Bremen Town Musicians, The

“The Musicians of Bremen Town,” which has been retold countless times by The Brothers Grimm and many others, has always been a favorite folk story of mine. I was surprised when I mentioned the title of this project to others how many people hadn’t heard of it before. I thought this gave the story and even greater appeal, really, and was excited to work on my own adaptation.

It would be unfair of me, at this point, not to give a nod to several other theatre groups and people who are near and dear to me who have likewise worked on versions of this story, some of which I have been involved with, and others I had only heard about, including ShoWagon of Theatre Memphis and the Pied Pipers of Freed-Hardeman University. Much of my inspiration for this adaptation comes their own re-tellings of the story.

In any case, I figured that it was time for Chatterbox to have a piece that was not only a great story for the kids, but that stretched our own artistic boundaries as well — and what better way than creating our very first musical production? This story is, of course, perfect for a musical adaptation, so I jumped at the opportunity to work with some wonderful local musicians to bring it to life. They not only helped to discover the music within the characters, but also voiced a couple of them as well.

Finally, I was honored, as always, to be able to include this show in the line-up at another wonderful Memphis Children’s Theatre Festival, with the help of Voices of the South and Rhodes College.

I hope you enjoy this story for its entertainment value, as well as its many morals, including its philosophy on self-worth, integrity, and fellowship.

Keep listening!!

—Marques W. Brown