Some of the cast members of the Alloway Creek Chorus
Last week I had the privilege of attending a chorus concert at Alloway Creek Elementary School in Littlestown Pennsylvania. The students there were performing their end of school concert incorporating three of my Mini-Musicals. Using a few kid-produced sets and props, the chorus performed "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," "The Musicians of Bremen," and "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse."
Their talented chorus teacher, Mr. Krape, taught them the songs and very simply staged the stories pulling out the costumed characters to deliver their lines at the four standing microphones. The chorus members standing behind the character actors sang the songs, provided sound effects, did some "choral-ography," and held up their own kid-created puppets as the story-lines dictated. They sang well, delivered their lines well, and had the audience laughing at the appropriate moments. All in all, they provided a very enjoyable show. I especially enjoyed how Big Bodean and Lazy Lug (country mice cousins) perfected their "country" accents!
The concert was introduced with the song "Why Is Grass Always Greener on the Other Side?" which stated the common thread linking these stories together. In "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" the goats want the greener grass on the other side of the bridge. In "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse," the country mouse is tired of her country life and longs to visit the city. In "The Musicians of Bremen," the donkey, who is destined for the glue factory, sets off with other animals to make their living as singers using their very awful and annoying voices. Each story has something to do with "longing for something you want but can't get." But, as the Country Mouse learns, sometimes you do not "realize the good you've got until you've lost it!" The Country Mouse finds that the city life is filled with just as many dangers as the country life, but at least in the country she knows what to expect and how to deal with it! She decides that a Country Mouse is what she wants to be after all!
The concert was introduced with the song "Why Is Grass Always Greener on the Other Side?" which stated the common thread linking these stories together. In "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" the goats want the greener grass on the other side of the bridge. In "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse," the country mouse is tired of her country life and longs to visit the city. In "The Musicians of Bremen," the donkey, who is destined for the glue factory, sets off with other animals to make their living as singers using their very awful and annoying voices. Each story has something to do with "longing for something you want but can't get." But, as the Country Mouse learns, sometimes you do not "realize the good you've got until you've lost it!" The Country Mouse finds that the city life is filled with just as many dangers as the country life, but at least in the country she knows what to expect and how to deal with it! She decides that a Country Mouse is what she wants to be after all!
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