Category: The Country Mouse And The City Mouse

Isolated as if in a Jane Austen Novel

8/4/2020

According to the research presented in Lucy Worsley's "Jane Austen Behind Closed Doors," the famed British author spent her life mostly living in other people's houses --- her parent's house in Steventon, several of her many brothers' houses, rented rooms in (her least favorite place) Bath, and other even less appealing accommodations. Sometimes the houses were small and uncomfortable, sometimes large but populated with many people, and occasionally they were very grand indeed. Each place gave her fodder for creating the settings in her novels.

For a time she lived at the grand estate belonging to one of her brothers who had been adopted out to a wealthy family. This mansion had many luxuries (for the time) but was rather secluded from society. I can't help but wonder if Jane herself might have pondered which was better, a situation secluded but with many comforts or a situation less comfortable but with the stimulation of more social interactions?

Apparently, holding amateur theatricals with the people you are "quarantined" with is not such a new concept. Jane wrote several scripts for home theatricals even in her youth. A few have survived from that period and document that home theatricals were held while she lived in that grand estate. In her novel Mansfield Park, the residents and guests at the manor house had to come up with their own amusements. One such activity was putting on an amateur theatrical. They held rehearsals, created costumes, rearranged furniture, and mounted an event for the household to enjoy. (Of course, in the novel, these activities were also peppered with intrigues.)

I can't help comparing our little production of "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse" presented by the grandchildren to what we might have done if we were staying together at a remote estate and needed some homemade amusement. We indeed mounted an event that the people we were quarantined with could enjoy.

But I really will be happy when this quarantine (because of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020) is over and we can get back to more social events!

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Cousins Theater Camp

6/9/2020

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Our Bailey Family Reunion is coming up in July. We are determined to get some new Family Portraits taken that reflect the changes in our family. Since the last picture we have gained three new members! That needs to be documented! We also plan to do anything fun we can think of that is allowed in this time of Covid-19 Pandemic Social Distancing.

I recently pitched the idea of having a Cousins Theater Camp as part of our Bailey Family Reunion in July. I was feeling deprived that I wouldn't be able to have regular Summer Theater Camps either in my backyard or in Pennsylvania for a daughter's Church group.

Looks like everyone is on board!

This is the perfect year for having the cousins camp for our 8 boys and 16 girls. We have a big core group of children that fall into the right ages between 4-13. We have a few older siblings who have agreed to be helpers and a few younger who, no doubt, will lend some refreshing comic relief with their inventive creative dancing. (The youngest girls are ages 18 months and almost 3)

The show is a musical retelling of the Aesop Fable "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse." Not everybody is invested enough to spend a lot of time learning staging and memorizing parts. Some would rather not be on stage at all. But that is not the point!

The point is that a few of the 8-12 year old girls had significant rolls in cancelled school shows, and had also been signed up to do a Theater Camp this summer. But due to circumstances beyond their control, they have been denied these opportunities. So, I have simplified this little script so that these girls can do the parts that require more preparation and the others kids can just do the lighter fun parts.

We are doing a Theater Camp in a day, or rather 4 hours, start to finish. Most will come with their songs learned and their one-liner parts memorized. We will spend the morning learning some simple staging and movement. The oldest girls are teenagers --- two are theater geeks who will act as Narrator/Prompters, and the other two will be little Kid Wranglers. The older boys will be stage hands and sound techs. Fortunately, these children have mothers who have all had a lot of theatrical experience and will help make this happen.

That leaves very few in the audience, just the dads basically, but we don't care! They just better laugh and applaud ---- ON CUE!

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Fancy Valentine's Day Dinner and Dance

2/20/2020

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For several years now, my daughter's family has been hosting a fancy Valentine's Dinner. It has been a time to set the table with elegant place settings, eat dinner in several courses, and practice "best table manners." Occasionally, they have invited guests to dine with them, but not always. There are already eight children in this family. This year's menu included French delicacies deftly made by mom Kathryn and oldest daughter Makayla. A delectable time was enjoyed by all.
And the desserts are usually the very best part of the evening!

But, perhaps the most fun activity this year was the dance party in the basement. After dinner, they all went down to the playroom where the toys had been pushed up against the walls or cleared away. They were instructed to form two lines. Kathryn had been planning this secretly for weeks. She wanted her family to learn a dance, but didn't know what to do because she knew she had far more girls than boys. Her sister Carolyn suggested teaching the Virginia Reel because everybody just dances with everybody.

So, as they were learning "forward and back," bow to your partner," "do si do," and "swing your partner," 5-year-old youngest son Thomas said, "I know this dance. We learned it in Music Class." From then on, Thomas led the way and they all had fun dancing the Virginia Reel. A perfect ending to their fancy Valentine's Day Dinner.

The Virginia Reel folk dance is easy to teach and learn. The Country Mice dance it in "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse" musical. What a fun activity for beginning dancers.

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Which Comes First --- the Words or the Music?

8/17/2019

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Often I am asked which comes first when writing a new song -- the lyrics or the melody? I usually say that the INSPIRATION comes first. Inspiration can come from an idea, a feeling, a title, a scripture, a picture, a famous quote, a poem, an intriguing rhythm, a melodic "worm," a nugget from other music, ---almost anything can become an inspiration for a song.

