Hey, Kiddo, bring it onstage
Children’s author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka had put together an impressive resume before last year, publishing over 30 titles that ranged from picture books for young children to the “Lunch Lady” series of graphic novels for elementary school students.
But Krosoczka, who lives in Florence, took his game to a new level in 2018 with the publication of “Hey, Kiddo,” a graphic memoir for older readers that recounted his difficult childhood in Worcester, in which he was raised mostly by his grandparents, Joe and Shirley, because his mother, Leslie, struggled with heroin addiction. His story received widespread praise and was a finalist for a National Book Award for young people’s literature.
Now the book gets a theatrical treatment of sorts at Northampton’s Academy of Music on Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m. In “Hey, Kiddo: Live & Unabridged,” art from the book will be projected on a large screen while 10 people, including Krosoczka (as the narrator), read the full story, taking the parts of key people in his book, the ones who shaped his life: his grandparents; an older sister, Holly; his best friend, Pat; and several others.
Three different people, including Krosoczka’s oldest daughter, Zoe, will read the parts of Krosoczka as a kid, a tween and an older adolescent, and the cast will include Monte Belmonte, of The River/WRSI-FM, as Joe, and fellow Northampton children’s author Jeanne Birdsall (“The Penderwicks”) as Shirley.
In the end, “Hey, Kiddo” is a story, as program notes put it, of “family addiction, redemption, and the saving power of art,” in particular Krosoczka’s commitment from a young age to becoming an artist as a means of dealing with the emotional struggles he faced growing up.
Tickets are $15 at the door and $10 in advance and can be purchased through aomtheatre.com. Doors for the show open at 6:30 p.m.
Dancing for the whole family
Spring brings signs of renewal, such as new greenery on trees and flowers in the ground (and lighter clothes for all of us when and if the rain stops falling). The new season also brings a fresh body of work from The Hatchery, the preprofessional dance school for young people ages 13-18 that’s run by the School for Contemporary Dance & Thought (SCD&T) in Northampton.
Tonight (Friday), May 31, and Saturday, June 1, dancers from The Hatchery will present their new show, which features 17 area teens who have studied this spring with two guest artists, Cameron McKinney of Kizuna Dance Company of New York, and Joy Davis of Boston (she’s also been a visiting faculty member at Smith College).
The young dancers have also worked with Hatchery co-directors Jennifer Polins and Jenny Bennet to prepare for what’s billed as a family friendly show.
Polins, the founder of SCD&T, says Hatchery dancers receive “rigorous training in contemporary techniques,” with an emphasis on developing their choreographic voices and preparing them for the “versatile demands of a professional career inside and outside the studio,” as press notes put it.
Friday’s show begins at 7 p.m., while Saturday offers two performances, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., at SCD&T, 25 Main St. in Northampton. Tickets range from $5 to $15 depending on age and whether purchased at the door or in advance; you can do the latter at scdtnoho.com/hatchery.html.
And if you can’t make any of these shows, you can catch a bonus performance at Jacob’s Pillow on Saturday, June 8 at noon.
— Steve Pfarrer