SoNA, Trike Theatre partner for new touring children’s play

Show poster

The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA) has partnered with Trike Theatre to present a new children’s theatre production that will tour five area school districts this fall.

The new play, The Case of the Missing Melody, is written by Mike L. Thomas, and is funded through a grant from the Arkansas Arts Council.

The play is an interactive, musical and discovery production for children in kindergarten through the second grade. Featuring two actors and six musicians, the play introduces music terminology, demonstrates instruments and breaks down the parts of a song so that young audiences can solve a mystery and gain an appreciation of how music is made.

The group is scheduled to travel to Prairie Grove, Pea Ridge, Gentry, Decatur and Gravette schools later this year, with the long-term goal being to explore opportunities to tour around the state.

Before the tour begins, the group will offer three preview performances in Fayetteville and Springdale. Each preview begins at 10:30 a.m. and is open to the public. Admission is free, and tickets are not required.

Preview performances set for July 30-Aug 1

  • Wednesday, July 30 — Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain St.
  • Thursday, July 31 — The Jones Center, 922 E. Emma Ave., Springdale
  • Friday, Aug. 1 — Springdale Public Library, 405 S. Pleasant St.

The Case of the Missing Melody – Synopsis

Ian Semble and Chris Shindo are lovers of music and a good mystery. Someone has taken the melody from a group of musicians and if Ian and Chris don’t find out who did it, the concert can’t happen and the instruments cannot be heard. On their revealing journey, they learn how to build a piece of music by listening to the instruments of the orchestra and creating the bass line, rhythm and melody with certain “found objects.” Sarah C. Caesura has stopped the music and she is convinced she has it all locked up. Can our detectives find her in time and convince her to return the melody to our musicians? The students in the audience become an integral part of solving the mystery as they physicalize the parts of a piece of music, guide Ian and Chris to Sarah C. Caesura, and realize that music is all around us.

The play was written incorporating several of the Arkansas Common Core State Standards for Music Education.