When I was young, I liked to take long walks around my neighborhood. There were many interesting streets of houses and green spaces as well as a trail along a canal bank. I loved watching the trees as they changed through the seasons. I loved to hear the water rushing by. I enjoyed the views looking up to the mountains as well as looking down towards the valley. As I walked, I sang to myself. I sang lots of songs that I knew, but I also made up all sorts of songs. I guess I didn't need much to entertain myself.

(Curiously, even now, I find that going on a walk helps me think. Sometimes, I go out walking and if I am trying to come up with an idea for a song, much of the song can literally write itself by the time I get home.)

During college, I got discouraged by all of the talent I saw around me. The many teachers and students seemed so much more talented than I was. The more I learned about musical elements and poetic devices, the more I guessed that my gift was just being able to sing. Then, after graduation, I ventured out into the real world. There I learned that with the right inspiration, I could produce interesting and worthwhile music, too.

For me, which comes first? Well, I have to say that the music and the words pretty much come at the same time. If I get an idea of something that needs to be said in the lyric, then the words dictate the melodic line and rhythms. If an interesting melody starts forming in my mind, then I play catch up to try to find the words that should fit the music. Some songwriters say that they start with the title. But giving my song a title is usually the crowning detail of my songwriting efforts. I have a hard time naming my songs. The default title often comes from the song's "hook."

If I am writing a song for Musical Theater, I have to immerse myself in the story, the setting, the costumes and set ideas, but mostly I need to get into the "heads" of the characters. The words and the style of the song need to organically develop from the characters and situations they are in. One song that I remember very clearly that wrote itself on one of my walks is "I Love the City Life" from The Country Mouse and the City Mouse. As I recall, it was a rather cold blustery day. I was walking briskly through the neighborhood. Because it was a cold day, I started thinking of snow. That started me thinking of an Irving Berlin song from the movie "White Christmas." A very rhythmic melodic snippet from that song would not leave me alone. I decided that if it was harmonically dressed up differently, given a Latin beat, and different words, people would never know where I borrowed the inspiration. So, by the time I got home, I just needed to write down what had come to me on my walk. Enjoy!

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More Than One Female Lead

1/17/2019

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Children's Theater has one troublesome and peculiar stigma --- it usually appeals to more young girls than boys. It is such a shame because the greater majority of stories have male leads. That means that the more important characters that move the stories along are written for boys!

So what does the director do with the 14 little girls (ages 7-11) and the 3 little boys (under age 9)?

Another problem in Children's Theater is that it is best to avoid doing a play that has an obvious Love Story or situations that even hint of romance.

Finding stories that suit a large contingent of girls, a few boys and have no love story is quite a challenge! And finding a show that has significant roles for girls is harder yet! Unfortunately, the girls end up being a corps de ballet who dance and sing and act as a unit or have to individually (and awkwardly) fill male roles.

Fortunately, as a composer/director, I have been able to find some great stories to turn into Musicals that fit those particular parameters. They have important lead roles for girls and have no love stories! One particular favorite is the Aesop fable about the Country Mouse and the City Mouse. This was written for two equally strong female Leads, and there are strong secondary supporting roles for girls, too. (Also some great parts for boys!)

Many Children's Theater groups attract some boys and they are usually quite talented. There are just usually fewer of them. So, I have particularly written shows for ages 5-8 or 9-14 (and some for 5-14) that feature strong female leads along with the regular male leads.

Enjoy this song from "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse" where the Country Mouse dreams of visiting the big city and her Country Siblings and Cousins try to dissuade her.

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The Tale of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse

10/25/2015

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When choosing a piece for a class to perform, there are basically three options to choose from -- full production with costumes, props and scenery, etc.; Reader's Theater with no costumes, props, or even blocking; or Workshop with limited costumes props and suggestions of scenery as necessary. Depending upon the time constraints, your choice may be simple to make. In my case, the Workshop scenario was the best, and probably ONLY option.

I have been working with a group of eight 3rd to 6th graders in an after-school Drama Club "Theater Skills" class. These students have all been in shows before and desperately wanted the class to culminate in a performance before an audience. The problem is that they have very few rehearsals to pull it all together. So, I picked a little 10-minute mini-musical for them which would challenge their acting skills, but would be short enough that they could memorize lines and movement and songs and blocking within their very limited time constraints. The students will also be responsible for their own costumes, except for mouse ears and tails that I will supply. They have just a few more class periods to work. Hope they can learn quickly and work well together.

They story was already well-known to them, "The Tale of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse." However, their challenge is to bring it to life with new characters and situations and to master speaking in a "Country" dialect. They are actually having fun experimenting with interpreting the lines with a drawl or a twang. My job is to allow them some free experimentation, gently guiding them to speak with just enough character, while maintaining clear enunciation for the audience's sake.

Another aspect of this Workshop presentation is to perform the piece without props or scenery. In fact, they will be performing on just the front risers of the stage. They will be the "warm-up" act for the main production (which incidentally will have the scenery set up already for their show on the stage). Their task is to interpret the story complete with songs and movement on the front risers through their excellent acting abilities. They think they are up to the challenge. They are raring to go. I wish them luck!

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Isolated as if in a Jane Austen Novel

Cousins Theater Camp

Fancy Valentine's Day Dinner and Dance

Which Comes First --- the Words or the Music?

More Than One Female Lead

The Tale of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse

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