Among the many entries in the upcoming series for "young audiences and their families" are three world premieres: Color Me Dark, a co-commission between the Kennedy Center and Scholastic Entertainment Inc.; the new kids musical, Alexander, Who's Not, Not, Not, Not, Not, Not Going to Move; and Jeff Stetson's play Love You Better, which will star Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad.

Jerome Hairston's Color Me Dark kicks off the Imagination Celebration Oct. 10 at the Kennedy Center's Theater Lab. Recommended for ages nine and older, the play is based on Patricia C. McKissack's novel about a young African-American girl who moves from Tennessee to Chicago in 1919.

Alexander, Who's Not, Not, Not, Not, Not, Not Going to Move will play the Terrace Theater Dec. 19-29. Written by Judith Viorst and Shelly Markham, the musical concerns the young Alexander who can't bear the notion of leaving his best friend as his family prepares to move "a thousand miles away."

Love You Better — starring sisters and actors Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad — will play the Terrace Theatre April 2-9, 2004. Jeff Stetson's play concerns two women who — in the midst of a family tragedy — "confront their mutual differences and transcend their individual concerns to discover the healing power of family."

Among the numerous other entries in the celebration are Ballet Austin's The Taming of the Shrew (Jan. 2-4, 2004), Cyrano (March 19-April 4, 2004), an operatic adaptation of The Emperor's New Clothes (Dec. 19-26) and sign-interpreted performances of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree (Feb. 6-8, 2004). For more information about the 2003-2004 Imagination Celebration, visit www.kennedy-center.org.