HALLOWEEN TREAT: Spooky fun open to kids

Musical to highlight event at center

Ghosts, ghouls, goblins, fairies and superheroes will gather for a spooky good time from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Veteran's Memorial Leisure Services Center, 101 Pavilion Center Drive near Palo Verde High School.

The center's annual Creature Feature is set to include carnival games, a costume parade and competition and trick-or-treating.

"We recommend this event for ages 0 through 11," organizer Dena Allen said. "It's not a haunted house or anything like that. We appeal to the preschool and elementary age kids."

The highlight of the far-from-spooky event will be a performance by local musical composer Audrey Smith. The Lummis Elementary School music teacher moonlights as the creator of feel-good musicals for the school-age set.

Smith's "Halloween Misfits," the musical she plans to put on for Creature Feature, is packed with defective Halloween characters. The ghost can't boo, the monster can't stomp and the skeleton can't rattle. But Smith shows kids that even though they're odd, these creatures deserve credit for all the things they can do.

The musical was originally written out of panic. Smith planned on putting on a Halloween musical at her school. When the scripts she ordered didn't arrive in time, necessity led to invention.

"I had to have something, so I just wrote a musical myself," she said.

The show was such a big hit with kids, parents and co-workers, Smith decided to publish the lyrics and score so other teachers and parents could benefit from her work.

Steve Buckman, a keyboard artist from the Tommy Thompson Project, helped out with song arranging. Smith met the musician through Tommy Thompson, the father of one of her students.

Smith's daughter, Stephanie Lanning provided narration for a CD recording of the show and family friend Jesse Underwood, helped out with the book cover and graphics.

Soon Smith was on her way with book signings and presentations at local Learning is Fun stores.

In the last year, the musical has taken off. Smith has presented the show for several local private schools. Plus, she's in more book stores with book signings all over Nevada and Arizona.

The composer's proudest accomplishment is her book's inclusion in the JW Pepper catalog, the largest sheet music catalog in the world. Through the catalog, she's reaching customers all over, with some as far flung as Canada.

Smith was so pleased with the results from her show, she decided to whip up another. Her "Mischievous Bugs" was finished in February.

Audience reaction to the story of a rowdy bunch of bugs and the queen bee who tries to tame them has been positive.

"People love the new show. It's all going so fast," she said. "Last year at this time, I never would have thought I'd be in a Borders book store in Phoenix doing a book signing."

Performing the shows has kept Smith busy too. The 30-minute musicals were designed for classroom or community productions packed with young actors. But when Smith performs the shows, she does it on her own.

"I put up a screen and play rain music between scenes while I go behind the screen and change fast into the next character," she said.

The base of each costume is an all-black costume that never comes off. Accessories, capes and props are added to make each character unique. Smith said she's become a quick change artist.

Smith's daughter said she's impressed with the shows, but she's not ready to jump into a bug or monster costume and perform alongside her mom.

"The musical productions have been so spectacular. Everyone loves them," Lanning said.

Smith will be presenting her "Halloween Misfits" show for audiences at Opportunity Village, Las Vegas Day School, Merryhill Academy and Alexander Dawson School. The Creature Feature presentation is the only planned production open to the general public.

Tickets for the creature feature are $2 per person. Tickets are available at the door. For more information about the event, call 229-1100.


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