Category: Character Values

Time Forges Onward

4/2/2021

It really is a small world. The other day, I learned that my neighbor's daughter is engaged to a young man with an unusual name. That name rang a bell for me. As if being roused from a deep sleep, the memories of a different time, a different place, and a different cast of characters came flooding back. I remembered that young man from when he was about age 10. He was in one of my Children's Theater productions back when I lived in Maryland.

Fourteen years ago now, a group of like-minded parents and I got together and helped our children put on a show. So many families wanted to be involved! All totaled, there were 75 children between the ages of 2 1/2 to 15. Fortunately, nearly all the parents, and even some interested bystanders, chipped in to lend a hand.

Never Cry Wolf is probably my most popular show. And it is easy to see why. It has a very FLEXIBLE CAST that can be expanded or diminished as needed. It has parts that can accommodate very young children without lowering the expectations of the young teenagers.

All of the cast members are busy throughout the entire 60 minute production. They are shown doing the daily WORK of people in ancient Greece. The activities of the Farmers, Shepherds, Soldiers, Merchants, Artisans, Servants, Weavers, Politicians, Sheep, the Family and even the Muses all show this slice of daily life from so long ago. The songs and dances are very fun, too.

The children in these pictures are no longer little kids. Many have grown up, gone to college, started their careers, served missions, travelled the world, gotten married, and some even have their own children now. But I like to remember who they were then. Too bad we can't stop the March of Time!

0 Comments

Creative Entertainment

3/15/2021

0 Comments

"We're practicing POSTURE so we can become princesses."
Megan and Maya were balancing heavy books on their heads as they paraded around the family room in their princess dresses. Their mother told me that each had gotten some money for Christmas. They studied online catalogues and finally found these dresses that fit their budgets. So they decided to buy them. Now they like to practice Princess skills --- like walking with perfect posture and having tea parties using their best manners.

When I went in to spy on them and take these pictures, they had set a beautiful table and even had Classical Music playing for ambience. These are such creative girls! Watching hours and hours of television or playing endless video games are just not permitted in this family except for brief periods in the evening. So, after homeschool activities and chores are done, these girls spend their free time creatively entertaining themselves. On my recent visit to their house in Pennsylvania, I got to watch this creative play for five days straight.

A different day they spent drawing, coloring and designing paper dolls. Megan told me that she really loved the book I sent them for Christmas about when I was young and loved to play with paper dolls. "We're making costumes, and sportswear and glamorous evening dresses --- just like in your book, Grandma!"

She knew just what to say to melt her Grandma's heart.

"We just aren't having a drawing contest!" added Maya.

Good girls! They understood the message of the story! (I love these girls!)

YouTube Video https://youtu.be/YSFDSr_w6lc

0 Comments

Being Happy is a Choice

3/9/2021

0 Comments

Being happy is a choice.

How many times in my life have I heard this? Too many times to enumerate, that's for sure!
Probably your mother told you this when you were growing up. I know I have found myself speaking (in my own mother's voice) these same words to my children --- especially the ones who did not want to wake up early for school --- or at 5:00 am to get ready for Early Morning Seminary.

My high school friend's mother used to wake her up by coming into her room singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" at the top of her lungs. My friend usually levitated very quickly in hopes that would STOP her mother's vocalizing.

While visiting my daughter's family last week in Pennsylvania, I took the opportunity to record four granddaughters singing some of my kid's songs. These girls were willing to learn 14 new songs for me. One of the songs was "Good Mornin' Sunshine" from the play The Tale of Chicken Licken. Nine-year-old Maya told me that this was her favorite song. "It just makes me happy, Grandma!" Maya likes "Good Mornin' Sunshine" because it is all about the animals on the farm, and she likes their little mini-farm.

Hen with hands

This family began raising chickens last Easter. Those eight chicks are now egg-laying hens. Apparently, they each have unique personalities and do some very silly, but entertaining things.

Recently, the girls thought it might be funny if the hens had HANDS. So their brother Tanner used his 3D printer and made little hands for the chickens.

The girls even put them on their own heads. Now if that isn't silly...

It brings a smile to your face and giggle to your heart, just like the song...

"Good Mornin' Sunshine" sung by Maya, Megan, Melanie, and Makayla.

0 Comments

The Musicians of Bremen Mini-Musical

2/21/2021

0 Comments

Sadness always comes at the passing of loved ones and people we may not have known personally, but have admired. Sadness (for us mainly) at not having them around to guide us anymore. Certainly not sadness for the ones who have passed. They are released from this world of pain and strife to a glorious reunion with God and their other loved ones on the other side. But we are still left with a feeling of needing to pick up the pieces and find a new way to carry on. Maybe I am just getting old enough myself to have known many great people who have fulfilled their time on earth. That doesn't really make the transitions any easier.

