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April 24, 2008
Children’s musical “Moby Pincher’s Musical Adventure” coming to ÍřĆŘĂĹ May 8 – 9
The ÍřĆŘĂĹ Preparatory Academy of Music proudly announces its upcoming production of “Moby Pincher’s Musical Adventure,” intended to educate and inspire its listeners, primarily children, May 8 – 9 at Brown Auditorium.
A family performance is scheduled Thursday, May 8, at 6:30 p.m. Attendees will pay $3 at the door for this showing. School performances will occur Friday, May 9, at 9 a.m. (No more reservations are available for this showing.) and at 10:30 a.m.
“Moby Pincher’s Musical Adventure” is a 25-minute musical based on an engaging and amusing storybook by local author Dee Scallan concerning a crawfish that stumbles upon the beauty and enchantment of music. The production is designed for pre-k through third grade classes. In it, a storybook comes to life on stage as children learn about different sounds and Louisiana music.
Marilynn Gibson, director of the Prep Academy, stated, “’Moby Pincher’s Musical Adventure’ was presented last year for the first time to ecstatic youngsters who were thoroughly entertained and enlightened by the actors and musicians of our academy. Music can affect their lives in a very positive manner.”
The learning and fun do not stop when the curtain comes down, however. After the performance, Prep Academy instructors will bring instruments out on the lawn for the “Petting Zoo,” an interactive opportunity for children to hold the instruments and actually play some of them.
Also, the ÍřĆŘĂĹ Museum of Natural History will offer free tours of the museum for teachers who opt for an additional activity while on campus. Children who visit the museum will see over 3,000 square feet of exhibits from the natural world, including animals, fish, plants, rocks and gems, and archeology. Advance reservations are necessary. For more information, go to www.ulm.edu/~museum.
Admission to “Moby Pincher’s Musical Adventure” is $3 for children and adults. Learn about “Moby Pincher’s Musical Adventure” and the ÍřĆŘĂĹ Preparatory Academy of Music at www.ulm.edu/music/pam or call: (318) 342-1597.
Scallan makes free companion curriculum guides available to teachers at www.mobypincher.com. Copies of the “Moby Pincher’s Musical Adventure” book are also available online.
More about the author, Dee Scallan:
The author, Dee Scallan, lives in West Monroe. She is a Louisiana State Roster Artist (author/storyteller) and serves as the Education Consultant to the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council. Scallan has written seven Moby Pincher books and travels across Louisiana and Texas appearing at festivals, book signings, workshops at schools on writing books, and theatrical presentations.
Her most recent book is “Moby Pincher in Texas.” As Scallan’s appearances cover a broader geographic area, she is creating relatives for Moby Pincher. Most recently, Moby’s Craw Momma and Craw Poppa live at Black Bayou since they had to move from Crawfish Town after Hurricane Katrina. Cleveland, Moby’s cousin, moved here from Transylvania. For her Texas followers, Moby has a Claw Auntie who lives in Dallas. The Cleveland character, who will make his first Monroe appearance at the “Moby Pincher’s Musical Adventure” sports a custom crawfish costume.
Scallan also contracts with schools to conduct “We Want to Be Authors” book-making workshops. She is in the process, aided by ÍřĆŘĂĹ Child Development Center Director Emily Williamson, of posting about 20 books online that children in these workshops have written. She is interested in teachers and families accessing the site so children can see books that other children have written.
In 2006, Scallan and the Moby Pincher illustrator Daniel Myers, then-11 years old, received special recognition from the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Louisiana State Department of Education. Myers has hand-illustrated all of Scallan’s books; he attended her preschool and now lives in Baton Rouge. He was eight years old when he illustrated the first book.
Another book in the works for Scallan is one that addresses childhood obesity; the main character will be Arnold, an armadillo who rolls around because he is too overweight to walk. Scallan is working to incorporate a tiny computer for tracking food habits in each book.
For more information:
Visit author Dee Scallan and illustrator Daniel Myers at www.mobypincher.com.
Learn about the Poets and Players of CA Studio at www.youngtroupe.com.
Individual questions may be sent to Elaine Smith at eiu69@earthlink.net.
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