Published July 07, 2019

Emerson Theater Collaborative (ETC) celebrates its 11th season this year and announces their Summer Youth Theater Program production of "To Bee or Not To Bee and Other Bug Tales," written by Lisa Giordano with original songs composed by Lisa Giordano, and with additional music by Music Director Kala Farnham.

The production will be performed at First United Methodist Church, 23 Willow Street, Mystic, at 7 p.m. July 26 and 27 and at 3 p.m. July 28. The play is directed by Stephanie Donnelly, produced by Lisa Giordano and sponsored by The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut and the New London Education Foundation.

Students from New London, Groton, Mystic, Montville and Norwich will be taking the stage in the production.

Tickets are $15 general admission. They can be purchased in advance at the website: www.emersontheatercollaborative.org under Mystic Shows and Events or by calling (860) 705-9711.

From metamorphosis to pollination, bioluminescence to migration, "To Bee or Not To Bee and Other Bug Tales" takes the audience on an hour-long musical and theatrical journey through the lives of the insects that live around us.

Director Stephanie Donnelly is currently working as a middle school theatre teacher in Springfield, Mass. She has also taught theater at Beacon Charter High School for the Arts and spent three years as the artistic and technical director at Saint Bernard School and one year as summer theater teacher and director at the Chestnut Hill School near Boston. At Emerson Theater Collaborative she is a member of the board and has done a variety of theater work.

Lisa Giordano is a playwright, director, an artist, and former scientist. She is a co-founder, co-vice president, the resident playwright and publicity director of the Emerson Theater Collaborative. Giordano is a current member of the Dramatist Guild, and her plays have been performed regionally and honored nationally.

Kala Farnham is a classically trained pianist and vocalist. She is currently choir and music director at The Unitarian Universalist church of Westborough, Mass., as well as a recent alumnus of The Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, where she received the opportunity to work under the guidance of Broadway and Billboard Top 40 songwriters.

The Emerson Theater Collaborative’s mission is to serve youth, under-represented communities and artists with an emphasis on diversity, by producing innovative and thought-provoking theater in southeastern Connecticut.