Happy Earth Day. I was walking my daughter home from school last week when she told me about the importance of turning the lights out when exiting a room. (Our family does.) She also told me about the importance of turning off the faucet when brushing teeth. (We do that too.) She’s expressed concern about throwing things away that can’t be recycled. Between MPS and PBS’ Nature Cat TV show, little Amalia has been exposed to a lot of thought about caring for the natural world before ever setting foot in K5. This is very cool. It’s nice to know that there’s a local group doing live theater for kids. Little Amalia has seen a number of performance by that group at the Milwaukee Zoo and surrounding areas.
Kohl’s Wild Theater has established a solidly respectable history of putting together some really remarkable educational shorts for kids. The perfect mix of entertainment and education have been put in the service of some extremely noble conservationist messages. So it’s only natural that the KWT would work on a musical about Wisconsin conservationists.
This coming January, KWT will present a show that it’s been working with the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Estella Leopold, the last surviving child of Wisconsin conservationist Aldo Leopold is working with KWT’s Dave McLellan on Aldo Leopold and the Ghost of Sand County--a new musical which will focus on educating about Wisconsin’s conservationist history. Conisdered by many to be the father of US wildlife management, Leopold was a conservationist and educator who, along with his family, experimented with ecological restoration on a worn-out farm just outside of Baraboo.
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From the official press release:
“When we decided to create a play about Wisconsin conservationists, we wanted to go right to the source,” says Dave McLellan, Kohl’s Wild Theater coordinator. “That’s why we’re so excited to be working with the Leopold Foundation and Estella Leopold on this project.” Kohl’s Wild Theater actors, playwrights and composers are creating the script in collaboration with Estella and the foundation. “The entire Leopold family became extraordinary conservationists,’” McLellan says. “Their contributions are an excellent example of Wisconsin’s legacy of conservation leaders.”
Aldo Leopold and the Ghost of Sand County will be performed free of charge for schools in and around southeastern Wisconsin starting in January of 2017. KWT has started booking performances of the show this month. Interested schools can call 414-258-2333. For more information about KWT, visit them online.
