STORY

Art goes to the dogs in this new play for children, created for the North Carolina Museum of Art's American Historical Collection. Paintings literally come alive as characters step out to reveal the artists and people behind the frames. Fact meets fiction as these characters are joined by a very special canine, Thaddeus the First, an immortal dog whose secret powers enable the audience to journey to the art world of the past.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

AWARDS

SELECTION

FROM PLAY'S INTRODUCTION

Character Description (Thaddeus): Time-traveling, song-singing, art critiquing canine (accompanied by his musician companion).  Production note:  Sound effects and humorous music riffs accompany the text.

(THADDEUS ENTERS TUMBLING FORWARD WHILE MUSICIAN PLAYS TIME TRAVEL MUSIC.  THADDEUS STOPS, LOOKS AROUND, AND SNIFFS. TO AUDIENCE) 
Is this the North Carolina Museum of Art? The Year of the Great Dog 1997? (BARKS) 
Dog-gone-it, right on schedule.
(BREAKS INTO JIG. STOPS WHEN HE SEES AUDIENCE STARING.)
Time travel brings the hoofer out in me. Introductions are in order. Thaddeus, canis domestica extraordinaire. (BOWS) That means dog, extra special, for those of you not versed in the language of the ancient Romans. I speak 54 languages, not including Samoan, and will be lecturing on the Etymological Roots of the Romance Languages tomorrow evening. I look forward to seeing you all then.  Surprised by my erudite doggerel?  I've had a good many years to accumulate knowledge about human beings. After all, I was born in Egypt in the 18th Dynasty. Which makes me (COUNTING ON HIS FINGERS AND TOES) 4147 years old - for those of you unfamiliar with Dynasty Chronology. (ASIDE) That's Dynasty, not Dallas, for you Ewing fans.  (SNIFFS) Do I detect a note of skepticism on your visage? I swear on Anubis' grave that it's the bare bones truth. To cut a long tail short, I descend from the honored family of Pharaoh Inteff's valued guard dog, Asitiv... we used to call him Pointy Ears... actually, I was his second cousin. My owner, Malamouf, was an interior decorater - he painted a lot of those pictures you see inside the pyramids and tombs. My first exposure to art was getting violently ill after eating a good sized helping of his blue paint dye. Like the reaction of some people to modern art. Well, upon the death of the Pharaoh, Malamouf was hired to put some finishing touches on the pharaoh's final resting place - a fancy box called a sarcaphagos. (SNEEZES) Dog bless you. In a playful mood, I caught the delectable whiff of a bird in flight so I set off in hot pursuit. That's when it happened. I accidentally fell into the tomb and was buried alive along with the Pharaoh. All that sand! (MIMICS SPITTING SAND OUT OF MOUTH) Fast forward some 3900 years. I am most abruptly awakened by this (GROWLS) grave robber, who was trying to grab my jeweled collar - a gift from a special lady friend. With a warrior's cry (HOWLS) I reverted, I am ashamed to admit, to my basest of instincts. Showing my pearly whites, I sank my teeth firmly into his hand,
drawing blood. The beggar wisely decided to release my collar. I then left a very special mark on his pants leg (LIFTS UP LEG) and hightailed it out of there as fast as you can say see spot run. The Romans didn't invent the phrase "Cave Canem" - beware the dog - for nothing! There I was, a young dog alone in the desert. What was I to do?
(SINKS TO HIS KNEES AND SINGS ARIA FROM PAGLIACCI WITH 'SLIGHTLY 'CHANGED WORDS)