Imagination Celebration’s history of presenting music, dance, and theater:
(All productions presented at the Pikes Peak Center unless otherwise noted.)
1989 Chewing the Blues* starring blues musicians Phil Wiggins and John Cephas.
1990 The KanKouran West African Dancers
1991 Romeo and Juliet* performed by The Acting Company from New York City at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center; The Magical Opera Tour, produced by KCIC with the Children’s Chorale.
1992 The Erick Hawkins Dance Company* from New York City
1993 Sing for Freedom* with Kim and Reggie Harris; Beauty and Beast, produced by KCIC with Sierra High School. The production also toured to Canon City and Pueblo.
1994 The KanKouran West African Dance Company (encore!).
1995 Dylan Pritchett*, historian and master storyteller, presented a two-week residency in the schools; Captain Riddle and the Dragon’s Maze, a production featuring local talent and presented by the Smokebrush Theater and funded by KCIC.
1996 D’CüCKOO, an acoustic/computer-assisted musical company from California funded by KCIC Underwriters; Pepito’s Story, an original production from the Kennedy Center which was produced by KCIC of Colorado Springs, choreographed by Debbie Allen and featured the talents of local young people. Made possible with funding from MCI.
1997 A Kaleidoscope of Tales to Tell, an original production produced by KCIC,
featuring local young people; Dylan Pritchett returned to Colorado Springs for
another residency in the schools.
1998 The Rhythm Maker and the Storyteller, an original production produced by KCIC,
featuring 99 local young people, along with Tony Coppola, dancer and choreographer, as The Rhythm Maker and Dylan Pritchett as The Storyteller. Dylan remained as an artist-in-residence and performed in four schools; Dream Alive with Kim and Reggie Harris who also conducted a teacher workshop.
1999 Taiko Ensemble of Drummers from our sister-city, Fujiyoshida, Japan, presented four student performances; Music of the Underground Railroad with Kim and Reggie Harris. They conducted a teacher workshop a residency at Carmel Middle School funded by the Edmondson Foundation and the Junior League; A Rainforest Odyssey, an original, multi-media ballet presented by David Taylor Dance Theatre and funded by KCIC Underwriters.
2000 Fangalangus Island by the High Performance Dance Company and a Robotics
Workshop for Jr. High students.
2001 Pucci:Sport, an innovative dance program from New York City; Alexander and
the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day* musical performance and teacher
workshop based on the award-winning book by Judith Viorst; The Hungry
Caterpillar and the Very Quiet Cricket puppet show by the Mermaid Theatre of
Nova Scotia – based on the popular children’s books by author Eric Carle –
performed at the City Auditorium.
2002 Reading Rainbow and The Boxcar Children by Theatreworks USA from New York City; Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse* from the John F Kennedy Center with Tom Mallan conducting a teacher workshop based on the Kevin Henkes book; internationally known mime Dan Kamin in the Magic of Mime with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Orchestra; and Colorado Connections celebrating the artists and students who benefited from the CCA Touring grant to the southern parts of the state. All were part of our first Family Theatre Season.
2003 The Haunted Orchestra with internationally known mime Dan Kamin and the Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale; Harlem*, a celebration of the Harlem Renaissance, by the Kennedy Center on Tour; Goodnight Opus, a black-light puppet production by the Mermaid Theater of Nova Scotia; Free Family Festival Day featuring the Green Chili Jam Band; Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland performed by the American Family Theater: Broadway for Kids from Philadelphia.
2004 Very Eric Carle, a black light puppet production by the Mermaid Theater of Nova Scotia; Sarah, Plain & Tall by American Family Theater; The Nightingale by the John F. Kennedy Center on Tour; Anne of Green Gables, produced locally by the Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration of Colorado Springs; Peter & the Wolf and Other Favorites, presented as KCIC’s Free Family Festival Day, featuring performances by the Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale, Colorado Springs Youth Symphony and the Pikes Peak Performance Company. Other performances included Fred Garbo’s Inflatable Theater in collaboration with the Colorado Springs Dance Theater and the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats in collaboration with the Pikes Peak Center.
2005 The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats; The Gruffalo by Kids Entertainment from Canada; Pippi Longstocking by American Family Theater from Philadelphia; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* by the Kennedy Center on Tour from Washington, DC; Amelia Bedelia for Mayor & Other Stories by TheatreWorks USA from New York City; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by TheatreWorks USA from New York City; and Colorado Connections, presented as KCIC’s Free Family Festival Day, in collaboration with the Colorado Springs Children’s Chorale and the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony and featuring Jim Jackson, Birgitta DePree, The Thin Air Poetry Slam, the Canon City Show Choir and over 200 young people from Canon City, Cripple Creek, Divide, Ellicott, Lake George, Pagosa Springs, Peyton and Victor.
2006 The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats; Alexander, Who’s Not Not Not Not Not NOT Going to Move* by the Kennedy Center on Tour from Washington, D.C.; Gold Rush by Theatreworks USA from New York City; Color Me Dark* by the Kennedy Center on Tour from Washington, D.C.; Amber Brown is Not a Crayon by ArtsPower from New Jersey; Junie B. Jones from Theatreworks USA from New York City; and Cirkoo Hullabaloo, featuring Jim Jackson, Birgitta DePree and the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony.
2007 Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka* by the Kennedy Center on Tour from Washington, D.C.; Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by TheatreWorks USA from New York City; If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by the Omaha Theater Company for Young People; Harry the Dirty Dog by ArtsPower from New Jersey; Berenstain Bears on Stage by Omaha Theater Company for Young People; Alice* by the Kennedy Center on Tour from Washington, D.C.; Free Family Festival Day: Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles.
2008 A Children’s Rainforest Odyssey by David Taylor Dance Theatre from Denver, CO; Katie Couric’s The Brand New Kid* by the Kennedy Center from Washington, D.C.; Aesop’s Fables by the Manitou Art Theater from Manitou Springs, CO; Miss Nelson Has a Field Day by the Omaha Theater Company for Young People; The Velveteen Rabbit by Enchantment Theater from Philadelphia, PA; If You Give a Pig a Party by the Dallas Children’s Theater on Tour.
2009 James and the Giant Peach by TheaterworksUSA of New York City; The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley by The Road Company of New York City; Junie B. Jones by TheaterworksUSA of New York City.
2010 Laura Ingalls Wider by ArtsPower from New Jersey; A Year with Frog and Toad by The Road Company of New York City; Nate the Great by Theaterworks USA of New York City.
2011 If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by The Brad Simon Organization, Inc. from New York; Tales to Tell: A Swinging Jungle Tale in collaboration with Steve Barta, Mark Oblinger, and the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs; Pippi Longstocking by American Family Theater, Inc. from Philadelphia.
2012 Lil’ Pete and the Coyote by Imagination Celebration in collaboration with Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Youth Symphony, and the Ballet Society of Colorado Springs; Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by Dallas Children’s Theater from Dallas; Stuart Little by Sign Stage on Tour from Philadelphia.
2013 Treasure Island by Dallas Children’s Theater; The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Dallas Children’s Theater
2014 The Ugly Duckling, Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats
2015 The Great Mountain (Red Sky Native American productions), The Cat in the Hat
2016 The Big Friendly Giant a Dallas Children’s Theater National Touring Production, Bill Blagg’s Science of Magic
2017 Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, a Dallas Children’s Theater National Touring Production; Skippy Jon Jones Snow What, performed by Theaterworks USA of New York.
2018 How I Became a Pirate, a Dallas Children’s Theater National Touring Production