Artsource
THEATRE MUSIC ®
The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts
TRANSFORMATION
ENDURING VALUES
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION
ARTISTIC PROCESSES
TRADITIONAL CLASSICAL
1. CREATING (Cr)
CONTEMPORARY
2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr)
EXPERIMENTAL
3. RESPONDING (Re)
MULTI-MEDIA
4. CONNECTING (Cn)
THE HUMAN FAMILY
THE POWER OF NATURE
Title of Work:
About the Artwork:
The Tale of Beatrix Potter, Peter Rabbit, & Friends
The Tale of Beatrix Potter illuminates the life of the
Creator:
author/illustrator who gave us such beloved stories as
Producer/Performer: Judith Helton b.1941
The Tale of Peter Rabbit and those of some of his
Background Information: Actress Judith Helton literally steps into the past when she goes to work. Since 1976 she has brought history to life with her intriguing portrayals of women of accomplishment and artistic talent. Her versatile repertoire of one-woman shows consists of three from American history - First Lady Abigail Adams; gold rush entertainer Lotta Crabtree; pioneer author Laura Ingalls Wilder - and England’s author/illustrator, Beatrix Potter. Each portrayal is meticulously researched from an historical perspective. Ms. Helton is also known to master the skills of her characters. For Abigail Adams she acquired an antique spinning wheel and learned to spin so that she could share the making of ‘homespun’ with
friends, Benjamin Bunny, Mrs. Tiggy Winkle, Jemina Puddle-Duck and Mr. Jeremy Fisher. The context for the performance is a visit with the famous literary figure. Ms. Potter shares some biographical information and tells a selection of her stories. The audience also learns the tales behind the tales, the real animals, people and incidents which inspired the characters and plots. Ms. Helton’s costume is a copy of Beatrix Potter’s wedding garb, representing her as she looked on her wedding day in 1913 at age 47. That event marked both an end to Beatrix’s life with her parents and her creative writing career. She embarked on a new life with her lawyer husband, Mr. William Heelis, devoting herself to him and their country property, “Hill Top Farm.”
her audiences. To prepare for Lotta Crabtree, she
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture:
learned to play the banjo. She was so successful that the
When Beatrix Potter was 15 years old, she wrote in her
Wells Fargo History Museum of Los Angeles commis-
journal, “Someday I will do something.” Judith
sioned her to record a tape of her singing and banjo play-
Helton identified with the young Ms. Potter, for she
ing for a permanent audio exhibit of “gold rush songs.”
herself as a young girl aspired to
A mid-westerner, Ms. Helton was born in Carbondale,
do something, to be an actress
Illinois and was a Theatre Arts major at Southern
and have a career in the theatre.
Illinois University. After graduation, she began her
She had always appreciated the
professional theatre work in resident acting companies in
Potter books and in 1986 she
Baltimore, Milwaukee, Houston and San Diego.
started the research to create a
Internationally she has performed at the Edinburgh, Scotland “World Theatre Festival” and in Dublin and Cork, Ireland. Ms. Helton so truly ‘becomes’ the various women she plays, that it is little wonder she is asked by neighbors, “Who are you today?”
Photo courtesy of Americana Unlimited
show about her.
“In recreating past lives I discovered that they were re-creating me, sending me off into new directions of self discovery.” Judith Helton
California