December 2010 Children's Performance

The French language Premiere of "Giovanni Pippistrelli, Bat Extraordinaire!" took place in Mirepoix, France, on December 10, 2010, billed as:

L'Histoire ‚tonnante de Giovanni Pippistrelli, chauve-souris extraordinaire!

The live story-telling show played at the local cinema for 100 French school children and their teachers.

About the children's performance:

Above you see the cinema of the municipal médiathèque in Mirepoix, southwestern France. You can see my script and lectern. Our Epson video projector shows Giovanni Pippistrelli on the screen. In the photo below, school children, ages 6 to 9 are arriving and in the process of taking their seats. The theatre was filled to capacity, about 100 seats. I narrated the story in French. (We recite the story in French, English & German, and are now working on creating versions in Italian and Spanish).

The children enjoyed the show very much, laughing heartily at the humorous moments, and clapping along with swinging numbers of the jazz and samba music. And it was most interesting to note that they were extremely perceptive of the fine points of humor in the story, things that Cassandra and I thought only adults would understand. Our scientists in Prague had loved the show, and we received recommendations for future performances, as a result. The children seemed if anything even more perceptive and "in the know" than their adult counterparts. Children seem to possess a natural brilliance, and clarity of perception. It was most charming to observe this quality and to hear their delightful laughter.
After the show, a small boy with round glasses just like Giovanni Pippistrelli's came up to Cassandra and me and asked in French, "S'il vous plaît, vous avez dit …à la fin de l'histoire qu'il y'aurait encore d'aventures pour l'inspecteur Giovanni Pippistrelli. Quand puis-je venir les voir?" English translation: "Excuse me, but at the end of the show it says that inspector Giovanni Pippistrelli is going to start a new adventure, but you say that it is a story for another day. Where will you be showing it, and when can I come see it?"

About Giovanni Pippistrelli

Giovanni Pippistrelli is a musical event: It is a concert with a story, for children and adults. The concept and the text were written by me, Paul Einstein. Delightful illustrations by artist, Cassandra Einstein, are projected in vivid color on the big screen, as I tell the story in English, French or German.

Great music highlights dramatic moments in the story. The listener is treated to some of the world's finest moments in jazz and classical music.

There are selections by jazz and classical composers including Beethoven, Bach, Heitor Villa Lobos, Luiz Bonfa, Paul Desmond, Django Rheinhardt, Stephane Grapelli, Khatchaturian, Richard Strauss, Helmut Zacharias, Charles Trenet, and Camille Saint-Saens.

How Giovanni Pippistrelli Is Staged

There are three main ways that Giovanni Pippistrelli may be staged:

1. With one narrator and fully pre-recorded music.
2. With a narrator and live musicians.
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3. It is ultimately suited for a full concert performance, as follows: The staging may include a string quartet to the viewer's left (stage right), a screen upstage above the narrator at center stage and a manouche (gypsy) jazz quartet on to the audience's right (stage left).

Cost:
Option #1 above requires a modest budget.
Option #2 above requires a varying budget, and is larger than #1.
Option #3 above requires a budget for 8 musicians and rehearsals.

Note:
Option #3 is ideally suited to a symphony orchestra's chamber music series, or summer pop series.

Giovanni Pippistrelli is a bat who loves art and music. He was born in Italy, 8½ kilometers from Florence.

"The History of Giovanni Pippistrelli, Bat Extraordinaire," tells of his early life, passionate love for Claudia, and his first brush with danger. It features Paul Einstein as narrator of the startling string of events in Italy and Brazil which made him the world's first chiropteran art sleuth, Art Detective Pippistrelli.

Artist, Cassandra Einstein has illustrated Pippistrelli's daring exploits.

Meet THE CREATOR(s)

Here now is some information, not about God, The Creator, but about artists, Cassandra Einstein, the creator of the gorgeous illustrations, and the classical violinist Paul Michael Einstein, author of Giovanni Pippistrelli's authorized biography.