Hudson Vagabond Puppets Performs Ferdinand the Bull at Eisenhower
October 3, 2007
Munro Leaf's children's book The Story of Ferdinand, which last month was at the center of a record-setting national reading campaign, comes to the stage in a narrated adaptation with larger-than-life puppets, masked dancers and mechanical figures. Hudson Vagabond Puppets performs Ferdinand the Bull, the tale of a peace-loving bovine, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21, in Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium.
Each scene recalls a Robert Lawson illustration from the book as Ferdinand, mistaken for being high-strung because of his reaction to a bee sting, is transported from a carefree youth in the Spanish countryside to the spectacle of the city's bullring. In the end, Ferdinand stays true to himself as a bull who would rather smell the flowers than fight a matador.
Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation are $15 for an adult, $10 for a University Park student and $10 for a person 18 and younger. Buy tickets online at www.cpa.psu.edu or by phone at (814) 863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also on sale at four State College locations: Eisenhower Auditorium (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays), Penn State Tickets Downtown (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday), HUB-Robeson Center (11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays) and Bryce Jordan Center (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays).
A campaign by the national nonprofit organization Jumpstart, aimed at raising money and awareness for early education in low-income communities, set a record Sept. 20 for the most children reading the same book on the same day. An estimated quarter of a million children read The Story of Ferdinand with adults in conjunction with almost 2,000 reading events taking place across the country.
The Jumpstart campaign, called Read for the Record, raised more than $1 million from donations and sales of a special edition of the book published by Penguin Young Readers Group. More than 100,000 copies of The Story of Ferdinand were donated to children in low-income communities.
Hudson Vagabond Puppets, which uses professional actors and dancers in its productions, was incorporated as a not-for-profit company in 1980. The troupe, based in upstate New York, performs more than 150 times each year for students, teachers and families at schools, universities, theaters and festivals throughout the United States.
The puppeteers borrow from the traditional Japanese Bunraku style of puppetry to animate Ferdinand and his friends on stage.
The company's resident choreographer Edward Winslow, who holds a master of fine arts in dance from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, directed and choreographed the show. Michael Minard wrote the music and lyrics. Lois Bohovesky, the company's founding artistic director, is the producer. Peter Bohovesky is in charge of puppet and mask construction.
McQuaide Blasko Attorneys at Law sponsors the performance. Radio station Froggy 98 is the media sponsor. Kidz Connections, which begins in Eisenhower Auditorium one hour before the show and is free to ticket holders, includes activities for young audience members. Children can make a tissue paper flower, learn to use castanets, and play "pin the bee on Ferdinand" before enjoying a pre-performance snack.
Contact: Laura Sullivan, 814-863-6379