Imagine getting a little help from your friends in a crisis — friends from the books you read as a child. That’s what happens in Recommended Reading for Girls, the next production of the El Paso Community Foundation Jewel Box Series at the Philanthropy Theatre.

The performance is at 2:30 pm Sunday, November 12 in the Philanthropy Theatre on the second floor of the Plaza Theatre Performing Arts Centre complex.

General admission tickets are $15 at the Plaza Theatre Box Office and $15 plus service charges at Ticketmaster.com.

Directed by Rachel Mullins and featuring seven talented El Paso actresses, Star on the Mountain Theatrical Productions’ version of the Ellen Struve comedy-drama is a love letter to family and literature that brims with humor and heart. Amy Saunders already has a lot on her mind when she arrives at her childhood home — a broken heart, a recent layoff, and her mother’s chemotherapy. Things get weird when characters from her favorite childhood novels begin showing up, including Anne of Green Gables, The Little Princess, and Heidi. Pregnant sister Jackie sees them, too.

In its eighth season, the Jewel Box Series was created in partnership with El Paso Live in 2014 to host local performing artists and groups in that jewel box of a venue, the Philanthropy Theatre in the Plaza Theatre Performing Arts Centre.

Here’s a rundown of the remaining 2023-2024 season shows:

• An Afternoon of Comedy, Lando VC & Friends (2:30 pm Sunday, December 10, 2023) — Church Bar comedy host Lando VC returns to the Jewel Box with a new group of stand-up comedians.

• Gary Johnson, Live!, Gary Johnson (2:30 pm Sunday, January 14, 2024) — You’ll hear traces of Bob Dylan, Leo Kottke and more in the well-traveled singer, songwriter, and finger-picking guitarist’s intimate performance.

• Dare (me) to be … stuspid!, Border Theatre (2:30 pm Sunday, February 11, 2024) — Border Theatre returns with an improvisational piece built around three one-act plays connected by a 16-year-old trying to create her own narrative in a world of peer, social media, and other pressures.

• Al’s Club, Teatro Neplanta (2:30 pm Sunday, March 10, 2024) — El Paso’s newest theater group debuts an original work by playwright Matt Bianchi that takes place in a bar and deals with ego, faith, addiction, drunk driving, and life’s universal questions.

• The Scarecrow, KESSTO Kreatures (2:30 pm Sunday, April 14, 2024) — This original variation of The Wizard of Oz by puppeteer, playwright, teacher, and Jim Henson Foundation grant recipient Anthony Michael Stokes follows His Majesty the Scarecrow as he tries to save his country from a growing horde of crows.

• Arabica, Light Rain and Sisters of the Moon (2:30 pm Sunday, May 12, 2024) — Two names long associated with music (Doug Adamz and Light Rain) and belly dance (Leilania Marcus and Sisters of the Moon) transport you with a timeless romance between ethereal music and mysterious dance.

Contact:

Kathrin Berg, Executive Vice President, El Paso Community Foundation, 915-533-4020, kberg@epcf.org

Doug Pullen, Program Director, El Paso Community Foundation, 915-533-4020, dpullen@epcf.org

Rudy Vasquez, Marketing Director, El Paso Community Foundation, 915-533-4020, rvasquez@epcf.org