Rochester In Focus: ‘Imagination Station’ to hold Red Carpet Premiere at The Little Theatre

What started as a popular children’s story hour is taking the big screen Monday, December 6 at The Little Theatre in Downtown Rochester. Imagination Station with Mrs. Kasha Davis is now a children’s television series that celebrates diversity, inclusion, and all things Rochester in the style of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

"We started to do the story hour live at Blackfriars to small crowds and it grew, and grew, and grew," said Mrs. Kasha Davis, an internationally-renowned drag queen created by Ed Popil. "It grew to hundreds of children of all ages coming to the story, and the craft, and the dance party, and the original music that we started to create. Well, as we all know the world began to change, and so did our imagination."

Amid pandemic shutdowns, Davis and the creative team behind Drag Story Hour began streaming the event on social media. Then over the summer, Mrs. Kasha Davis, Blackfriars Theatre, and production company Fish & Crown Creative teamed up to adapt Drag Story Hour for television. Davis says the themes of the new television show come from real-life situations and the style harkens back to a golden age of children’s programming.

"The whole writing process came very much from my real life with Mr. Davis and our home," said Mrs. Kasha Davis. "And those 1960’s sitcoms where there’s a predicament, you know, something is happening, and the only solution is to call our librarian who’s available 24 hours a day, and whereupon we find a book that can help us to solve the predicament."

Each episode features a book by a different children’s author. The dynamic, multi-talented team behind Imagination Station has filmed four episodes so far, and Monday’s Red Carpet Premiere will feature the first two. Davis says the creative team is currently in the process of pitching the show to streaming platforms, and Monday night will be the first chance for the public to get a glimpse at the new show.

"You get to see where we’re at, and what we’ve been presenting, and what we will continue to present to streaming platforms," said Mrs. Kasha Davis. "We’ve got two very interested, but you know, it’s a process. The bottom line is it’s happening."

What: Red Carpet Premiere of Imagination Station with Mrs. Kasha Davis
Where: The Little Theatre, 240 East Ave, Rochester NY 14604
When: 7 p.m. on Monday, December 6
For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

"It’s about expressing, you know, your truest, most genuine self," said Davis, explaining one of Imagination Station‘s major themes. "My mother taught me at a very early age — I like to say this as much as possible — that after you brush your teeth you look in the mirror and day ‘I love you,’ because when you love yourself everything is possible."