Art adventures: Arizona Capitol Museum

When the Arizona legislature is in session, hardly a day goes by without members of the local or national media reporting on controversial happenings at the Arizona State Capitol. But this is nothing new.

When my oldest daughter (now an ASU student interested in history and cultural anthroplogy) was in grade school, she spent a year home schooling. We spent lots of time at the Arizona State Capitol — exploring museum exhibits and sitting in on legislative hearings.

Back then, the hot button issue was cash rebates and tax credits for folks buying alternative fuel vehicles or converting vehicles for possible alternative fuel use. While the practice sounded good in theory, it became a wildly unwieldy enterprise as costs of the program soared past expectations and spiraled out of control.

I was inspired to revisit the Arizona Capitol Museum after seeing the cast of Greasepaint Youtheatre’s “Schoolhouse Rock” do a run-through of the show the night before opening their May 6-15 run in Scottsdale. It was a lot more fun than watching some of those House hearings back in the early ’90s.

The musical “Schoolhouse Rock” is based on an animated educational TV show that ran on ABC-TV during the ’70s and ’80s. Topics treated by “Schoolhouse Rock” included grammar, science and math — as well as history and civics.

Hence songs like “Just a Bill/The Preamble,” “Great American Melting Pot,” and “Sufferin’ Till Suffrage” — which you can enjoy all over again with your kids at Greasepaint Youtheater this weekend.

I took oodles of photo during my latest trip to the Arizona Capitol Museum just last week, when Christopher and I went to explore the exhibits and grab a bite in the Capitol Cafe, located in the basement of the executive tower.

Watch for a future post featuring photos of children’s artwork displayed along the corridor connecting the executive tower, where Governor Jan Brewer’s office is located on the 9th floor, and the Arizona Capitol Museum (with doors that open into a courtyard flanked by the Arizona Senate and Arizona House of Representatives buildings).

There’s plenty of material in this slide show for crafting your own version of an “I-Spy” museum adventure or scavenger hunt of sorts. There’s even a Press-A-Penny machine on the museum’s first floor where you can treat your children to one of three nifty designs if they’re successful with your homemade game (you can define success any way you like).

Of course, my children would have preferred viewing the slide show themselves, then coming up with a list of objects for me to identify or locate. And I’d never settle for a single pressed penny as my prize. I’d insist on all three.

— Lynn

Coming up: A trio of Shakespeare posts — featuring new seasons, teacher reflections and student reviews

Schoolhouse Rock

Alert! Tickets for the Sat, May 14 show at 7pm are two-for-one so you can have twice the fun! Click here for ticketing information (use the code “family”) when ordering.

Some of us have been around the block a time or two with musical theater. We’re jaded about shows that’ve been on the scene for a while. We’re always looking for the next great thing. An “American Idiot.” A “Book of Mormon.”

But most of us who’ve caught the musical theater bug were first exposed to this uniquely American art form during youth. Someone took us to see a work of theater that made a lasting impression. That had lyrics we could relate to. That told a story both magical and familiar.

This weekend, and next, you can experience just such a show — right here in the Valley — as Greasepaint Youtheatre presents “Schoolhouse Rock.” It’s the perfect show for elementary-age children, because its themes are all familiar school topics.

Grammar. Science. Social Studies. Arithmetic. All set to song and dance — a sort of homage to one of our highest goals for eduction. The idea that learning should be fun. And who better to reinforce it than young actors a child in the audience can really relate to?

I wasn’t able to attend opening night for “Schoolhouse Rock” because Lizabeth and I had tickets for the “Childsplay Presents Its Greatest Hits Gala” taking place at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort (more on that in a future post) — but I wanted to see and then write a bit about the show.

It’s directed and choreographed by Molly Lajoie Plutnicki, a member of the Childsplay 2010-2011 acting company you might have seen performing in this season’s “A Year With Frog and Toad.” She and Greasepaint producing director Maureen Dias-Watson graciously let me sit in on Thursday night’s run-through so I could give you a a sneak peek.

