The Great American Mousical

Dreams Really Do Come True — The Great American Mousical

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In the wonderful new musical, The Great American Mousical, the young theatre intern mouse Pippin sings a song called “What Do You Think of That?” in which he expresses his excitement and awe at finally being on Broadway, realizing his dream. The verse that begins “What do you think of that? Dreams really do come true!” resonates so with me. Click for a snippet of the song from a preview reading. When I first learned that the book The Great American Mousical by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton was going to be produced as a stage musical, I yearned to travel to see it, but told myself it was totally out of the question. Then one morning, I awoke remembering how much my mother had loved Mousical, and decided that on the second anniversary of her death I would be in the audience at the Norma Terris Theatre… and I was. As I sat in the theatre, watching Pippin’s joy light the stage as he exulted in being where he’d always dreamed of being, tears filled my eyes, and I thought, “Mum — dreams really do come true. I’m here. And it’s wonderful.”

Tribute to My Favorite Lady

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About a week and a half ago I was watching a televised concert, and started singing along to one of the songs. Tears quickly began streaming down my cheeks as I realized that I was sitting exactly as my mother would have been sitting, and singing just the way she would have been singing — in fact, I even sounded like her. How I cherish times like that, even though they bring tears. My mother brought so much richness into my life, richness of word and music, of poetry and lyric, of love and laughter. She had one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen, and as a friend said of her, even in her last couple of years in the nursing home, if you walked into her room to visit, her face would light up and you would feel as if you were the person she most wanted to see in the entire world.

Looking Ahead to Opening Night (Looking Today at Winners!)

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As you know, throughout October I ran posts about the upcoming production of the new musical The Great American Mousical at the Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Connecticut. I talked about many children’s books that have become successful stage (and screen) musicals on October 3, I talked about a quote from Katherine Anne Porter and how it features in Mousical on October 10, I was delighted to feature an interview with Mousical director Julie Andrews and author Emma Walton Hamilton on October 17, we discovered that Mousical teaches a great deal about theatre basics on October 24, and finally, we did some speculating on how costume designer Tony Walton will portray the mice, on October 31. As you also know, a feature of all those posts was the potential of winning one of three copies of the hardcover edition of The Great American Mousical, a giveaway that was open to all who commented on any of those posts before today. I’m delighted to be able to announce the winners, although as always with these giveaways, I wish I had a copy for each of you. So, Maestro Maraczek *, if we could have a drumroll and fanfare, please? Thank you. The winners are… (Yes, you’re going to have to click the magic words to make the winners names appear. There has to be at least a modicum of suspense, does there not?)

A Costume Post for Halloween

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How do you dress a mouse? Well, if the mouse isn’t a real one, that’s actually not difficult. Personally, I wouldn’t want to try dressing a real one. What is a trickier question is how do you dress a person to look like a mouse? Tony Walton faces just such a challenge in doing the costume design for the upcoming musical production The Great American Mousical. Fortunately, Tony has imagination and creativity beyond that of most people. He has decades of experience in costume design and set design. (The sets for Mousical will be tricky, too, with the changes in perspective between mouse and people theatre, and between mouse theatre and various locations in New York City.) I can’t help wondering what he’ll do with the costumes. Will the mice have ears and tails, or will the audience simply have to imagine they do? If they do, how will that be achieved? When speaking of mice, I almost hate to mention another production that involved animals, but in Cats, the actors were fabulously fantastically feline. I suspect the actors also spent a very long time having their makeup applied prior to every performance. Will Tony go that route? As you can see from the photos on my post about Stages Theatre Company’s production of Llama Llama Red Pajama, they went a fairly low-tech route in creating their llamas, but one still knew they were llamas! Masks, or headdresses and facepainting, a la The Lion King on Broadway, are also possibilities. ~~ I hope everyone in the cast and crew of Mousical is safe, and that they are able to get back to work doing what they love to do. ~~ If you were designing costumes for this production, how would you achieve mousehood?     TICKET INFORMATION:   All being well,  The Great American Mousical will be on stage at the Norma Terris Theatre, Chester, Connecticut, from November 8 to December 2, 2012. Tickets may be purchased by phoning the Box Office, 1-860-873-8668. THIS IS THE LAST POST BEFORE THE GIVEAWAY: As with all the Wednesday Mousical posts this month, any comment on this post will be entered into a random draw to be held November 7th for one of three copies of Julie’s and Emma’s middle grade novel The Great American Mousical. (Full disclosure: these are remaindered copies, and have a small mark on the lower edge of the pages, which doesn’t interfere with readability at all. They are hardcover copies.)

