March 29, 2007
Curtain call; More holidays not on the calendar
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Earth Day is April 22.
Next year, a cool new festival is coming to Los Angeles -- and its focus is all about kids. The Festival of New American Musicals, coming in May 2008, brings Broadway to the West Coast with the premiere of musicals, like "Sarah, Plain and Tall" and an opera version of "The Grapes of Wrath."
The festival's producers say that the goal is to "bring new musicals into the schools and students into the theaters." YeLAdim had the chance to hear some songs from the new shows performed by theater greats like Stephen Schwartz ("Wicked") and Jason Alexander ("The Producers"). The productions will be playing all over the area at theaters, concert halls and schools.
For more information on how to get your school involved, visit www.lafestival.org.
Holidays NOT on the calendar
In addition to the holidays you might already be observing in April, like Passover and Holocaust Remembrance Day, why not add some of these?
April 5: National Read a Road Map Day
It's Chol HaMoed Pesach and spring break, which means a lot of vacations are going on right now. Encourage your parents, grandparents, sibling or whomever is doing the driving to read a map before getting in the car. They might be surprised at how much faster it is to get somewhere.
April 26: Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day
Learn what mom or dad does when you are at school. You'd be surprised what happens during their day, and you might appreciate all they do for you a bit more. Take notes and maybe you can write it up for extra credit.
April 30: National Honesty Day
Is it possible to go a whole day without lying to anyone about anything? Now that doesn't mean today you tell your best friend how much you hate her new hairstyle ... it just means that when your parents ask you why you got a C on a test, you fess up that it is because you didn't study.
Honor and celebrate the earth everyday!
Earth Day is coming up on April 22, and one of yeLAdim's favorite books about helping the world is "50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth" (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1990). It's got cool facts about helping the earth and ways the whole family can pitch in (like cutting the plastic holders on cans). Why not ask for it this year as an afikomen present?
Wanna see your name in print?
YeLAdim is bringing you more movies, books, music and TV show reviews than ever before. If you have a review you've written (or want to write) or have heard of something that you want us to know about, e-mail kids@jewishjournal.com. You'll be famous, and your parents and grandparents will have something to hang on their fridge.
