This fantastical tale weaves biographic elements of Hans Christian Andersen’s childhood with his famous stories: The Nightingale, Thumbelina and more. As a boy Hans Christian was considered odd, but the beauty of his fairy tales enchanted all those around him. This is the story of the author as a boy who was an ugly duckling and became a swan. In collaboration with the brilliant marionette artist, Dave Herzog, you’re family will fall in love with this creation by Artistic Associate Ernie Nolan.

More about Fairy Tale Life

From Ernie - the show’s Director

I hope this play is a dialogue for adults and kids about feeling like an outsider... or "different"... how every one feels like that at some time... and that's OK... in fact... what makes us different is a thing to celebrate!...Hans Christian Andersen spent most of his youth feeling out of place from the world around him. But he stayed committed to his dreams of being an author thanks to some special people that encouraged him. That is our message for both parent and child.

From Jackie - our Education Director

Parents and Teachers, we’ll be exploring these themes in this show:

• The Outsider (“I’m an ugly duckling”)
• Following your dreams
• Thinking outside the box
• We’ll also be connecting to History, Biography, Language Arts, Music, Dance and Puppetry