One of our favorite stories for preschool or early Elementary drama is the classic Grimm brothers story of the Musicians of Bremen Town. I get to appear on stage tomorrow for the very first time in a performance of this story. I get to act surly and uncouth, dishonest and cowardly. It should be lots of fun, and I get to wear a hat. My real job is to impose a thin veil of order over a group of four-year-old villains during the parts of the story when the musical rooster and cat have the stage.
I have always loved this story, learned from a Little Golden Record in the late Fifties. My parents had a print of Picasso's musicians (with the dog under the table) hanging on the wall, and I believed it illustrated the Grimm tale. Most versions of the tale include a rooster, a dog, and a cat. I usually include a donkey in the quartet, but sometimes it is a mouse. I love that the animals set out to remake their lives, and manage to outsmart the robbers.
I will be appearing in a version that would make Tony Soprano and Janet Evanovich proud. We are doing the Bremen Town robbers in New Jersey mobster talk. Youse' guys shouldst use da potties before you put on your costumes! Flush and wash, or swim with the fishes.
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