Creative Team

Director and Choreography — Wendy Lehr
Sets — Patricia Oliva and Brian Kelley
Costumes — Steven Simon
Lighting — Annmarie Duggan

Written by Tomia dePaola
Adapted by Thomas W. Olson
Music and Lyrics by Roberta Carlson
Study Guide written by Gary Cadwallader

About the Play

In a little town in Calabria, Italy, there lived an old woman who everyone called Strega Nona. Although her name translates to "Grandma Witch," Strega Nona is a lovable person who cures the townspeople of ailments, such as headaches and lovesickness, with her potions, herbs, and care.

Strega Nona's adventures are enhanced by some of the townspeople of Calabria, including Big Anthony and Bambolona. Because she is getting old, Strega Nona posts a sign in the town square in search of some assistants. Bambolona, the young daughter of a baker, spends all of her days preparing, baking, and delivering bread for the people of Calabria. She tires of her job and responds to Strega Nona's advertisement. Strega Nona serves as Bambolona's mentor, teaching her all about potions, elixirs, and herbs.

Big Anthony, a curious and often clumsy fellow, also sees the advertisement and is hired to tend to Strega Nona's house and garden. However, his curiosity about Strega Nona's magic often finds him in the middle of mischief.

In "The Pasta Pot," one of three stories in the play, Big Anthony overhears Strega Nona singing to her magic pasta pot. Within minutes, the pot is filled with hot, fresh pasta. Fascinated by his discovery, Big Anthony attempts to make a pot of pasta with Strega Nona's magic verse. However, he forgets to include a very important part of the song and creates a big mess that spreads throughout the town!

Another tale, "The Magic Ring," center sround Strega Nona's magic piece of jewelry. One night, Strega Nona decides to go into the town square for some fun. With the help of her magic ring, she turns herself into a beautiful, young woman who dances a very fast dance called the tarantella. Big Anthony, also wanting to join in on the festivites, uses the magic ring and turns himself into Handsome Big Anthony. However, his plan backfires, and he soon gets himself into more than he can handle!

Big Anthony's mischief continues in another story, "The Magic Lesson." Big Anthony takes over Bambolona's former baking job after she quits to become Strega Nona's apprentice. However, he soon finds that he is not suited for the job. Interested in learning the magic that Bambolona is mastering, Big Anthony approaches Strega Nona about becoming her apprentic. She explains that men do not becomes "stregas." Not wanting to give up, big Anthony proceeds to dress as a woman and calls himself Antonia. Because Antonia does not pay attention during magic lessons, her first attempt at magic ends up turning Strega Nona into a frog!

About the Author

Tomie dePaola (Tommy daPOWla) was born in Meriden, Connecticut in 1934 to a family of Irish and Italian background. His interest in art and writing led dePaola to earn a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and an M.F.A. from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California.

During the early years of his career, dePaola spent his time teaching, designing greeting cards and stage sets, and painting murals in New England churches and monasteries. It wasn't until he sold his first illustrations to Coward-McCann for the science book, Sound, in 1965 that dePaola's career as an illustrator got off the ground. A year later, The Wonderful Dragon of Timlin, the first book to feature text and illustrations by dePaola, was published.

Since then, dePaola has devoted most of his time to the demanding workload of publishing children's books. dePaola has published nearly 200 children's books, illustrating over 190 books and providing text for nearly 80 more. Some his best known books include five Strega Nona books, plus The Clown of God, Sing, Pierrot, Sing, The Mysterious Giant of Barletta, Giorgio's Village, Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, and Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose.

Some of dePaola's other activities have included being a guest at the White House and designing a gitfware line based on illustrations in Country Angel Christmas. However, many of his younger fans may have remembered his appearances on episodes of Barney and Friends on PBS.

Where Italy is in the world

Look on the big map in your classroom (or your home atlas or globe) to find where you are in Daytona Beach and where Strega Nona lives in Italy. The country of Italy is shaped like a boot and the region of Calabria is in the toe of that boot.

Italian Glossary

Here are some Italian words that the characters in Strega Nona speak. The bold letters are the stressed syllables. Try saying these words instead of English words the next time they arise in conversation with your family and friends.

1) buon giorno (bwohn jor'-no) -- good day
2) grazie (grat'-see-ay) -- thank you
3) ciao (chow) -- a greeting (goodbye, hello, see you later)
4) cannoli (cah-noh'-lee) -- tubular pastry shell filled with sweetened ricotta cheese
5) cara (cah'-ra) -- dear
>6) amore e baci (a-more'-ay eee bach'ee) -- love and kisses
7) avanti (ah-vahn'-tee) -- come at once
8) palazzo (pah-lah'-tso) -- town square
9) signore (see-nyor'-ay) -- mister, sir
10) arrivederici (ah-reev-a-dehr'-chee) -- goodbye
11) fabuloso (fah-byu-lo'-so) -- fabulous
12) padre (pah'-dray) -- father, priest
13) buono notte (bwo'-noh not'-tay) -- good night
14) mia borsa (mee'-ah bor'-sah) -- my purse
15) buona fortuna (bwo'-nah for-too'-nah) -- good fortune, good luck
16) si (see) -- yes
17) per l'amor di Dio (purr lah-more dee Dee'-oh) -- for the love of God

Counting in Italian

Counting in Italian is a lot of fun. Wouldn't it be fun to impress your friends by counting for them in Italian? The bold letters are the stressed syllables.

