Everett Chorale to stage kid-friendly ‘Musical Tall Tales’

It’s an opportunity for children and families to see stories come to life through song.

Fables, including Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare,” Lee Ann Dresser’s “The Forest of Loo” and Lewis Carroll’s “The Jabberwocky,” will be retold by members of The Everett Chorale in two family-friendly performances on March 23 in Everett.

Also planned is a piece with four nursery rhymes, each with its own melody. A dueling nursery rhyme competition is planned where families will be invited to participate in a singing competition to see which rhyme “wins.”

The chorale’s 30-minute performances — titled “Musical Tall Tales and Fables” — will be at the Everett Library and Imagine Children’s Museum.

It’s the first time the chorale has performed at the two venues. The idea was inspired by a trip chorale baritone David Carman made to the children’s museum with his grandson, who was visiting from Chicago.

It was Carman’s first time to the museum, and he saw it was packed with kids. “The kids were all having fun,” he said. “I thought, ‘Boy if we could somehow connect with that potential audience.’ ”

Performing there, he said, allows people who may never have been to a live chorale performance a chance to experience it.

It also is an opportunity for the chorale to perform in a different public space and to break away from the traditional stand-on-a-stage-and-sing type of concert. The goal is to provide a fun-filled experience.

Free tickets will be given away at both events to the chorale’s 3 p.m. March 30 concert, “We Are The Storytellers: Aesop’s Fables and Other Tall Tales.”

The children’s museum has launched an art program in conjunction with the chorale. Kids can decorate paper leaves that will be used in the scenery for the chorus’ upcoming concert.

The leaves range in size from 6 to 10 inches. A table is set up at the museum where children can color the leaves with a medium that changes every few days, such as colored pencils, dabbers and pastels. Kids can participate in the project through March 29.

“Each one is distinct because they’re being created by a variety of people,” said Raniere, who directs the museum’s creative arts programs. “Our goal is 300 leaves.”

Jennifer Rodgers, the chorale’s artistic director, said the programs at the library and children’s museum are part of the group’s effort to be a service to the community.

“You need to go out to various pockets of the community, offering something to them and to get to know them,” she said. “Even if it’s great choral programming, I want our music to be driven by the community.”

Raniere said she hopes the upcoming chorale performance at the children’s museum is the first of more to come.

“It’s just so exciting,” she said. “I think it’s great all these organizations are coming together and bringing the joy of music to families.”

In Aesop’s fable “The Tortoise and the Hare,” a tortoise and a hare compete in a foot race. Though he is slower than the hare, the tortoise surprisingly wins the race.

In Lee Ann Dresser’s song “The Forest of Loo,” townspeople go looking for a monster living in a cave in the forest. A baker and a bookshop owner tell them it’s dangerous, but they go anyway.

“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll is a playful poem about a creature named the Jabberwock with lots of made-up words.

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.

If you go

The Everett Chorale will stage two performances of “Musical Tall Tales and Fables,” both on March 23. The first will be at 10 a.m. at the Everett Public Library auditorium, 2702 Hoyt Ave., Everett. Recommended for families with children ages 5 and older. The event is free. Call 425-257-8030 for more information.

The second performance is at 11:30 a.m. at the Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett, 1502 Wall St., Everett. The event is free but admission to the museum is $12 for adults and children. Infants 12 months and younger get in free.

The chorale’s next full concert, “We Are the Story Tellers: Aesop’s Fables and Other Tall Tales,” is at 3 p.m. March 30 at Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett. Tickets are $21 for adults and $16 for seniors, military and students. Children 12 and younger get in free. Call 425-257-8600 or go to tinyurl.com/Evchoraleconcert for more.