That'll larn ya

Wow. Pumphouse Junior does a great job promoting their shows. Today it's an article in their local newspaper, The Daily Tribune News.

In it, director Laurel Anne Lowe explains that they like to do plays that offer a lesson in literature, mythology or other subjects, which is why they chose The Enchanted Bookshop.

But it's not just for the audience. It seems the performers are getting educated too.

"We've already heard from some of our young actors that they've been doing their 'homework' to learn about characters, like Pollyanna, Robin Hood and Tom Sawyer... The familiar characters are fun to dive in for them."

I loved reading these books when I was growing up so I couldn't be happier knowing that a new generation of readers is discovering these stories.

Oh, and one other fun thing about this production. I noticed in the cast list that they have an actor portraying Captain Flint, Long John Silver's parrot. I wrote it as a prop, but I would love to see what the young performer does with the part.

Captain Flint want a cracker?

One for the books

The Enchanted Bookshop seems to bring out the creativity in everyone. And Pumphouse Junior, a children's theater company in Cartersville, GA, is no exception.

They're producing the play this month and they knew they'd need a lot of books for their set. So what did they do? They asked friends of the program to donate them, with the promise to give the books to the local library when they're done.

What a fantastic idea! Not only does it promote interest in their production, not only does it get them a whole boatload of free props (always a benefit for cash-strapped theaters!), but it gives the whole community a stake in the show.

Of course, the library is the biggest winner of all.

Pumphouse Junior has already collected hundreds of books, and they're continuing to take them through the end of the run. Here's hoping they get hundreds more!