Ferdinand the BullThis weekend, Jesse and I had the great pleasure of performing The Story of Ferdinand as guests of the Children’s Library at The Providence Athenaeum. This colourful piece by David Rideout is for violin and narrator and is based on Munro Leaf’s charming book. The gentle hero Ferdinand is a strong bull with a big heart, who would much rather smell the flowers under his favourite cork tree than fight in the bullfights of Madrid. The performance featured a jumbo-sized version of Munro Leaf’s book with vibrant illustrations. Not only did the youngest members of our audience have some fine literary observations, they also gave us a virtuoso display of bovine sound effects. After the performance Jesse and I hosted a “petting zoo” so the children could try out some violins for themselves. We would especially like to thank Children’s Librarian, Lindsay Shaw, for hosting us. In the spring, we hope to take the show on the road and with any luck, Ferdinand may soon be appearing at an elementary classroom near you! -Ealain McMullin, Fellow |
