Festivals a Family Affair

Children don’t have to be left out of this year’s arts festivals--music, art, theater, dance, storytelling and puppetry geared for all ages make the arts a family attraction.

Many Los Angeles Festival events promise to be child-pleasers, offering discounted tickets for those under age 12. Among the ticketed events: A 40-foot tall marionette is part of the Bread and Puppet Theater’s production of “Uprising of the Beast,” a play about the environment that takes place in a cavernous airplane hangar at the Santa Monica Air Center on Sept. 14-15.

“Puppets and Dragons” can be found at the L.A. County Arboretum in Arcadia on Sept. 4 and 11 at 8 p.m., with Java’s Wayang Kulit shadow puppet play, and on Sept. 7 at UCLA’s Sunset Canyon Amphitheatre with the Shadow Play Theater Company and the puppets of Bali.

Also at the Sunset Amphitheatre are “Native Dance of North America,” Sept. 4; “Ancient Dance of Oceania,” Sept. 6; “Make a Joyous Noise” with the Johnson Gospel Choir, Faithful Central Missionary Choir and St. Brigid’s Catholic Church Youth Choir, Sept. 8; and on Sept. 9, the music of “Andean Winds” with Huayucaltia.

If the family budget won’t stretch another nickel, free events are offered in abundance. Dance, music, puppetry and pageantry for all ages can be found during the Opening festivities Saturday through Monday at Angels Gate and Point Fermin Parks in San Pedro and at the African Marketplace in Rancho Cienega Park and on Sunday at Olvera Street and Chinatown.

Among the groups scheduled to perform free at Griffith Park on the old zoo grounds Sept. 8-9, from noon on, are the Bread and Puppet Theatre; Huayucaltia, the Woomera Mornington Island Culture Team dancers and the Zenshuji Zendeko drummers.

On Sept. 8, the Children of Bali will bring dance, music and games to Plaza de la Raza, while the Zenshuji Zendeko taiko drummers perform at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Head for sunny Santa Monica Pier on Sept. 15-16 and watch the Gujo Hachiman-style of bonodori dancing. On Sept. 15 only, on the steps of City Hall, La Banda Sinoloense Mazatlan and Ecos de Chiapas la Familia Cruz celebrate the Mexican holiday El Grito with music and dance.

The Los Angeles Festival wrap-up on Sept. 15-16 at beautiful Descanso Gardens, offers international musicians and dancers in outdoor settings. One small entry fee admits you and your family.

Meanwhile, Open Festival events target young audiences directly and are either free or very modestly priced. A sampling: Imaginative costumes highlight a retelling of “The Fisherman and the Koi” at the Long Beach Community Playhouse’s Studio Theatre on Saturday. An adaptation of a classic Japanese fable, the 30-minute show will be followed by short acting workshops. Before the performance, the Children’s Theatre Ensemble cast makes young audience members feel comfortable with the theater experience by putting on costumes and applying makeup onstage.

Theaterworks with an environmental theme are popular. On Sept. 8, the audience participatory “World Within Worlds” will be held at the Enchanted Forest Theater in Woodland Hills, and at Coldwater Canyon Park in Beverly Hills, TreePeople Family Theater’s “TR*A*S*H, a comedy of “epidemic proportions” takes place. The evening includes music, refreshments and special guests and is preceded by “Family Day at TreePeople,” an afternoon of puppetry, arts and crafts, tours and tree planting.

“Gift Rap,” originally a South Coast Repertory Educational Touring production, plays Sept. 15-16 at the Encino Community Center. The musical fantasy about kids who find more than they bargain for at the shopping mall, is directed by one of the original actors, Peter Ellenstein, and will use South Coast Repertory’s sets and costumes.

Even adults can get in a “tell me a story” mood with professional storytellers who spin tales of humor and high drama. On Sept. 16, three veteran spellbinders, Milbre Burch, Angela Lloyd and David Novak--known as the Triple Crown Tellers--will perform “Voices at the Water’s Edge--Tales from the Pacific Rim” at 1 and 3 p.m. at Occidental College, for adults and school-age children. The stories, with music, include folk tales from New Zealand, Alaska, Taiwan, India and from the Hispanic culture.

Puppetry is popular in the Open Festival too. “The Jerry Dinosaur Show” and “Canine Capers” with the humorous Wonderworld Puppets, will take place at the Torrance Community Theatre on Sept. 8 and 15; the Sierra Puppet Theater, bringing Native American legends to life in “Coyote Tales,” performs at the Santa Monica Public Library on Sunday.

Why just sit and watch? Children and parents can get creative at a number of venues, including the Westside Arts Center on the Santa Monica Pier on Sept. 15, where the public can create free “Fish Art”: an underwater mural, fish prints, masks and more.

For a higher ticket price, there’s the sheer spectacle and “ooh-ah” feeling of the Shanghai Acrobats and the Imperial Warriors of the Peking Opera. They will go through their amazing paces at Warner Grand Theatre on Sept. 11 and 12.

For information on these and other L.A. Festival and Open Festival events, call (213) 688-ARTS.