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THEATRE MUSIC ®
The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts
TRANSFORMATION
ENDURING VALUES
CLASSICAL
1. CREATING (Cr)
CONTEMPORARY
2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr)
EXPERIMENTAL
3. RESPONDING (Re)
MULTI-MEDIA
4. CONNECTING (Cn)
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION
Title of Work: On the Day You Were Born
Creators: Producer: In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre Artistic Director: Sandy Spieler b. 1953 Author/Illustrator: Debra Frasier b. 1953
Background Information: Sandy Spieler went to college with the intention of
ARTISTIC PROCESSES
TRADITIONAL
THE POWER OF NATURE
THE HUMAN FAMILY
The author’s radiant collage illustrations translate to the stage as actors open giant trick boxes releasing the natural phenomena described in the book. After the performance, the audience is invited to tour the planetary midway where carnival booths demonstrate the scientific information found in the book’s glossary. Topics include: migration, rotation, gravity, the moon’s phases, rising and falling tides, sunlight and photosynthesis.
becoming a doctor. Her school years coincided with a
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture:
period of political unrest in this country, and these events
The idea for the production of On the Day You Were Born
turned her head from medical books to discover other
began when author/illustrator Debra Frasier approached
healing grounds. A talented visual artist, she began fitting
Sandy Spieler and In the Heart of the Beast to create a
sculpture and music together with theatre and dance to
benefit to celebrate the theatre and the publication of her
tell stories and explore ancient and daily rituals. She
book in March, 1991. The theatre had wanted to do a
became a puppeteer and joined In the Heart of the Beast
play about the natural wonders of the world and Frasier’s
Puppet and Mask Theatre of Minneapolis, Minnesota in
book was perfect in both theme and visual style. Ms.
1974, becoming Artistic Director in 1976. Under her
Spieler worked in close collaboration with Ms. Frasier,
leadership, the theatre has become known for its imaginative
becoming midwife to the creative process in bringing the
productions featuring puppets of all sizes and styles, from
book off the page and onto the stage. She began by
epic totems to table-top proportions. Provocative and
storyboarding the book into sections: a prologue, an
strikingly beautiful, these puppets are all built by hand
invocation, the revelation of wonders, and finally the
from recycled materials. In the Heart of the Beast has
birth and welcome song. They then constructed tag board
received numerous grants and awards including the
models of the show’s three large boxes
McKnight Excellence in the Arts Award and the Twin
which open to reveal the text and action
Cities Mayor’s Award for Public Art.
of the story. The boxes incorporate mural techniques, banners, animated
About the Artwork:
tableaux and whimsical fabrics in
On the Day You Were Born is a play created by In the
harmony with Frasier’s colorful
Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. It is based
illustrations.
on Debra Frasier’s book of the same title about the natu-
Sandy Spieler
ral events that unfold on the day a child enters the world.
(Photo courtesy of Sandy Spieler)
The play combines puppetry, painting, poetry and music,
“On the eve of your birth, word of your coming passed from animal to animal... and the marvelous news migrated worldwide.” On the Day You Were Born
celebrating the natural miracles of the earth and extending a jubilant welcome to each member of our human family.
Minnesota