CMU School of Drama


Saturday, September 07, 2013

Freeport Theatre Festival honors real-life heroes in 'Rivertown Firemen's Jubilee' musical

TribLIVE: While he is a member of one of the Alle-Kiski Valley's longest-running and most respected firemen's bands — Kittanning's — Drew Fennell is quick to point out he is not a fireman. Nonetheless, the Natrona Heights resident and principal solo flugelhorn in the River City Brass Band says, he spends a lot of time with firemen and emergency-service personnel.

1 comment:

Lindsay Coda said...

I think this is absolutely wonderful! There is something magical about waterways: they bring people together. As Norman Maclean once wrote, "Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." It sounds reminiscent to traveling acts in the mid 1800s. Perhaps, I dwell on this because my mind goes back to Mark Twain's tales and folk tales told along rivers. I think this idea of storytelling on a river can go very far. Perhaps, it can become some sort of "Sleep No More" production in which audiences travel on a riverboat and relive the tales of Huckleberry Finn or something. It is nice to have the audiences become part of the production. Also, it is nice to see this come to the USA. I know there is a Bregenz Opera Festival in Austria, where the stage floats on a river, and the audience watches from land. Not only does it have a different kind of theatrical experience, but it also leaves room for water acrobatics or other unique events. It would be nice to see old, forgotten folk tales reborn. Being on the water will take the audience away from the everyday world and put them in the world of the play itself.