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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us March 17, 2005 Nature takes center stage Oregon Stage Works honors Southern Oregon composer and environmental activist Michael Mish with a production of his musical fantasy, "The Boy Who Talked to Whales," opening 8 p.m. Thursday, March 24. Cited by many international organizations for his contribution, Mish has composed nine musicals which deal with protecting the natural wonders of our world, with "The Boy Who Talked to Whales" as the capstone. To Mish, who also serves as musical director of this production, "The Boy Who Talked to Whales," based upon the play by the late Webster Smalley, dramatizes a connection to nature that he considers a connection to ourselves. "It's why nature frightens us," Mish said. "Nature is all about crucial parts of life, like birth and death. We don't understand it, so we have to try to control it. In a sense, we've disenfranchised ourselves from ourselves." Since its world premiere in Southern Oregon ten years ago, "The Boy Who Talked to Whales" has been produced all over the world. According to one critic: "While this play continues to delight young people, the marvelous music, the wit and sophistication make it a particular treat for adult audiences." Recorded in 1994, "The Boy Who Talked to Whales" won this comment from Entertainment Weekly: "If music could save the world, this music could. It's that strong." The musical fantasy tells the story of a young boy and girl whose efforts to save a friendly whale from hunters precipitate an international crisis, one they must help the President of the United States resolve. Mish composed the music for the audio book of Neale Donald Walsch's "Conversations With God," and his songs have been waxed by Marilyn McCoo, John Denver, Shari Lewis and Glenn Yarbrough. His cassette, "We Love the Animals," recently won an iParenting Media Award for best children's audio, and "Sleepy Train," another iParenting Media Award recipient, was also awarded the Parents' Choice Gold Award. Making her debut as a director, Tami Marston has performed as a singer and actress in many Southern Oregon venues, including Camelot Theatre, Ashland Community Theatre and Rogue Music Theatre. "There's something empowering in the story," Marston said. "'The Boy Who Talked to Whales' tells people they can make a difference in the world by caring, and by caring together. It invites them back into communion with nature and also with hope, something that the frenzied, cynical world of mass media can wipe out. "There's something so compelling about seeing the way children can still connect, and something so powerful in seeing them protest what's being taken from them. As adults, we need to reawaken ourselves to that connection and to our own nature as well." For both Marston and Mish, the song of the whale, which plays a key part in the musical, is a potent sign of the values the play explores. "The sounds convey a feeling of wisdom," Marston said. "Some kind of deeper understanding that we, as humans, just aren't getting yet." "The sound is dreamy, evocative," Mish said. "It's a language without words that goes straight to your heart." "It's a mystery - one that we fear and are drawn to." Original choreography for "The Boy Who Talked to Whales" was created by Audrey Flint, a prize-winning Southern Oregon choreographer. The cast of "The Boy Who Talked to Whale" features young actors from the Rogue Valley, including Dashiel Moyers, who recently appeared in Camelot Theatre's "Carnival," and Meghan McCandless, who just completed a run in "Our Town" at OSW and starred in the locally produced film "Indigo." Other cast members include Chris Phillips, Amanda Murphy a Humboldt State University graduate, Azalea Micketti, and Natasha Carol Barnes who has acted with OSF, Actor's Theater and Ashland Middle School. Also appearing is Joel Handley, last seen on OSW's stage in "A Christmas Carol," and Merrill Smith, a veteran of music theater. Rounding out the cast is singer Priscilla Quinby whose credits include "The Secret Garden" and "Meet Me in St. Louis" on Broadway. Quinby co-starred with Petulah Clark and David Cassidy in the national tour of "Blood Brothers." "The Boy Who Talked to Whales" will run at 8 p.m. - at OSW's Main Stage, next to the A Street Market Place on the corner of A and Oak streets - Thursdays through Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays through April 24. Tickets are $17 ($10 for students) at the Music Coop. Previews, held at 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, March 22 and 23, are $10. For more information and reservations, call 482-2334 or visit www.oregonstageworks.org. 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