sugar skull resources

Sugar Skull! A Día de Muertos Musical Adventure is a joyous, heartfelt adventure that delves into the rich, tuneful traditions of Día a de Muertos, an annual celebration in Mexican and Latin American culture. In this bilingual musical, audiences witness twelve-year-old Vita Flores as she embarks on a magical journey to honor her ancestors. 

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 who guides Vita as she dances with ancient ancestors, sings with a sorrowful sorceress, escapes the trickster Chaneques, and even meets the famous Catrina Calavera. But can Vita gather the missing pieces needed for her family ofrenda before it’s too late?

Sugar Skull! A Día de Muertos Musical Adventure was developed by Rhythm of the Arts, Gregory Van Acker, Sinuhé Padilla, and Elena Aráoz, with Mexico Beyond Mariachi. Rhythm of the Arts was founded in 2005 in NYC to provide a platform for culturally specific performing arts companies to reach greater audiences.

ACERCA DEL NJPAC EN EL MIC PODCAST

NJPAC On the Mic invites your students to expand their experience of attending a SchoolTime Performances show. We provide three podcast episodes for each production, suitably aligned with New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) and New Jersey Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies. With NJPAC on the Mic, the learning begins before—and continues beyond—your visit to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center!

Cómo escuchar njpac en el podcast de micrófono

Episodio: ACERCA DE (5 minutos)
Listen to this audio via the embedded media below for an introduction to the performance, the artist or company, and the venue.

Episodio: CONECTAR (8 minutos)
Listen to this audio via the embedded media below for reflection questions, a closer look at an aspect of the performance such as historical context or background on the art form, and a brief selection of vocabulary words.

Episodio: FOCO (10 minutos)
Listen to this audio via the embedded media below for an exclusive interview with an artist from the production or an NJPAC staff member followed by discussion prompts.