On the evening of April 8th Elephant Ensemble Theater performed for a second time on Mt. Sinai’s KidZoneTV. The first was in October 2007, when we launched our tour of Thumbelina: The Story of a Brave Little Girl. Then, last week, nearly a year-and-a-half later, The Pirate & the Squid was ecstatic to make its second stop of its city-wide tour across the Mt. Sinai airwaves.
It was no surprise that the entire evening went as smooth as silk, thanks to a stellar production staff and some of the most phenomenal facilities of its kind. This is a very different process for us because it’s a tiny in-studio audience, but the live version of the show is broadcast throughout Kravis Children's Hospital.
As KZTV Engineer Gerard Edison told us, “KZTV programming broadcast throughout the hospital, but we gear our programming toward the pediatric department. My estimates of total viewers reached per show is about 50 with about 1/3 of that calling into the show.” Long after the show’s debut, The Pirate & the Squid will be played continuously as part of Mt. Sinai’s regular programming.
The real stars, of course, are our mind-blowing cast. They make me so proud every single time with their versatility and professionalism. In this situation, when the cast is being filmed, they had an extremely small playing space and pretty strict parameters. But the cast has such remarkable adaptability to any and every situation. They amaze me every time!
One of our new members, Josh Hurley (a.k.a. “Pirate”), took upon it himself to donate a gigantic box of brand new books, courtesy of Borders. To further his saintly mission, he carried them all the way from Penn Station to the hospital, through rush-hour subways, and across busy city avenues. These days, when hospitals are hurting more than ever, efforts like these really do make all the difference – and Mt. Sinai so appreciated it. (Thank you, Josh!)
All in all, another fantastic show! We’re so looking forward to our next stop – The Kingsley School for Child Development in Brooklyn on May 1st, for P&S, and Thumbelina at Bellevue next week. To all our friends at Mt. Sinai – thanks for the memories! We can’t wait to come back!!!
