MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR

EXPERIENCE

This guide is to assist you in making the most of your experience of attending the world-premiere musical of THE MOST MAGNIFICENT THING. Below is a summary of the play and activities to do before and after seeing the show.

LISTEN TO MUSIC FROM THE SHOW

THE STORY

PLAY SYNOPSIS A young girl has a wonderful idea. “She is going to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! She knows just how it will look. She knows just how it will work. All she has to do is make it, and she makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!” With an inventor’s zeal the girl employs her trusty assistant, her lovable pug, in pursuit of building her vision into reality, but, her things do not go quite as she had planned. As the girl tries and fails, repeatedly, she finds invention is

anything but easy. Her neighbors offer helpful advice, which only serves to frustrate her further, finally to a point where she declares, “I quit.” It will take working through her anger and frustration before her vision is realized. She learns that she needs to “smooth and wrench and fiddle,” and “twist and tweak and fasten,” until she manages to get it just right. Stages Theatre Company’s world premiere musical adaptation shows that it’s okay to make mistakes as we “create, tinker and achieve.”

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE PLAY & ITS HISTORY The Most Magnificent Thing was adapted for the stage by playwright Cristina Pippa (Stages adaptation of Flora & Ulysses) and composer and lyricist, Michael Gruber (Stages adaptations of I Love You, Stinky Face and Stone Soup) and is based on the book, The Most Magnificent Thing written and illustrated by Ashley Spires. Stages Theatre Company commissioned the adaptation in the winter of 2018 and we are excited to bring this delightful and charming musical to our stage this spring.

BEFORE ATTENDING THE PLAY READ THE BOOK Before attending the musical adaptation at Stages Theatre Company, read the picture book the play is based on, The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.

DISCUSS THE BOOK 1) Have you ever had an idea to make something? What

was it? What did you do to go from an idea in your head to making it into something in the world? What was easy about the process? What was difficult? Did you have to make changes to your original idea in order to build it? Why were those changes necessary?

2) Why do you think taking a walk helped the girl find a different perspective on the things she had built? Have you ever needed to “take a break” from something and then come back to it and be able to make better sense of it? What happened? Why is “taking a break” helpful for our brains and our creativity?

3) The girl gets frustrated with her mistakes and inability to make the most magnificent thing. She finally quits, but comes back later and finishes her project. Have you ever been frustrated by not being able to do something right away that you wanted to do? Did you persevere? Why is making mistakes sometimes necessary for us to succeed? What are some things to tell ourselves when we become frustrated? How do you persevere?

WATCH VIDEOS BASED ON THE BOOK

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzVB7JzQMzs • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgECc3gKuTo • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Hewhi5x6Y • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aejgkYuWiQk

AFTER ATTENDING THE PLAY AN ACTIVITY

MY MOST MAGNIFICENT THING After attending the play, discuss with your child what their most magnificent thing may be. And using the activity plan below, try making their idea come to life.

THE PLAN 1. Discuss how the girl in the play had a wanted to

create something so her pet pug could ride with her on her scooter. Brainstorm any such problems with your child and see if they can come up with something that they can find a solution to.

2. Once a problem to be solved is established continue to brainstorm an idea to create something to solve it. Then, create a plan to execute the design.

3. Finally, bring their most magnificent thing come to life by creating their most magnificent thing using recycled materials (paper rolls, milk jugs, string, cardboard, straws, etc.)

4. After creating their most magnificent thing reflect on their original plans and decide whether it worked or not or what changes were made for it to work.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES • https://www.ashleyspires.com/index.html (Ashley Spires author/illustrator page)

FURTHER READING MORE BOOKS WRITTEN & ILLUSTRATED BY ASHLEY SPIRES

• Gordon: Bark to the Future! • The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do • Fluffy Strikes Back • Larf • Small Saul • Over-Scheduled Andrew • Penguin and the Cupcake • Edie’s Ensembles

BINKY SERIES • Binky License to Scratch • Binky Takes Charge • Binky Under Pressure • Binky to the Rescue • Binky the Space Cat

BOOKS ILLUSTRATED BY ASHLEY SPIRES • Mae & June and the Wonder Wheel by Charise Mericle Harper • Book or Bell? by Chris Barton • Go to Sleep, Little Creep by David Quinn • Spare Dog Parts by Alison Hughes • C’mere, Boy! by Sharon Jennings • The Red Shoes by Eleri Glass • Ella’s Umbrellas by Jennifer Lloyd

FURTHER READING (Continued) OTHER GROWTH MINDSET BOOKS

• The Girl who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett & Gary Rubinstein • Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty, Illustrated by David Roberts • Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty, Illustrated by David Roberts • Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty, Illustrated by David Roberts • What to Do with an Idea? by Kobi Yamada, Illustrated by Mae Besom • What to Do with a Problem? by Kobi Yamada, Illustrated by Mae Besom • What to Do with a Chance? by Kobi Yamada, Illustrated by Mae Besom • The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds • Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg