By KATHRYN EISSFELDT
Director Edith Barnard brings her musical, “Flood of Creatures,” to life for local audiences this October. Inspired by a children’s book, the show premiered in 1979 after Barnard received a grant from the Maine Arts Council to adapt the story for the stage.
With original songs, uplifting motifs, and a charming cast of barnyard characters, the latest incarnation of “Flood” is intended to entertain audiences from ages 5 to 105.
Proceeds from the performance benefit the animals at Peoria County Animal Protection Services, and the event is co-sponsored by the Peoria Area World Affairs Council. Tickets are available for $20 on its website PAWAC.org.
The play includes cameos by local notables: Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Peoria Mayor Rita Ali, local nonprofit founder Janet Roth, and Peoria Symphony Orchestra conductor Maestro George Stelluto. The main character, Eunice, is played by radio personality Roxy Baker, and the narrator is Peoria attorney Mitch Gilfillan. The cast also includes Tom Biederbeck, David Burkitt, Ryan LaCosse, Anne Risen, Steve Roach, Meyer McCord, Jackie Watts, and Jennifer Wieland.
“Flood” is a delightful exploration of the virtues of camaraderie, warmth, connection and neighborliness. It showcases a folksy wisdom that is timeless: just like animals from the barnyard, we can live side by side without ruffling feathers. All it takes is a little “Harmony and Understanding” — the title of the main musical number.
This message about getting along is germane to today’s fractured social landscape. In fact, it’s the importance of this theme that prompted Barnard to bring back “Flood.” Recently, a psychologist friend of hers, who had seen the 2006 production at the Apollo Theater, mentioned how relevant the motifs in the show are for today.
In fact, the show has been so popular across the years that alumni from previous casts are coming to Peoria to take their children and grandchildren to the upcoming performances — some from as far away as Maine, Florida, and Wyoming.
EDITH BARNARD
Barnard lived many years in Barbados and produced “Flood” there, as well as all over New England. Her theater in Maine was called the 88-String Guitar Theater, and she is reviving the name for her Peoria-based production company.
Can you close your eyes and imagine an 88-string guitar? If you’re picturing a piano, you’ve probably heard this little joke before. The piano is how Barnard’s musical career began.
Barnard credits her early musical interest to her upbringing. “Being a minister’s daughter, you play the piano and you sing. That was part of the job description, which is great,” she said in an interview last year with Christine Zak-Edmonds. Barnard started performing at age four. She still plays the piano and the organ at local churches.
Barnard has been commissioned to write many musicals during her career in theater. This one was inspired by a children’s picture book by her friend, the artist Dahlov Ipcar, who was the first woman and then-youngest artist to have a solo exhibition at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).
The Ipcars were spiritual parents of a sort to the younger Edie. They spent holidays together, and Dahlov’s husband, Adolph, gave her away at her wedding. Along with Marshall Dodge, Barnard founded the four-day Maine Arts Festival at Bowdoin College, where she taught theater. Adolph was in charge of visual arts. Years later Barnard sang one of the songs from “Flood” as a musical tribute at Dahlov Ipcar’s funeral.
Many of Barnard’s works are historical, having been commissioned to celebrate past events or eras. Barnard often worked with scholars in order to recreate the past in her plays and musicals. She received grants from humanities councils to fund the research by historical consultants.
For example, the Maine State Museum commissioned her to write a show about lumber, sailing, and agrarian life in the mid-19th century. That became “Maine Song 1857.” And Bath Iron Works, which builds destroyers for the U.S. Navy, commissioned the play “Hot Ice,” which depicts the mid-1800s ice trade between Maine and Barbados. “Working with scholars is a joy,” Barnard says.
Other professional highlights for Barnard include authoring a book, serving as a cultural attaché to Greece, helping Richard Branson train employees of Virgin Atlantic, and serving as Luciano Pavarotti’s accompanist on the piano. Accolades for Barnard include recognition from the White House for a show commissioned by the Maine State Bar Association, which featured a cameo by Senator Angus King as John Adams.
There will be four performances of “Flood” at First Church of the Brethren at 4714 N. Sheridan Road in Peoria on Oct. 9, 11, 12, and 13. Showtime is 7 p.m. for all shows except the Sunday afternoon matinee, which begins at 3 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. for matinee) with a pre-show that includes juggling, magic, and other entertainment by the cast.