A Mousical Master Class in Theatre Basics

3 Comments / Theatre for Kids, Waiting in the Wings Wednesdays / By

I’m continuing my series about the upcoming stage musical The Great American Mousical today with a look at the book the musical is based on, and how much one can learn about theatre simply by reading (and re-reading!) the book by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, also entitled The Great American Mousical. As Julie said in my interview with her and Emma last week, “We wrote the book as an affectionate tribute to the world we know and love – but we also hoped to provide young readers with some incidental arts appreciation.” I think they did a very good job of both. The Great American Mousical is a middle grade novel published by HarperCollins in 2006 as part of the Julie Andrews Collection of books that seek to instill the JAC tenets of “Words, Wisdom, Wonder” in young readers. It is about a troupe of theatre mice who work in a miniature theatre in the depths of the basement below a Broadway theatre, the Sovereign. The mice are readying themselves for their annual benefit revue to be staged on New Year’s Eve when calamity strikes — they learn that the Sovereign is under threat of demolition. Then the star of the show, the diva Adelaide, goes missing! The show goes on, as shows must — but much has to happen before a happy ending can be possible. Let’s take a look at what I’ve dubbed the “Mousical Master Class in Theatre Basics” — click the magic words…

Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton on The Great American Mousical — Interview

49 Comments / Emma Walton Hamilton, In The Spotlight, Interviews, Music for Kids, Theatre for Kids, Waiting in the Wings Wednesdays / By

I am honored and delighted to present this interview with both Emma Walton Hamilton and her mother, Julie Andrews. What a gift they have given us all in agreeing to this interview! As those of you who are regular readers of my blog know, my Wednesday focus this fall is the upcoming musical production, The Great American Mousical: A Musical Love Letter to Broadway, at the Norma Terris Theatre in November (full details below). Julie and Emma collaborated on the original book, which was published in 2006. Now, Julie will direct the stage production, and so is hard at work with rehearsals at this very moment. I deeply appreciate them taking the time to answer my questions in such depth. Julie Andrews is known around the world for her stage, screen, and singing career. Rather than mention the movies she usually is linked with in biographical information, I want to highlight my favorites, which are among her lesser-known works, but which I believe deserve equal billing. The Americanization of Emily (1964), That’s Life (1986), Duet for One (1986), and Our Sons (made for television, 1991) are some of her finest work, and I highly recommend them. Julie is also a prolific author, who began writing for children in the early 1970s. Her first two books, Mandy and The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, are still in print, still in demand, which says a great deal about the quality of Julie’s writing. For the past 15 years or so, she has collaborated with her daughter Emma, and together they have written many delightful picture books and middle grade novels. Julie is also a passionate advocate for the arts, and for children’s literacy. For further biographical information, please see the website of the Julie Andrews Collection. Emma Walton Hamilton got her start in theatre, and is now an author, freelance editor, educator (in both the arts and in writing for children), speaker, and advocate for the arts and literacy. With her mother she has written many picture books and middle grade novels. She is also the author of the excellent literacy resource Raising Bookworms: Getting Kids Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment. Emma is the director of the writing program for middle grade and high school students, YAWP (Young American Writers Project); she teaches Children’s Literature at the Stony Brook Southampton University campus; she has developed an online/home study course in picture book writing, Just Write for Kids; she is the founder and driving force behind the fantastic resource and educational online site, The Children’s Book Hub; and Emma and I co-administer the Children’s Book Hub Facebook Group. For further biographical information, please see Emma’s website. And now, let’s find out what Julie and Emma have to say about taking The Great American Mousical from page to stage…

What Do Katherine Anne Porter and The Great American Mousical Have in Common?

10 Comments / Music for Kids, Theatre for Kids, Waiting in the Wings Wednesdays / By

Katherine Anne Porter was an essayist, novelist, social critic, Pulitzer Prize winner, who learned to be a survivor from an early age, and whose writings reflected her understanding that no matter how difficult life gets, one must hold on and go forward. As a brief biography on the PBS website states, “Often concerned with the themes of justice, betrayal, and the unforgiving nature of the human race, Porter’s writings occupied the space where the personal and political meet.” She gave an interview to Barbara Thompson Davis for the Paris Review, in which she spoke of the arts, saying, “Human life itself may be almost pure chaos, but the work of the artist is to take these handfuls of confusion and disparate things, things that seem to be irreconcilable, and put them together in a frame to give them some kind of shape and meaning.” If you look at the upper right hand corner of my blog, you’ll see a list of links to the other pages on my site, under the title “Learn More!” Included in those pages is one devoted to that Paris Review interview, and the quote about the arts in particular. But what does this have to do with The Great American Mousical, which is the topic of all my Wednesday posts this month?

Waiting in the Wings — From Children’s Books to Musicals

24 Comments / Music for Kids, Theatre for Kids / By

Many successful children’s books have received a new life as stage musicals. Peter Pan has been soaring across stages on Broadway and beyond since Mary Martin first enticed Wendy and her brothers to Never Never Land. Mary Poppins began as a movie musical, written by the Sherman brothers, but has found a happy home on the stage as well. I suspect it will stay on the stage somewhere for a very long time… at least until the wind changes, and then it will be off to grace another stage and other hearts. Anne of Green Gables just closed its 48th season at the Charlottetown Festival, and is a staple on stages across Canada and elsewhere. Even picture books can become stage musicals, as Jennifer Kirkeby told us in this post about Llama, Llama, Red Pajama. There are, of course, many more. Another children’s book is about to join the ranks of these musicals, with opening night on November 8th, 2012. I’ve been teasing you about what it might be during September. Click the magic words to find out what it is…

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