Feature Article July 22, 2004
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THE DINOSAUR ROCKby Lesley McBride
A musical theatre production by Shari and Jerry Tallon of Ardoch held at Sharbot Lake High School, July 17.People were still filtering into the auditorium as Jerry, seated to the left of the stage, opened up the world of imagination with a nice instrumental prelude from his red electric guitar.
Sarah McCullough, aged 10, of Parham, then stood on stage in an attractive leopard-skin costume, holding an outsized green toothbrush and singing: Brush your teeth down, down up, up, back & forth with playful antics that seemed to suggest Hey, life is meant to be fun, not a chore!
Shari, the Director, th
en
gave a brief introduction about the plays history and that this
performance is a new idea to involve kids from The Creative Players
Performing Arts Childrens Camp in Sharbot Lake.
The curtain opens, revealing a swampy scene, a large, painted backdrop of prehistoric creatures. There is a big roar. Two characters dressed in green appear: Kelly Weatherby, aged 13, of Parham as Bonehead and Payton Ferguson, aged 5, of Niagara Falls as Bony; then Sarah, whose leopard skin character is named Miranda, and Sarahs sister Margo, aged 13, (Shari, ever-encouraging the childrens creativity, let Margo make up her own characters name) as Jasmine, in a coloured, tulle-like skirted costume.
The characters form a group called the Dynomites and the opening song invites the audience to: Come on and Rock and Roll back to the land of dinosaurs! A doctor in a labcoat and wild headgear enters and advises: Fasten your seatbelts. It seems were in a time machine!
Adding to the Tallons sound effects, stage left outside the curtain is Shawn Fleming, 7, of Sharbot Lake as host keyboardist and offstage right is James Fleming, 5, on drums. All of the children enjoyed themselves and put in wonderfully energetic performances. Paul Tallon played four different characters, demonstrating great versatility.
This performance of The Dinosaur Rock is a newly inspired idea. Shari and Jerry created it 17 years ago, putting it into comic book form and C.D. for kids. At this performance, the costumes and set from the original production were augmented by new artwork and masks created by children at the Creative Players Camp.
When the Dinosaur Rock was first created, the Tallons performed the play in schools and libraries throughout Ontario then, as Jerry put it, it went the way of all dinosaurs. In seems dinosaurs were really in then, a passing fad. However, this production shows that those real monsters of prehistoric times have a timeless, indestructible fascination for children. And a chance to be a part of their creative recovery is a wonderful opportunity for children to express their inherent creativity. Shari in her introduction reminded us, Creativity for kids goes beyond the Arts to develop problem-solving ability. They learn to listen. Camp is a special place for them. In this increasingly mechanized world, being able to go back to the world of dinosaurs is a soul-saving activity.
There is another production of the Dinosaur Rock coming up at North Addington Educational Centre August 9, which will involve Cloyne Childrens Camp. Anyone interested please contact Shari at (613)479-2293
