Sylvester & The Magic Pebble Plays Two Matinees at Jorgensen, 10/9

Tales of transformation often involve discomfort, but they are the beloved comfort zone both for famous children's author and New Yorker illustrator William Steig and for Enchantment Theatre Company of Philadelphia. Enchantment, whose stage adaptation employs masks, mime, music and magic, will present Steig's Caldecott-winning story of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts in 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. shows on Sunday, October 9.

Steig himself is a story of transformation, not forging into children's literature until he reached his sixties, and then winning a Caldecott, the highest honor of the genre, in 1970. Until then, armed with a palette of humor, hope and a dab of darkness, he created 117 magazine covers and 1,600 drawings for The New Yorker. Once he branched out into a second career, he wrote 25 children's books, many of them Caldecott and Newbery Medal winners, until his death in 2003.

His most popular work for children was Shrek, a story about an approachable green ogre that was transformed into four successful movies, one of which won the Academy Award for best-animated feature film in 2001, before a stage version opened on Broadway in 2008.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is the tale of a donkey with a rock collection. One day he happens across a shiny red pebble that grants wishes and, before he knows it and in reaction to a scare from a lion, he turns himself into a rock. That's all he could think to do at the time.

The rest of the saga involves his search to get back to his true self as his parents embark on their own search for their beloved only son. Sylvester's journey teaches him the value of family and friends, always a good lesson.

Since its start in 2000, Enchantment Theatre Company has toured with one original children's classic a year. Its magical productions play off life-size puppets, masked actors, illusion, imaginative sets and costumes and original musical scores. The company tours 30-40 states each season, has visited the Far East six times, and has played sophisticated venues such as Lincoln Center in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The Los Angeles Times says, "When Enchantment Theatre Company is in town, it's never fairytale theatre as usual."

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is Jorgensen's season kickoff to the Bank of America Children's Series.

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is located at 2132 Hillside Road on the UConn campus in Storrs. Tickets are $13 for adults and $11 for children. For tickets and information, call the Box Office 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Fri at 860.486.4226, or order online at jorgensen.uconn.edu. Free, convenient parking is available across the street in the North Garage.

 

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