The show starts in a modern-day middle school, where young Gwen is inspired by the King Arthur legend and wants to learn more. As she researches the different stories and shares with her friends, she slowly draws their interest to the Arthurian world, too. When she and her classmates read different books, the stage transforms into the world of King Arthur, and the legend of King Arthur is told in flashbacks. Soon, Gwen and her fellow students begin to see parallels between the Arthurian legend and their own lives. Could the return of the age of Camelot be close at hand?

We asked so much from our talented group of young students! Emily and I feel this show is our most ambitious work yet. We started work on this in early December, and we decided to up the ante; we wrote a more complex score and employed more staging effects than usual. And by unfortunate coincidence, this happened to be the snowiest winter in years! So many days of school were canceled for inclement weather, meaning lost rehearsals. Students made up the time by rehearsing on weekends and during lunch and recess. Given all of these hindrances, it’s a minor miracle the kids pulled off such great performances, with rich, thoughtful characterizations.

Here are a dozen pictures from the production; click the image to enlarge.

The teacher drones “On and On and On.”

Gwen researches King Arthur as the scene transforms to medieval mimes

The villagers in medieval times

Merlin and the Lady of the Lake convince Lady Igraine she must give up the baby Arthur

Merlin watches the young Arthur retrieve the sword Excalibur

Lady Igraine, Lady of the Lake, and Merlin crown the new king

Gwen reads with Bernard, while the classmates look on

King Arthur explains “The Code of Chivalry” to his knights

“Have a Little Faith”–Marvin gets his magic back

Old and new worlds join; is Bernard the new king?

Bows

Swordplay posing between Arthur and Bernard, after the show

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Enthusiastic students!

Once again, my frequent collaborator, Emily Thompson, asked me to lecture to her class of youngsters at the school where she teaches: Central School in East Hanover, NJ. I went on February 22, 2013 and arrived spoke to 5 different classes throughout the day.

The lecture is about how inter­dis­ci­pli­nary think­ing can lead to more cre­ativ­ity. I present the exam­ple of mix­ing lit­er­a­ture and music, draw­ing con­nec­tions between hero mythol­ogy and Beethoven’s music.

The Beethoven image on the wall reads: “Beethoven: Why is he interested in being a romantic hero? What is his famous problem?” Sometimes the kids get it right away — he was deaf! But sometimes I hear “He was grumpy because he asked three women to marry him and they all said no.” Hmm, I wonder what movie that is from?

Here is a picture from the day, but unfortunately I was cropped out!

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Emily Thompson leads the students in rehearsal

“Cupid’s Bow” is a new, original musical with book and lyrics by Emily Thompson and music by Richard D. Russell. On January 30, a special rehearsal was held by the cast members, who are all students at Central School in East Hanover New Jersey.

What made the rehearsal special was that a few dozen students visiting from China were in attendance. After they listened to “Cupid’s Bow”, they in turn performed songs and other skits for the American students.

“Cupid’s Bow” has its premiere February 12 at 6pm at the Central School in East Hanover, NJ.

American and Chinese teachers line up with students

The Chinese and American students assemble for a group photo

(Click the images for a larger size)

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Emily is the G & T teacher at this school, and every year she presents a musicalized adaptation of a Shakespeare play. The performances are presented by her 4th Grade group, the Student Actors’ League of Arts and Drama, also known as SALAD.¬†I’m delighted to be joining her for the first time in writing music. I was very impressed by the huge number of students who participated–all of whom rehearse during lunch recess or after school.

Here are several pics from the show.

Padua School of Arts

Alexandra Altonjy, pianist, with Emily Thompson Schweer and students

The cast performs the title number

The cast performs, “That’s the Way to Deal with a Shrew”

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The script is by “Willa Shakeschweer,” the nom de plume of Emily Thompson Schweer, who teaches at the school. Emily also wrote the lyrics to the show, while I contributed the music. I’ve collaborated with Emily before in several performances at In Mid Air Productions.

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At Central School

This past Halloween season I presented a lecture and demonstration to young grade schoolers at Central School in East Hanover, NJ. The subject was how the literary tradition of the heroic quest can be found in the music of Beethoven.

I presented the lecture six times in a row to different visiting classes — you teachers out there know how it is!

A special thanks to all the students who asked such interesting questions (“Where does inspiration come from?” “How long does it take to write a piece of music?” etc.) and to my host, Emily Thompson Schweer.

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