Several years ago now, I wrote a Mini-Musical "The Tale of the Musicians of Bremen." Until recently, I don't think I truly understood that story. I usually dismissed it as un-musical. Who wants to be entertained by animals with obnoxious voices who think they are great singers? In my adolescent thinking, I missed the entire point of the story.

From my more mature vantage point now, I think I am coming to understand it better. This story is about FEAR of CHANGE and facing GROWING OLD -- two topics that the young have no use for whatsoever. Young people are all about embracing CHANGE. And they are usually very EXCITED ABOUT GROWING OLDER. But for people who are truly facing OLD AGE, they encounter complications of ill-health, becoming useless and unwanted, and possibly dying alone.

These are pretty heavy themes, and not the normal stuff of Children's Theater Musicals.

So how can this story be told with songs and staged in a way that is entertaining? Can it actually show many layers of meaning so that those with ears to hear and eyes to see can understand -- but younger children can still find humor and feel joy?

Hopefully, through this mini-musical, the plight of the animals can be seen for what it is --- a fable about facing the universal fears of CHANGE and GROWING OLD with doses of humor and fun songs to delight audiences of many ages.

0 Comments

Lessons from Disappointments

1/29/2021

2 Comments

I was fortunate to grow up in a musical family with a very creative mother. She could make things happen, not just for her own children, but for anyone else who happened to be standing around. Because of her wonderful talents, she could take regular folks and make them feel like they could do anything --- sing, dance, paint scenery, sew costumes, write scripts, and so forth. In short, my mother was great at helping people gain confidence in themselves. And she was right there making them look good ---- usually from the PIANO BENCH. For example, she was always producing SHOWS --- for school groups, church groups, community groups, the neighborhood kids, her piano and voice students, as well as her own family. People loved her and were drawn to her, not just because of her marvelous talents, but because she genuinely LOVED PEOPLE.

Carolyn Lee with 5 of her 6 kids at Christmas in Ohio

Her immense talents could pose trouble for her children, though. Many times, we were passed over for special opportunities. Then, the "people in charge" felt that they had to explain. "Well, obviously your daughter (or son) was the most talented or qualified for this, but she will always have opportunities in her life. That's why we chose ________ instead." Because our family moved around the country a lot, the "people in charge" never saw that these "special opportunities" didn't really materialize for us.

I always wondered why the "people in charge" felt compelled to say things like that. Why didn't they just post the cast list? Why come to us to try to justify themselves in making their choice? It didn't make any of us feel better ---- quite the reverse.

Even in college, I ran into "people in charge" who acted this same way. For instance, I had auditioned for and been chosen to go on European tour as a singer with the jazz band. Then just before we were to leave, the "person in charge" came to me and said, "You are just too pretty and too good a singer for us. We have decided that you can't go after all." (I suppose that had that happened in more recent times, I would have been encouraged to bring up sexual harassment charges against him. But, we didn't know about things like that back then. I didn't even think I was all that pretty!)

Thank goodness, I was raised by a mother who instilled in us that we can grow from our disappointments --- even if we must use our God-given talents along different avenues. I may never know why I was passed over for so many desirable special opportunities in my life, but, I know enough about disappointments that I can go on despite them.

2 Comments

What to Do During the Pandemic Isolation

4/9/2020

2 Comments

So what exactly do you do when you have no schedule, no where you can go, and no one you can see? Read a book? Watch TV? Raid the refrigerator? Stare at the computer screen?

Okay, realistically all of the above.

But I was getting very tired of being stuck inside my house with nothing much to do. So, I started writing and drawing illustrations for a new Picture Book.

I have seven children and each of them told me that they expected I would write a story about them. Matthew's story "Is This Cowboy Food?" was first. It was the easiest to write because we have told that story over and over again for years. Katelyn's story "Who Will Be My Friend?" was also pretty easy to write because that was just her personality and those events really happened. Michael really had "Too Many Sisters" and Mitchell and Camilyn really had adventures on their "Wonderful, Marvelous, Magic Bunk Bed." But, I confess that I was having trouble thinking up the right stories for Kathryn and Carolyn.

Kathryn only liked baby dolls. She liked to dress them, and style their hair. She was not very imaginative though with their names. Every baby doll was named either Marie or Rose and she never acted out any stories with them. The only real story to tell about Kathryn seemed best told in a baby's board book. She liked tactile experiences. So a story about touching different kinds of fabrics or materials of varying textures and ending up with a page about braiding "hair" seemed the perfect story for her. But, I have limited resources as far as printing goes, so I scratched that idea.

