Puppets, Ananzi the Spider and a musical pied piper at Super Saturday

Published 4:06 pm Thursday, March 3, 2011

Do you like spiders? Not the icky kind that crawl around your house. No – the kind with a quick wit, a smile and a sneaky way about him. In other words, "Anansi, the Spiderman of Africa." On Super Saturday, held Saturday, March 19, the Crabgrass Puppet Theatre will bring Anansi to the Episcopal Parish Hall at 9:30 and 10:45 a.m. to share famous folktales of Africa. Anansi is one of the classic trickster characters in world folklore. Anansi loves to eat and hates to work, so he tries to trick other animals out of their food. But there's no free lunch for Anansi – because all of his schemes leave him hungrier than ever. Wrote one international critic, "With its beautifully researched and realized hand-batiked scenery, its imaginative puppets, its clever and humorous script, its well-chosen tales, and its masterful performance style, this show is crowd-pleasing for both children and adults."

“Absolutely wonderful! Within ten seconds of T-Bone hitting the stage, you want to sign up for another tour of Camp Muckalucka!” Thus raved a critic in Massachusetts at a T-Bone show. And now he’ll be wowing audiences at Super Saturday, March 19.

Tom Stankus, or T-Bone to his audiences, is affectionately known as “America’s musical Pied Piper.” Maybe it’s the child in him that enables T-Bone to connect so well with his audiences. Maybe it’s the energy of a runaway freight train. Whatever the reason, and before his audiences realize it, they are clapping, dancing and singing at T-Bone’s shows.

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As for “Camp Muckalucka,” it’s a romp through an imaginary day at summer camp, complete with bug juice, storytime, swimming, beach balls and campfire sing-a-longs. In no time, kids have flocked onstage to join T-Bone’s world.

Campers are to gather at the Congregational Church at 9:30 a.m. or 1:15 p.m. Super Saturday tickets go on sale in early March. For further information on Super Saturday, go to www.TryonSuperSaturday.com.