When I arrived at the theater, I found two cast moms sitting at a long table set up in the lobby for last-minute costume work. Another mom sat sewing by hand on a couch in the green room, as two cast members did homework seated on another couch nearby.

I shot some photos in the lobby, in the green room, from the house seats and even one or two from the wings — and decided to share them with you below to give you a flavor for both the show and what it takes to put such a production together.

I was delighted to see that the cast includes several talented actors whose work we’ve enjoyed in other Greasepaint shows, but also plenty of fresh, new faces. It’s no fun when youth theater gets cliquish — and I love that Greasepaint doors are always open.

When my son suggested Friday morning that we hit a Valley museum, I knew just which one to pick. We charged our camera batteries and drove down to the Arizona Capitol complex to take in the four-story Arizona Capitol Museum.

The museum features exhibits about various branches of government — executive, legislative and judicial. The legislative section includes a room dedicated to hands-on exploration of how laws are created, something that reminds me of the “Schoolhouse Rock” tune titled “I’m Just a Bill.”

A trip to see the musical “Schoolhouse Rock” at Greasepaint Youtheatre, coupled with time spent exploring the Arizona Capitol Museum (which offers free admission), is a perfectly pleasant way to help your child explore topics he or she is learning about in class.

Opportunities to witness our children’s “Aha!” moments, or to share moments when they feel empowered by what they know, pass far too quickly. Take it from a mom who has seen three children from preschool to college.

There are far worse fates than driving home in the car singing songs like “Three is a Magic Number” or “Interplanet Janet” together…

— Lynn

Note: Greasepaint Youtheatre performs “Schoolhouse Rock” in Scottsdale through May 15. Click here for show dates/times and ticketing information.

Coming up: Young Arts Arizona meets St. Joseph’s Hospital, Art adventures: Arizona Capitol Museum, Dancing Queen

Update: KAK is treating every mom at the Sunday, May 8, 2pm performance to a fabulous Mother’s Day cupcake. Click here to learn more about this K***A** bakery in Phoenix.

Copper rush

Not long after I watched a late-night pundit predict a copper run with possible catastrophic consequences, a copper-related press release crossed my virtual desk.

It described a coin drive that’s engaging students and other citizens in collecting pennies to help fund the renovation of Arizona’s own state capitol building copper dome.

Tempted as I might be to riff on all sorts of issues related to revenue and state capitols, the arts are pulling me — for now — in another direction.

I was grateful last week for the alert that came across my laptop as I watched television news headlines of violent revolution and pirates taking children hostage.

I quickly switched my attention to the live feed of a ceremony taking place at the White House. President Obama was honoring recipients of the 2010 National Medal of Arts and the 2010 National Humanities Medal.

As he placed a large medallion on a long ribbon over the head of James Taylor, Obama whispered something in Taylor’s left  ear. I imagine it might have been something like “Im a fan.”

It’s easy to understand why Taylor was one of 20 Americans honored. Consider the beautiful images conjured by the simplicity of his “Copperline” lyrics from the “New Moon Shine” album:

Took a fall from a windy height
I only knew how to hold on tight
And pray for love enough to last all night
Down on copperline 

Or another verse from the same song…

One time I saw my daddy dance
Watching him moving like a man in a trance
He brought it back from the war in France
Down on copperline

Closer to home, we’ve got the Copperstar Repertory Company, a community theater that works to “entertain, educate and enrich community members of all ages.”

Copperstar performs at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts in the East Valley. Their next production, the musical “Into the Woods” with book by James Lapine and music/lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, runs April 8-16.

I imagine it’ll be refreshing for a change to watch a show where the only feared characters are those who live in fairy tales.

— Lynn

Note: A special “Into the Woods” performance for student groups takes place Thurs, April 14, at 9:45am at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts  (in partnership with Copperstar Repertory Theatre and Higly Community Education). The target audience is grades 4-12 students in language arts and music. Click here to learn more.

Coming up: Field trips with an arts focus, A parent perspective on PBS