Curriculum Connections
Relationships and family, Mexican culture and history, traditional music and dance.
California State Standards
RL.2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
RI.6.3 Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).
Performance Description
Back on our Student Matinee season for the third time since 2018, this production is an audience favorite!
SUGAR SKULL! A Día de Muertos Musical Adventure! is a bilingual/bicultural musical adventure! Through traditional music and dance from Mexico, we learn the story of twelve-year-old Vita Flores. Vita thinks her family has gone loco planning a celebration for deceased loved ones. Why throw a party for the dead? But when a spirited candy skeleton suddenly springs to life, Vita finds herself on a magical, musical journey to unravel the true meaning of Día de Muertos. Meet Sugar Skull, a charismatic skeleton with a secret or two. With her new skeletal friend, Vita dances with ancient ancestors, sings with a sorrowful sorceress, escapes the trickster Chaneques, and even meets the famous Catrina Calavera. But can the clever young Vita gather the missing pieces needed for her family ofrenda before it's too late?
Written by Gregory Van Acker
Musical Arrangements and Orchestrations by Sinuhé Padilla
Produced by Rhythm of the Arts