Carolyn was such a unique personality that the stories to tell from her childhood seem too fantastic to be relatable to normal children. She started talking and singing songs at 8 months old. She could write her name at 18 months. And she could illustrate recognizable characters from the chapter books we read as a family before she turned 2. She often had "daymares" that terrified her. She claimed she had a haunted head. Once she used an entire ream of white copy paper, drawing just a few lines on each page, but when spread out all over the family room floor and taped together, she had created a puzzle depicting the three-ringed Barnum and Bailey Circus! She was then just 3 years old. Now, who in their right mind would believe any of that?

These two girls were so different, and yet their early lives were inextricably connected. Because our house was so small, they had to share a room. When they were very young, they were the logical playmates for each other, indeed, that was their only choice most days. They tried to play together, but their playing styles were very different. Many days were spent in struggles just trying to find something to do that they could enjoy together.

Ah ha! Lightbulb moment! That's their story!

So, I am now writing them a combined story about a typical day in their lives circa 1986. The working title is "Spin Around Dresses and Click Shoes."

Wouldn't you know the only inspiration picture I have been able to find from the right year is of the backs of their hair! (Oh, and baby Katelyn where is your pretty Spin Around dress?)

2 Comments

Stock Players and Audience Participation

3/11/2020

2 Comments

While watching an episode of "Father Brown" (a BBC mystery series) the other night, I realized that the story was set within the framework of Christmas Pantomime. Even though the plot was about a murder and the miscarriage of justice against a simple young man of the village, the setting was in the context of the community theater production of "Cinderella." The secondary plot lines revolved around the "regulars" being cast in this Christmas Pantomime.

"Pantomime is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale. Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers." (quoted from Wikipedia)

As the episode progressed, more and more of the pantomime was revealed. All of the elements were there --- the Every-man, a Love Interest, the Do-good characters, the Dame, the Villain, a Comic Duo who provide slapstick comedy, and at least one Funny Animal. In this case, the very large Funny Animal was played by two men dressed in a cow costume, and other funny animals were Mice played by little village children. I was interested especially at how the audience shouted out to the actors, or booed and hissed at the villains or other things that they did not approve. Unfortunately, there were many things about that production that I would have wanted to "boo and hiss."

The idea of Pantomime was to provide Family Friendly entertainment. Had I been in the audience, I am afraid that I would not have enjoyed the crude, lewd and rude "humor." I definitely would disagree that the treatment of the subject matter was Family Friendly. Where the concepts of how to mount a Pantomime are good, the way some productions are directed can definitely lack wholesome moral values. No amount of dressing up in gorgeous costumes and brilliantly painted scenery can mask that lack of moral decency.

So glad that the elements of Old English Pantomime can be used as a framework for stories told with good character morals. KINDNESS is the value presented in the Bailey Kids Musical "The Adventures of Dick Whittington."
My idea of family friendly is obviously very different from modern English Pantomime.

2 Comments

Love Songs and Show Tunes

2/11/2020

2 Comments

Last night I went with members of my family to entertain the residents at a group home for the elderly. Our aunt works there and asks us to come several times a year as a favor to her. Since this week is Valentine's Day, we decided to sing a program of Love Songs and Show Tunes.

Choosing the songs was a group effort. We decided that collectively, we as a family of singers, know many, many songs. Because of that fact, we realized that we were not the best judge of which songs would be considered "common knowledge" and would work well in a sing-along. We needed songs that the residents would remember and have a connection to.

We decided to choose songs that would have been popular or at least written in the 1950's and early 1960's when these elderly people would have been young adults. We started looking through collections of popular songs during those years. The love songs we gravitated towards turned out to be mostly show tunes from Broadway Musicals that had been made into movies like Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma," and "State Fair." We also opted for pop songs made famous by entertainers such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. And, we included a few perennial favorites that were just plain fun to sing like "A" You're Adorable," "You Are My Sunshine," and "Let Me Call You Sweetheart."

As the piano player, my job was to figure out SINGABLE KEYS so that most people could join in comfortably. As a singing family, we don't really care what key the melody range falls into because we can all sing harmony. But, most people just sing the MELODY. (What a strange concept!)

I am always astonished that so many songs published in these Song Collections are written in UN-SINGABLE KEYS and have really uninspiring piano accompaniments! The pianists out there must appreciate playing in the keys of C, D, G, B flat or F with few sharps or flats, but really? What may be easier for the pianist can be so uncomfortable for the singers. The TESSITURA of these songs lays just too high or too low for a normal singer. Since I was in no mood to have to transpose the entire program of songs, I made the final cuts. I culled 10 songs from our longer list, using those that had the most moderate ranges, then transposed a few of the simpler ones into better keys.

Another astonishing aspect of the evening was comparing the melody as written in the "published" version to the melody sung according to the group's collective memory. Sometimes a melody polished "by committee" is much better. It was a revelation!

