As if the weekend hadn’t already been full enough with my 25th college reunion, there was also the exciting premiere of the Racine Choral Arts Society’s musical presentation of one of the neatest children’s books I’ve ever read, “Julius, Baby of the World” by Racine native Kevin Henkes. It tells the story of a little girl named Lily who is very unhappy when her baby brother, Julius, arrives- and it’s not until the very end of the book – when her nasty cousin comes to visit and starts to say mean things about Julius – that Lily finds herself defending her baby brother and appreciating him like she never had before. The book is an absolute classic.
Jim Schatzman contacted me at some point last year with a most intriguing proposal. He had secured permission to transform this wonderful book into a semi-staged musical presentation – and had commissioned a terrific husband and wife folk duo, Scott and Michelle Daziel, to compose some songs to help tell the story. Jim wanted me to arrange the songs so the Choral Arts Society could join in on them, and I happily agreed. . . and that part of the venture ended up being a relatively simple matter of writing some gentle background ‘ooh’ parts that wouldn’t overwhelm the essential simplicity of the songs.
What ended up being a more interesting challenge was later on when Jim asked me to write some additional material for the chorus only – which would allow them to in effect offer comment on the story at certain crucial moments. For instance, the character of Lily is repeatedly sent to the Uncooperative Chair every time she’s mean to Julius- and I composed a theme and five variations on it with which Lily would be sent off for her discipline. . . with these original lyrics: “We do this, Lily, because we care – Your disobedience puts you there, in the Uncooperative Chair.’ At another point, Lily is engaged in one of her favorite pasttimes: pretending she’s an opera singer, and Jim asked me to compose something that would convey the wonderful sound of Lily’s singing as she heard it – and then in sudden and entertaining climax, we would suddenly hear what she sounded like to everyone else in the room – singing in the cracks of the piano, as it were, and sounding pretty terrible.
Part of what made this so much fun is that the Choral Arts Society is such a fine ensemble, so I could afford to write them difficult music. . . . and some of what I wrote was in fact quite tricky. And they came through with flying colors. And Scott and Michelle Daziel sounded just wonderful on their four songs, which managed to capture the tenderness of Julius’ mother late in her pregnancy, feeling her soon-to-be- born baby kicking within her womb. . . the hilarity of Lily desperately vying for attention . . . the poignancy of Lily sorrowfully deciding to run away from home (“To whom it may concern: I have thought the whole thing over . . . and I’m resigning as your daughter, effective today. . . “) . . . and a soaring anthem for the book’s happy ending, called “That’s my Family.” The songs themselves were beautifully crafted, and Scott and Michelle sang and played them exquisitely – and I was happy that they were so pleased with the choral parts that I had written. . . just enough to provide some warm, enveloping support without overwhelming the songs.
The performance itself also included some gifted actors from the Sixth Street Theater – and they did a wonderful job of bringing the heart of the story to life. Especially memorable was Tom Spraker, a retired drama teacher at Racine’s Park High School (and member of Holy Communion) who actually played Baby Julius . . . and did so perfectly!
The performance happened at Racine’s Memorial Hall, and a good-sized and enthusiastic audience gave the work a standing ovation at the end of the afternoon. I would have loved to have stuck around for the reception (it would have been my first opportunity to meet Kevin H. after having interviewed him several years ago) but I had to run off while the applause was still ringing – – – lest I be late for Bryan Chung’s junior recital at Carthage. (his recital was orginally scheduled for 3:00 – the same time as the concert – and he kindly allowed me to move the recital two hours later.)
It was wonderful to participate in something so exciting and successful – even if my role was probably a bit murky to most people in the audience. The folk duo, choir and actors were all onstage but I was in the audience (naturally) and I think most people there didn’t fully understand what I had actually written for this thing. But that was okay: I found myself being so thrilled that this complicated undertaking. . . a dream of Jim’s for about a decade or so. . . had finally come together, and to have played even a small role in such a big success was all the glory I needed. (Not that I did it for free – I was commissioned just like the Daziel’s were and there is renumeration on the way. But I think it’s safe to say that I would have happily done all this just for the sheer pleasure of it. Such is the power of music and of such a delightful story that one would feel so good just to be a small part of it. My only hope is that this musical adaption will be heard again and again and far outside the confines of Racine itself.
pictured: Lily and her mom during “Julius, baby of the world” – as portrayed by Barbara Akey and Joan Roehre.