Producing The Wind in the Willows

Why Wind in the Willows?

In preparing for other blogs on this show, I wondered why the Co-Directors Geoff Hall and Alicia Greathouse picked this play versus other, perhaps more well known, ones. I posed this and a few other related questions to Alicia about producing The Wind in the Willows.

Why did you pick Wind in the Willows for this season’s children’s play?

Geoff and I are book nerds and we pick shows that kids can go back and read. I insisted on this show because I have loved this book forever. 

What is special about this show?

It is a musical with several fascinating characters. Becky Hall and Lois Galbo have done an awesome work costuming the cast. Sonia Neu has also done a great job with vocal coaching. It is also conducted in a natural setting and we have done our best to simulate this, especially with the wonderful creekside mural done by Heather Papinchak. Although the grass on stage is plastic, the cattails are real!

Have you had any particular challenges?

The biggest issue has been the music. We could not get a small pit orchestra together, so the music had to be converted to piano accompaniment. Ashley Mattocks graciously agreed to play and prerecord the piano music for us.

Aside from the benefit to the cast themselves, are you doing any further educational activities related to this production?

Yes, we will be doing limited performances at Seton School and the Learning Center. A few cast members will also be involved in readings from the book at the Meadville and Linesville libraries. These activities will all be done in one day, in order to limit out-of-school time for cast members. Talk about a busy day! We are also planning to provide a show based video for Crawford Central classes.