call 410-857-2448.

Adapted and directed by Ira Domser, McDaniel theatre arts professor, the panto is a British holiday tradition based on a fairy tale or nursery rhyme combining audience participation with music, topical jokes, and slapstick comedy.

According to Domser, "We are creating a new take on this classic, familiar fairy tale by injecting a bit of Vaudeville sensibility, contemporary references and audience participation. The whole family will love this panto-style performance, which combines the slapstick comedy of Commedia dell'Arte with the clever humor of Benny Hill and Monty Python's aFlying Circus.'"

For more information, call 410-857-2448. Visit www.mcdaniel.edu for more information about the college and the theatre arts department.

Synopsis:

Times are hard for young Jack and his mother, and, to make matters worse, Jack is tricked into selling his beloved cow Daisy for a few magic beans. But, when those beans grow into a beanstalk, Jack meets an evil Giant and finds himself in a whole new realm of trouble, thrills and adventure.

Will Jack find the courage to battle the Giant? Will he find the strength to rescue the girl of his dreams? The only way to find out is to join us on this fun-filled holiday journey!

McDaniel College, recognized nationally among 40 "Colleges That Change Lives" and U.S. News top-tier liberal arts colleges, is a four-year private college of the liberal arts and sciences offering more than 70 undergraduate programs of study, including dual and student-designed majors, plus 25 highly regarded graduate programs. Its hallmark faculty-student collaborations in research,teaching and mentoring plus hundreds of leadership and service opportunities enrich a lively learning experience that is rooted in a personalized interdisciplinary and global curriculum. Innovative January courses take students to points all over the world while McDaniel's degree-granting European campus offers a unique opportunity for international study at the only American university in Budapest, Hungary. A diverse and close-knit community of 1,600 undergraduates and 1,560 part-time graduate students, McDaniel also boasts a spectacular 160-acre hilltop campus in Westminster, Md., an hour or less from Baltimore, D.C., the Chesapeake Bay, an Amtrak station and BWI international airport.