By Noel Smith
School House Rock Live! was a joyful preview of things to come in live theater. The young cast of 25 with its talent and energy was truly a wonderful experience to behold and even join in. Director Andrew Ceglio has helped this very talented group of young people to entertain its audience at the very highest level while at the same time using musical theater to prove that learning can be a joyous experience.
Using math, English with a little science and social studies, School House Rock Live! took the audience back to school but not the one that most of us experienced. The subjects were presented with humorous lyrics, acting, singing and dancing making them much more painless and understandable than I remember.
Leading the charge to recreate education was Alexie Baker as Shulie with “Unpack Your Adjectives,” Figure Eight” and “Zero My Hero.” She was followed closely by Matt Meyers (George – Three is a Magic Number, A Victim of Gravity), Kara Jonsson (Dori – A Noun Is A Person, Place Or Thing; The Preamble), Bobby Marchessault (Tom – The Tale of Mr. Morton), Makai Hernandez (Joe – Ready Or Not, Here I Come; Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla) and Kiana Hamzeh (Dina – Interjections).
Then there was the marvelously active ensemble backing up such pieces as Sufferin’ Till Suffrage; Lolly, Lolly, Lolly; Conjunction Junction and Great American Melting Pot. Particularly moving was the performance of Siena Stearns as “Bill” in Just a Bill” with Matt Meyers as George.
Tom, a school teacher about to embark on his first day of teaching, tries to relax by watching TV when characters representing various facets of his personality emerge from the TV to show him how to teach his students using his imagination and beloved Schoolhouse Rock songs.
The original Schoolhouse Rock television series was the idea of an advertising executive who noticed his son could remember all the words to popular songs on the radio, but not his multiplication tables. If important educational information could be coupled with animation and catchy music, he reasoned that children might be able to learn and remember what they were supposed to learn in school.
From this idea, Schoolhouse Rock was born and adopted by ABC-TV for its Saturday morning programming which ran from f1973 to 1985. After Twenty years, 41 songs, and four Emmy Awards later, those who grew up with Schoolhouse Rock can still sing the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and know that “and,” “but,” and “or” all belong in Conjunction Junction.
Join the fun (taking the kids or grandkids along of course) and go see School House Rock Live! There is sure to be several next-generation stars of live theater there on stage.