KIDS & FAMILIES

THE YANKEE PEDDLER: STORIES AND SONGS FROM OLD NEW ENGLAND
Ever wanted to sing along with a sea shanty? Or dive deep into a fox’s den? In a whirlwind tour of New England's lesser-known folklore, audiences will encounter the world’s largest wheel of cheese (sent as a present to Thomas Jefferson by the residents of Cheshire, MA); the giant sailor Alfred Bulltop Stormalong (New England’s own Paul Bunyan!); and dozens of ordinary folk with extraordinary problems. Drawing from three hundred years of stories, songs, and local history, there is sure to be something for everyone on the Yankee Peddler’s cart!

Puppeteer Brad Shur knew he wanted to make a show with live music, so he tapped folk musician Chris Monti to collaborate on “Peddler.” Together, they scoured songbooks and dusted off folklore anthologies in search of material that would make for good visual storytelling while celebrating life in the Northeast. After narrowing down an enormous list to 10 songs and stories, the two wove together a run order. Shur created over 100 shadow puppet characters for the production, and Monti provides sound effects on a dozen instruments, in addition to singing and playing guitar throughout.

Scenes from “Peddler” were workshopped at the Eugene O’Neill National Puppetry Conference in 2010, and the show received support from the Harris Grant Program of the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America.