Download Hog heaven: Wolf and pigs have their musical day in court in “catchy

Hog heaven: Wolf and pigs have their musical day in court in
“catchy and clever” musical by award-winning theater company
HANOVER, NH—The award-winning Dallas Children’s Theater (DCT) presents the real story of the Big, Bad
Wolf in The True Story Of the 3 Little Pigs!, coming to the Hop’s Spaulding Auditorium on Sunday, May 12, at 3
pm.
Based on the hilarious popular book of the same title, this musical courtroom drama begins where the book
leaves off: Alexander T. Wolf, a.k.a. Big Bad, finally gets to tell his side of the story—and the audience
determines the verdict!
“This story features the outcast, the outsider. It will
appeal to a child’s sense of fairness and fair play as it
debunks stereotypes and teaches children about
tolerance,” says the director, Dallas veteran musical
theater director Cheryl Denson.
Critics have praised DCT’s broadly appealing
production. “The supple five-person ensemble,
cleverly costumed, delights…[the] jazzy music, created
for this production, is catchy and clever and keeps the
humor humming,” wrote The Dallas Morning News.
Pegasus News called the show “light, fun, fast-paced,
full of puns for the grown-ups and silliness for the kids.
The music…will have you humming all the way home.”
The book The True Story Of the 3 Little Pigs!, by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, has sold more than 3 million
copies worldwide since its 1989 publication. Like the pair’s Caldecott Honor book, The Stinky Cheese Man and
Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Pigs takes a classic tale and turns it upside down. The musical stage adaptation—
which premiered in Chicago’s Lifeline Theatre in 2007—honors the book as it stretches its story further with
high drama, hyperbole, puppets and rollicking original music. A past collaborator with such greats as Marvin
Gaye, Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Barry White, composer S-Ankh Rasa explores multiple
jazz and popular music styles in this hour of hilarious and melodious hoggy havoc.
Choreography by Jeremy Dumont complements the many jazz styles with smooth, cool, easy moves and
upbeat musical theater pizzazz. A recipient of the DFW Theater Critics Forum Award, Dumont has
choreographed for theaters and schools across the country. Set Designer Randal Wright has taken cues from
Smith’s illustrations, but also bases his design on the notion that pigs dominate in this particular world. Thus
piggy-pink lights and pig shapes appear throughout the set in subtle ways, with a wink to the adults in the
audience.
The play begins outside the courthouse in Piggsylvania. Alexander T. Wolf is on trial for the murder of two of
the three little pigs. Fast-talking reporter pig Lillian Magill claims nobody has ever heard the Wolf’s side of the
story, and she is hungry for the truth. The Honorable Prudence Pig, a tough-as-nails judge with a weakness for
musical theater, presides over the case. A sharp, smooth-talking lawyer pig named Julia is the prosecuting
attorney, and she always gets her way. Al (the wolf) is a soulful charmer with a love of gourmet cooking and
the fine arts. He takes the stand in his own defense, but it looks as though the piggy world is against him. True,
he is a carnivore to the core, but is he also the victim of a media frame-up? Will Magill get her journalistic
glory? GUILTY or NOT GUILTY? When all the witness statements are in, the audience becomes the jury and
determines Al’s fate!
Recommended for ages 5 and up.
2013-2014 will mark DCT's 30th season of producing professional theater for a multi-generational audience in
the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and its 19th season of touring the U.S. and abroad. TIME Magazine has recognized
DCT as one of the top five theaters in the United States performing for young audiences and families; and DCT
has been designated as an American Masterpieces Touring Artist by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Download high-resolution photos and Word version of press release
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Founded in 1962, the Hopkins Center for the Arts is a multi-disciplinary academic, visual and performing
arts center dedicated to uncovering insights, igniting passions, and nurturing talents to help the Dartmouth
community engage imaginatively and contribute creatively to our world. Each year the Hop presents more
than 300 live events and films by visiting artists as well as Dartmouth students and the Dartmouth
community, and reaches more than 22,000 Upper Valley residents and students with outreach and arts
education programs. During the 2012-13 season, the Hop celebrates its 50th anniversary with heightened
programming that emphasizes the Hop’s missions of mentoring young artists, supporting the development
of new work, and providing a laboratory for participation and experimentation in the arts. The Hop’s 50th
celebration is one of the major elements in Dartmouth’s designation of 2012-13 as the college’s Year of the
Arts.
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CALENDAR LISTING:
Dallas Children’s Theater presents The True Story of the Three Little Pigs
So he huffed and he puffed and he blew their little house down…or did he? In this “catchy and clever”
(Dallas Morning News) musical adaptation of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith’s irreverent 1989 book, the Wolf
finally tells his side of the story—and the audience decides his fate. Rated by TIME as one of the top five
youth theaters in the nation, this company hams it up in rare style. Recommended for ages 5 and up.
Sunday, May 12, 3 pm
Spaulding Auditorium, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hanover NH
Tickets $18/23; Dartmouth students $10; 18 & under $13/18
Information: Hopkins Center Box Office, 603.646.2422 or hop.dartmouth.edu
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CONTACT:
Rebecca Bailey, Publicity Coordinator/Writer
Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College
[email protected]
693.646.3991