Shelebrate!
2016 · Playhouse on the Square, Jacksonville, Illinois
Shelebrate! is exactly what its title promises — a celebration of the works of Shel Silverstein, the poet, songwriter, cartoonist, screenwriter, and beloved author of children's books. Ken Bradbury built the evening for the fourteen students of his Lincoln Land Traveling Theatre class, weaving together Silverstein's verse and music into a fast-moving revue performed with homemade instruments, colorful blocks, and the spirit of a backyard rock 'n' roll band.
The show opens with the cast marching in as little children — shorts, ball caps, long socks — banging clackers, cymbals, pots and pans, kazoos and "drums of potato chip cans," declaring that "if we were a rock 'n' roll band" they'd travel all over the land. From there the troupe romps through Silverstein's funniest and most tender poems: the doomed "Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony," the union anthem of "Children's Rights," the cautionary "Boa Constrictor," the gentle "The Little Boy and the Old Man," and the rollicking sing-along "The Unicorn." Between the bits the cast tells Silverstein's own story — the Chicago kid who couldn't play ball or dance, sold hot dogs at Cubs and White Sox games, and "every chance he got, picked up a pen" — and reminds the audience that this is the same Shel who wrote "A Boy Named Sue" for Johnny Cash and "The Cover of the Rolling Stone."
Staged at Jacksonville's Playhouse on the Square, the production was sponsored by LLCC Theatre, Jacksonville Promise, and the Ken Bradbury Foundation, with all profits going to Jacksonville Promise. As the rhyming program note put it: "We hope that Mr. Silverstein (God bless his rhyming soul) would be real pleased what we do here."
Musical Numbers and Poems
- If We Were a Rock 'n' Roll Band
- Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
- Ma and God
- Invitation ("If you are a dreamer, come in")
- Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony
- The Union for Children's Rights
- The Unicorn
- Hug O' War
- Boa Constrictor
- The Toy Eater
- Ticklish Tom
- Ladies First
- Crystal Ball
- Snowball
- My Rules
- Don't Change on My Account
- You're Always Welcome at Our House
- The Diet Song ("Dietin' Sure Is a Rough Way to Die")
- Eighteen Flavors
Cast
- Marcus Blair — Beardstown; the troupe's go-to veteran of stages from Springfield to New Salem
- Abby Link — a senior in her last show with the company
- Alexis Lucas — the newest member of the troupe
- Brenan Pool — Concord; sang the company's songs
- Katia Janes — the "pixie-lass" of the cast
- Bailey Littleton — known for her smile and her "glow"
- Kyler Miller — a track star prized for his voice
- Kamryn Portwood — actress and athlete
- Courtney Privia — Arenzville
- Lane Rahe — Chapin; the company's resident roller
- Kira Sayre — from a stage-struck farm family
- Rachel Skillet — Chapin; a Traveling Theatre veteran
- Mathew Thurman — football and basketball standout with "a Teddy Bear" inside
- Hannah Werries — softball, dance, and life on the farm
- Caleb Holaway — banjo and squeezebox; valedictorian of JHS and Ken Bradbury's cousin
- Colin Oberg — bass, on loan from Jacksonville High School
Production Notes
Shelebrate! was presented by the cast of fourteen from Ken Bradbury's Lincoln Land Traveling Theatre class — thirteen from Triopia, one from Beardstown, and two musicians on loan from Jacksonville High School — at Jacksonville's Playhouse on the Square. Performances ran May 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m. and May 21 at 2:00 p.m. (year 2016), with tickets at $10 each.
The production was sponsored by LLCC Theatre, Jacksonville Promise, and the Ken Bradbury Foundation, with all proceeds benefiting Jacksonville Promise; Rich McCoy provided the Playhouse and even loaned the seats. The technical director was Maryjane Million, assisted by Keith. The set was a collection of colorful blocks, and there was no intermission. Lexi Middleton choreographed "Our Favorite Son."
The Silverstein material had long been part of Bradbury's Traveling Theatre repertoire — earlier touring notes record performances across central Illinois in schools at Beardstown, Perry, Griggsville, Taylorville, Bowen, and beyond, the cast piling into vans before dawn and slapping on makeup for an 8:30 a.m. curtain.