Pin It
kitchen emmettandella

Kitchen Theatre Company is going to the dogs! with the musical adventure Emmett & Ella's Big Apple Escapade. Performances are on Saturdays April 29th and May 6th at 1 & 3pm.

Emmett is a hound dog, Ella's got some retriever in her, and Louella Smythe-Trappe is a lady who loves her dogs and loves to sing. When Louella's lifelong dream of singing at Radio City Music Hall in New York City becomes a reality, Emmett and Ella are shocked to learn that she isn't planning on bringing them along. The dogs hatch a plan to follow her, leading to a wild, unexpected, Big Apple escapade full of song, dance and interesting characters along the way.

Emmett is played by Benno Ressa, a newcomer to Ithaca previously seen as Uncle Howard in the FitzandStartz Production of Adventure in Apartment G#. Opera Ithaca apprentice artist Sarah Welden lends her beautiful voice to the role of Ella, and Louella Smythe-Trappe is played by Opera Ithaca Apprentice Director Ellen Jackson. Kitchen Theatre Company's Managing Director Stephen Nunley and Lehman Alternative School senior Rachel Frank play multiple roles in the play.

Playwright/lyricist Rachel Lampert, Kitchen Theatre Company's Artistic Director and co-Director of FitzandStartz Productions, has authored many original productions for family audiences (Winter Tales, The Mozart Mystery, I Have a Song to Sing O!, A December Suite, The Sisters Fitzenstarts Fall Recital, Adventure in Apartment G#, and Fools! Schmools! among others) and adaptations (The Odyssey parts I & II, A Christmas Carol, Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore and The Mikado). Lampert also serves as the director of this play.

Composer Lesley Greene is co-Director of FitzandStartz Productions and Associate Producing Director at Kitchen Theatre Company. She has composed music for Kitchen Theatre productions of Physics Fair, Winter Tales, Park Play, Fools! Schmools!, and more.

Music Director Travis Knapp is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter originally from Clinton, NY. He studied piano at Ithaca College ('07), and now lives in Erin, NY. He is also a vegetable gardener and touring bicyclist.

Emmett & Ella's Big Apple Escapade is great for all ages.

v13i15
Pin It