FARMINGTON – About 200 adult and teenage actors, musicians and puppeteers will perform “Hurricane of Change,” the premiere of a festive musical show Friday, June 1, in the Mt. Blue Middle School gym.
The show will open at 7 p.m. with a grand processional of giant, colorful puppet creatures representing endangered and thriving species.
Following the processional, desperate creatures plead with the audience, using words from a poem by middle school student Joan Kelly. For example, one creature says: “We see your world is a mess, your streets unclean. And worst of all, most of the damage is unseen. Open your eyes, show us you care. Look around you if you dare.”
Songs and scenes like “Environmental Broadcast Channel” and “Super Mega Discount Mart” give the audience a look at the world through the eyes of its wildlife – which sees greedy, self-centered humans.
To balance the serious message, performers weave comedy throughout the show with songs like “The President Meets Mother Nature,” “Crazy for Oil” and “The Things You Do.” The stirring rock ballad “Can We Rise?” is meant to inspire people to take action.
The show, a collaboration of the Foothills Arts Center and Mt. Blue Middle School, is a celebration of the nature of western Maine and a call to action to save it from global warming and pollution.
The MBMS band, orchestra and chorus, and a community chorus will perform along with the actors.
“Hurricane of Change” comprises nine scenes and seven songs created by more than 50 people, including local adults and students under the direction of Foothills Arts Center artist-teachers, singer-songwriter Martin Swinger, theater artist Jeri Pitcher, artists Alan McGillivray and Danielle Guerrette, Figures of Speech Theatre, wood artisans Mark Prentiss and John Schoen, and special assistants Kathy Kerr and Laura Grover.
Tickets are $6 for adults; $4 for seniors; $2 for children under 18. Tickets are available at Howard’s Rexall and will be sold at the door. For more information, call Anne Geller, Foothills Arts Center, 778-0448; or log on to www.foothillsarts.org.
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