Program

Tom Sawyer

Choreography by …………………… David Justin
Music by ………………………………. E.W. Korngold
Costumes by …………………………. Holly Hynes (courtesy of Kansas City Ballet)
Scenic Design by …………………… Jordan Slusher

SYNOPSIS

Tom Sawyer
Choreography David Justin, 2022

Tom Sawyer is a fun-loving clever boy who often seems to be in trouble. After skipping school one day to swim at the river and idle time away with Huckleberry Finn, Tom returns to town and meets the new girl, Becky Thatcher. Instantly enchanted, he tries to impress her, and they dance a pas de deux (duet) until Tom’s Aunt Polly interrupts them.

Aunt Polly punishes Tom for skipping school by making him whitewash the fence. Depressed by the thought of spending the rest of his day painting, Tom gets an idea to twist the situation to his advantage. As each of his friends happen by, Tom convinces them that fence painting is fun. And they trade their treasures and trinkets like an apple, and a frog, and an old doorknob for the privilege of doing Tom’s work.

Always up for mischief, Huck arrives with a dead cat (no animals were harmed in this production). He and Tom go to the graveyard under the full moon at midnight to test a superstitious ritual. If you swing a dead cat in a graveyard by the light of the full moon – well, you can cure your warts. So, the procedure goes. What they see in the graveyard instead, changes their lives forever.

The boys observe grave robbers, Doc Robinson, Muff Potter and Bolo Joe searching for buried treasure. And they find it! But Bolo Joe decides to keep it all for himself. He knocks Muff unconscious and murders Doc Robinson with Muff’s knife. Tom runs to get the town folk, but when he returns, Bolo Joe tells everyone that Muff killed Doc. The boys are too afraid to speak up, and Muff is led to jail to await trial, while Bolo Joe disappears to hide his treasure.

The next day at school, the children are reading the poems they wrote for class.  Each poem is unique, and they are all very eloquent, with sonorous verbiage and pomposity abounding.  Tom arrives late but finds an empty seat next to Becky. When it is Becky’s turn to read her poem, she gets frustrated that the teacher is not paying attention. Becky mocks her unkindly which throws the teacher into a rage.  She scares the children and even threatens to punish Becky with a spanking.  In a valiant attempt to impress Becky, our hero Tom blocks the blow and stands up to take the punishment instead. Becky finds herself with a growing fondness for Tom.

At Muff Potter’s trial, Bolo Joe stands as the only witness to Doc Robinson’s murder, but Tom and Huck know the truth. Tom must decide if he will let an innocent person go to prison or tell everyone what really happened and risk the wrath of the villain Bolo Joe. Tom does the right thing. He interrupts the court and tells the truth about the murder, and Bolo Joe jumps out the window and escapes!

Needing to shake off the heavy events of the trial, Tom, Huck, and Joe Harper decide to go adventuring on the Mississippi River. They build a raft and sail to Jackson Island to live as pirates, sword fighting, conquering rocks, and dreaming of treasure. They are gone so long; the townspeople think the boys have drowned. They attempt to raise the bodies from the muddy waters by firing cannons over the river. Finding only the raft and Joe Harper’s shoes, everyone is certain the friends are dead.

When the three friends return to town, they stumble into church, where everyone is gathered for their funeral. But the rumors of their death had been greatly exaggerated. Shocked, surprised, happy, and confused, everyone rejoices that they are alive.

The town children organize a picnic at the near-by cave. After play games like ring-around-the-rosies, and blind-mans-bluff, everyone gets a candle so they can go exploring in the cave. In the joyful chaos of running and hiding and general mischief in the cave, Tom and Becky find themselves lost, alone and scared. Tom pretends to be brave, to make Becky feel better, but a noise startles them, and they scramble into hiding.

Tom and Becky see Bolo Joe sneaking through the cave and watch him bury something in a very, very deep hole. After Bolo Joe leaves, Tom investigates the very, very deep hole and discovers the treasure from the graveyard – gold!

As Tom and Becky celebrate their good fortune, Huck and Joe Harper find them. Tom shares the treasure with Huck and the whole town arrives, because they have been looking for Tom and Becky too. Unwittingly, Bolo Joe returns to check on his treasure and is captured. And Tom, Becky, Huck, Joe Harper and all of their friends celebrate as this adventure comes to an end…for now!

CAST in order of appearance
Aunt Polly …………………… Jane Mosley
Jim …………………………….. Peyton Puig
Tom Sawyer ………………… Charlie Miller
Becky Thatcher ……………. Katie Andrusak

Alfred Tempe …………………… Liberty Joy
Joe Harper ……………………   Anastasia Rausch
Sid ……………………………….  Evan Steinmetz
Bee Rodgers …………………… Kalia Cortez & Alice Jones

Huckleberry Fin ……………………. Taylor Cunningham-Osterman
Mary Wadsworth Sawyer ……………………   Hannah Chandler
Amy Lawrence ……………………   Isabelle McHenry
Lizzie Boatwright ……………………   Robbie Ross
Millie Baker …………………… Ellena Rivero
Maggie Baker …………………… Amanda Rafferty
Dr. Robinson …………………… Jason Hart
Bolo Joe …………………… Ian Cunningham-Osterman
Muff Potter …………………… Liberty Peterson
Mr. Sprauge …………………… Tim TV Cao
Mr. Walters …………………… Mark Yembrick
Ms. Dobbins …………………… Liz Wine
Judge Thatcher …………………… Jason Hart
Mrs. Jones …………………… Peggy Collins
Widow Douglas …………………… Kristen Wheeler
Schoolmates of Tom & Becky …………………… Lillian Best, Kalia Cortez, Tessa Hall, Alice Jones, Hailey Mayer, Emma McDonald, Rosalia Means, Rachel Moore, Aubrey Murphy, Teyla Peterson, Makenzie Stark, Lyla Steinmetz

We are so grateful to all of our team members that work to make Ballet Wichita a success.  Please explore balletwichita.com to find out more about them and how you can join us.

Ballet Wichita

Executive Director ………………………. Sandy Wolter
Artistic Director ………………………….. David Justin
Board President ………………………….. Alana Veges
Company Manager ………………………. Katie Andrusak
Rehearsal Assistants …………………….. Tim TV Cao, Taylor Cunningham-Osterman

Acknowledgements

Additional Costumes by Ballet Wichita Costumer, Jan Doran, and courtesy of City of Wichita – Old Cowtown Museum and Crown Costumes

Many thanks to all the people who contributed much of their time and talent to this production including:

Anne Clark, Bill Collins, Trish Dool, Bev Hall, Tessa Hall, Jason Hart, Devin Locke, Jane Mosley, Katie Murphy, Aubrey Murphy, Shonda Peterson, Steve Slusher, Tracy Stark, Zach Tillemans, Alana Veges, Dennis Veges, Kristen Wheeler, and Fabi Tillemans

This production was made possible by the generous support of our friends and the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, the NEA and by a grant from the City of Wichita Cultural Arts Funding Committee.