I do sound work for a school theater group: "Little Princess Playhouse", they call it. It was created three summers ago by concerned theater professor Paul Leitner. He said something or other about the dearth of theater events for small children. This small troupe works for a few weeks on certain evenings/mornings to practice for plays on Saturdays.
It's a fun little activity, this; working in time with the actors, finding/cutting/splicing to get the perfect sound effect, all the while sticking it to the man - perfect for me. It seems easier than it sounds - I'm fond of the program
Just last semester, the outfit put on a play titled "A Princess Christmas", a spin on Charlie Dickens' old classic, "A Christmas Story." Instead of the old Ebenezer Scrooge, the curmudgeonly main character is a small girl called Princess. Yes, she's visited by three spirits of past, present, and future each, wanting her to change her ways. Yes, she learns at the end to be generous, and gives up her excess items to the less fortunate. She even uses "Bah humbug."
Personally, I thought the play as written was a bit thin... but with the actors assembled, it was very, very good in the end. The scene that I enjoyed the most involved "Tiny Tim" and her mother discussing the lean times at Christmas. Set to Clair De Lune. It was my decision to set the scene to the music, and to have the mother and daughter hug at the first swell really worked out.
I'm doing work again on a new set of plays for the spring: "Cinderella" and an adaptation of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses."