Our evening of Love Songs and Show Tunes went very well. The residents seemed to enjoy singing with us some of the love songs they remembered from their youth.

2 Comments

Being Aware of the Ensemble

1/27/2020

0 Comments

When I was in High School, the Drama and Music Departments presented "My Fair Lady." The music in that show is fantastic! I actually enjoyed bantering daily with my Biology teacher who loved that show and knew that I was in the cast. He couldn't resist quoting the songs during class. He wasn't much of a singer (but then, neither was Rex Harrison), so he felt perfectly at ease "singing" his version of "I'm an Ordinary Man" in class. (I digress, let me get back on track.) This show is great --- except for one thing: It really is a cast comprised of just a few LEAD characters. The Ensemble (those singer/dancer/actors in lesser roles) really only appear for a few numbers during that extremely LONG show. Most of the time, we played card games and ate snacks back stage. It was a test of endurance for us --- for staying engaged because we were SO BORED! All in all, "My Fair Lady" was not a the best choice for our High School. It would have been nice to be in a show that gave everybody more to do.

This was a pivotal moment in my education. I vowed if I ever was in a position to choose a show for my school, I would be aware of what the cast at large would be doing for the duration. I vowed to choose vehicles that kept everyone engaged and busy throughout.

Waiting backstage for entrance

Let's face it, people appreciate getting validation for their hard work. At the end of a production, I enjoy reading thank you notes and emails. A simple sincere note carries a lot of weight for me. The following are examples of thank you notes that let me know that my efforts at writing Musical Theater Shows for Children have accomplished one goal in particular. That goal was to disguise the fact of an obvious STAR, or a role that the entire show revolves around. I intended to create many featured roles and create an ensemble of supporting characters that was busy throughout the entire show. I needed the vehicles to showcase the emerging talents of many kids, sometimes 50+. How wonderful that this was apparent to many in the audiences.

Same kids, same show, different characters.

"I loved that each child had their moment to shine...there wasn't one obvious star. They were really singing, instead of singing along to prerecorded orchestra and vocal tracks. And it taught a great moral."

"I enjoyed this show because so many different children got featured parts. It was so professional!"

"We heard about the recent musical at our children's school. Our children had not been cast, so we did not see it. But we heard that it had a very small cast because the script did not have enough parts. We really appreciate how your shows are so right for kids this age. There are meaningful parts for so many kids and everyone is busy for the entire show. No one can tell if there is a main starring role because there are so many featured parts. Our family loves being part of such wonderful productions!"

Come to find out, during my years of working in Children's Theater companies and teaching school, I found very few vehicles that fit the bill that also fit my non-existent budget. That's when I started writing shows. It is gratifying to know that my efforts have been appreciated.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The photos above are from the Summer Theater Camp production of The Adventures of Dick Whittington. These children played many characters including Village Children and the sneaky Mice and the marvelous Cat.

0 Comments

Leaving With the Message Stuck in Your Brain

5/7/2019

0 Comments

Fifty kids have signed up for Summer Theater Camp. My enrollment cap was 45, but in order to get enough older kids, I made allowances to take some of their younger siblings as well. It will all work out.

Never Cry Wolf is a show that I have done many times with many more cast members than 50. And I already have enough costumes and props. The only worry is that I hope they will all fit on my limited stage. Fortunately, until the Bows they do not all need to be on the stage at the same time.

The two main ideas of this show are the Character Values of SINCERITY and WORK. Everyone knows the Aesop Fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and how the contrary boy finds out that "no one will believe you unless you always tell the truth." That is the meaning of Sincerity.

But as I was thinking how to expand the telling of this tale, I wondered just how the contrary boy got the job of tending the sheep. Then I wondered about the other kinds of jobs and work people did in Ancient Greece. Seemed entirely reasonable to fill out the story to show the many types of WORK people did back then, because, of course, EVERYBODY WORKS!

In my research, I found that men were fathers, and farmers, and artisans, and politicians and many other occupations. And women did many kinds of work, too. They were mothers, and cooks, and housewives, but many learned to SPIN WOOL INTO CLOTH, they also embroidered it and sold their wares in the market place. That was a perfect tie in to the boy who looked after the sheep.

Of course, no children's musical Fable would be complete without message songs. These songs are "Everybody Works" and "Being Sincere." Those two songs are reprised during the Bows with everyone on the stage. Sometimes we even encourage the audience to sing along. It's important to go home with the most important messages stuck in your brain!

0 Comments

<<Previous

Time Forges Onward

Creative Entertainment

Being Happy is a Choice

The Musicians of Bremen Mini-Musical

Lessons from Disappointments

What to Do During the Pandemic Isolation

Stock Players and Audience Participation

Love Songs and Show Tunes

Being Aware of the Ensemble

Leaving With the Message Stuck in Your Brain

Author

Archives

Categories