New Play Brunch – Grace & The Butterfly Effect

Join us for brunch, bottomless mimosas and a brand new play reading! The event will run from 11AM-1PM.

THE PLAY:

As Grace practices for her dance recital, she knocks down the fence between her dad’s pristine backyard and her neighbor Mr. Hertz’s wildflower garden. Mr. Hertz is apoplectic because she has crushed his milkweed plants — the only place endangered monarch butterflies lay their eggs. After Grace finds three monarch butterfly eggs on a broken plant, she decides to raise them. But she can’t find any milkweed to feed the caterpillars. Persuading her friends and family to make sacrifices to protect the butterflies’ habitat is even harder. With Mr. Hertz’s encouragement, Grace uses the dance recital to speak for the butterflies. Everyone learns that they too can change – just like monarchs do.

GRACE AND THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT is a family musical. Kids of all ages will identify with our ten-year-old hero Grace as she struggles to fit in and live up to her name. She takes on the challenge of raising monarch butterflies. But that means protecting their habitats. If climate change overwhelms adults, can a kid like Grace make a difference? Our musical says yes. Grace learns that even small actions can lead to big changes. That is the Butterfly Effect.

Spending two weeks at the 2024 Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals enabled us to take GRACE from a rough outline to a complete script and score. We’re excited to share our work to date, as part of B Street Theatre’s NEW PLAY BRUNCH series.

THE PLAYWRIGHTS:

Greg Alexander - B Street's Director of Education and Core Company Member

Clifford Lee Johnson III - Theatre Producer (clj3.com)

Jane Kelley - Children's Book Author (janekelleybooks.com)