Oliver and Katie Crumb are placed in Pleasant Grove Orphanage after their mother disappears. They find the orphanage very uninviting until they encounter an unexpected friend, who delivers a note written by their mother shortly before her disappearance. They learn from the letter that she was forced to leave them by boat. Who was pursuing her? The children run away from the orphanage and take to the sea of the Florida Keys in search of their mother. A hurricane wreaks havoc on them as they are swallowed by the Bermuda Triangle. They soon find themselves on a set of islands, where reptiles, amphibians, and insects speak and dinosaurs roam freely. Dangers abound in this strange land that the inhabitants call Atlantis. The islands are troubled by a cobra queen named Maligna, who overthrew the monarchs, enslaved the humans and rules over Atlantis with fear. Oliver and Katie discover that it is Maligna who is responsible for their mother’s disappearance and they must rely on their new friends to help them find their mother and defeat Maligna.

This story has a very personal background for me. In many ways, it is a window into much of my childhood. I lost my father right before I entered into Owen Valley High School so a prevalent theme throughout the book and musical is a sense of loss. Several of the characters deal with varying degrees of loss in their lives. The reader or audience will witness these characters grow as they lead their adventure through Atlantis.

There are three cultures in my vision of Atlantis: the Dracon or lizard people, the Arthroven or ant people, and the humans on Humes Island. I wanted to make this world a place that would be fun, exciting, and something that children could easily relate to so I drew upon the things that I loved as a child, mainly myths and dinosaurs. And what children’s story would be complete without a creepy villain?

So I created Maligna, a Queen Cobra whose body has become a living shadow and is accompanied by shadow hounds that do her bidding. Again, I turned to my childhood and drew on a fear that dominates most children, the pitch darkness of night. I had often imagined living shadows as a child sweeping through the darkness of night and I would tuck myself neatly under my blankets so that not a crack would allow the shadows entrance under my blankets. Looking back on those moments now, it seems rather ridiculous but nevertheless, it was a childhood fear that I knew I could use for my villain in this story.

I did, however, steer clear of magic in creating the world in my story and instead turned to science. What if dinosaurs or insects had evolved into an intelligent life form? What would their cultures and technologies be like? With these questions in mind, I began creating Atlantis. It seemed pretty clear to me that the lizard people would have a technology based on organic structures, that they would grow their houses, chairs, etc. But I do not wish to reveal too much here so I will not say any more than what I have already expressed.

As always, I hope that everyone will enjoy my story.

--Russell McGee

The music for show consists of almost all original compositions, with nods to numerous musical styles including opera, rock opera, break away pop hits, children's-style musicals, calypso, and Gilbert and Sullivan. One of the things I'm trying to do with the music is to use some traditional themes and trends in western music history to enhance as well as move the plot forward. For instance, my favorite of the pieces is the fight song, during which three separate scenes are going on simultaneously. A ton of action is being conveyed both in the lyrics and in the blocking. There are 7 soloists in the piece and each reveals something new about his or her character. Another instance of how the music helps characterization is the decision to deprive the character Maligna, the villainess, of her own song. This was done partially to prevent her from gaining sympathy and partially because in some opera, a devil character could always be identified by being the one character who cannot sing, they only speak.

One of my major goals for this production was to get kids as excited about the arts as I am, because it is such an important part of who we are as a culture as well as a community. It is the theme of culture and community that I love about this show. Russ wrote a story about two children who are swept away to find their mother but are aided by several very different sorts of people: "both ant and lizard aiding man" as one of the lyrics says. The production itself is the same way. It is a collaborative effort of local community members from different backgrounds coming together to help kids experience theatre and music in a way that is geared for them and yet made to be fun and enjoyable for everyone.

--Sara Angharad

Special thanks to Eric Nichols for his help and contributions to the show. His indispensable aid came in the form of recording the music, fleshing out some of the accompaniment, and playing the piano on several tracks of the performance CD.

The Monroe County Civic Theater Dinner Theatre Series is provided with support from the Bloomington Area Arts Council; the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency; and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.