Mita, the Magnificent!
Book, lyrics and music by Noelle Donfeld; additional arrangements by Peggy Sandvig
Walnut Street Theatre production
Photo: Mark Garvin
“Mita, the Magnificent” is a new, bi-lingual children’s musical that includes possibilities for puppetry, interaction with the audience and a funny and touching score. In a nutshell, or actually in a dry garden, four insects face the results of a drought, and all but Mita, the sweet but misunderstood underground termite (termita) who finds all kinds of surprising sources of wood to eat, are very hungry. Mariposa, the butterfly, has just flown up from Mexico to stop at the garden her mother and grandmother had visited before. Abe, the bee, (abeja) can’t return to his beehive without pollen, and in any case, Mita mistakenly ate the beehive box so the other bees have flown away. Aran, the sly spider (arana) who spins artistic webs, is trying to entice Mariposa over “for dinner”, his dinner, while Abe does his best to protect her. Mita merely wants a friend, but that’s hard when you can’t see what you’re eating until it’s too late! How Mita proves that everyone deserves friendship is a delightful journey, as she finds a way to feed her new friends. As a bonus, the audience gets lots of information about the bugs and the bees.
“Mita the Magnificent” was produced by the Walnut Street Theatre’s touring outreach company throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey for the 2014 – 2015 season and reached 8,700 students.
CAST:
MITA: A sweet and always hungry termite who longs for a friendd
MARIPOSA: A beautiful Mexican monarch butterfly
ABE: A feisty and brave bee
ARAN: A sly, hungry and rather vain spider
PUPPETEER: Optional actor to move simple props and hold up Mita’s baby termites
A published songwriter, Donfeld is a member of the Dramatist Guild, ASCAP, ALAP, and on the Board of the Academy for New Musical Theatre, Los Angeles.