1 uno (oo-no)
2 due (doo-ay)
3 tre (tray)
4 quattro (kwah-tro)
5 cinque (cheen-kway)
6 sei (say)
7 sette (set-ay)
8 otto (oh-to)
9 nove (no-vay)
10 dieci (dee-eh-chee)
11 undici (oon-dee-chee)
12 dodici (doe-dee-chee)
13 tredici (tray-dee-chee)
14 quattordici (kwa-tore-dee-chee)
15 quindici (kwin-dee-chee)
16 sedici (say-dee-chee)
17 diciassette (dee-cha-set-ay)
18 diciotto (dee-cho-to)
19 dicianove (dee-cha-no-vay)
20 venti (vain-tee)

What is Pasta?

Italian pasta, the wonderful hot noodles that Strega Nona makes in her magic pasta pot, is made of only two ingredients, flour and water. But there are many wonderful different kinds of pastas. Though most of the pasta we eat is made with white flour, there are some that are made with whole wheat flour, rye flour, and even potato flour. Pasta also comes in many different shapes and sizes. There's the long, thin strands of pasta like spaghetti or fettuccini, rolls of pasta like cannelloni or maccheroni (macaroni), or stuffed pasta like ravioli or tortellini. There are also big sheets of pasta such as lasagna. How many have you tried?

Did you know that Marco Polo may have been responsible for the first connection between Italy and pasta? During one of his exploration in the 13th century, The Italian explorer possibly brought Chinese pasta noodles to Venice from Asia and started the craze for pasta that continues in Italy and around the world to this day.

Here's a fun, simple recipe from Calabria, the region where Strega Nona is set. It is from the cookbook, "The Food of Southern Italy", by Carlo Middione.

Maccheroni alla Pastora(Macaroni, Peasant style) - Serves 6. Ingredients: 8 oz. of fresh sausage, pan fried and cut into small pieces (optional); 1 pound macaroni, penne, rigatoni, or ziti pasta; 1 pound Ricotta cheese; Fresh ground black pepper; 2 tsp. red pepper flakes; 1 cup grated pecorino or romano cheese

Boil plenty of well-salted water and put the macaroni in to cook until they are al dente (chewy). Meanwhile, heat a large casserole dish large enough to hold all the pasta. When the pasta is almost done, put the Ricotta cheese in the casserole dish and 1/2 cup of the boiling pasta water. Gently stir. If you are going to use the sausage, mix it into the Ricotta and stir well. Add the pepper and pepper flakes, and stir again. When the pasta is done, drain, reserving some of the water. Add the pasta to the Ricotta mixture and mix well. If the mixture is too think, add some of the reserved pasta water, up to 1/2 a cup. Serve on plates and add plenty of grated cheese on top.

Strega Nona word find!

Can you find these words: Big Anthony, Magic, Bambolona, Nona, Calabria, Pasta, Cannoli, Ring, Daytona, Strega, dePaola, Wendy Lehr

Really cool websites to visit!

Here are some websites that are a lot of fun to explore. You can learn about Italy while at the same time playing fun games:

www.italianheritage.org A really fun website with a For Kids Only section. Includes Ben and Jerry's fun stuff, World Safari, and games and graphics.

www.italianculture.miningco.com All the latest news on Italy and Italian culture. Word scrambles, crosswords, and information on famous Italian landmarks like The Leaning Tower of Pisa. There is also a section on Calabria, Italy, where the story of Strega Nona is set.

www.rosetto.com A cool sight for kids with coloring pages, dot to dot games, and fun Italian recipes.

Before seeing Strega Nona

Look for Italy and the Calabrian region on a big map and see for yourself where the story takes place.

Dedicate a day to Italian culture and cuisines. Learn words frequently heard in Italy (Italian Glossary, page 4). Serve foods with which the students are familiar, such as pizza and spaghetti, and those which may not be as familiar such as cannoli or tortellini. Listen to music by Italian composers such as Giacomo Puccini and Guiseppe Verdi.

Read some of the Strega Nona books by Tomie dePaola to see some of the characters that will be in the play. Here are the Strega Nona and related character books: Big Anthony and the Magic Ring, 1979; Strega Nona's Magic Lessons, 1982; Merry Christmas, Strega Nona, 1986; Strega Nona Meets Her Match, 1993; Strega Nona, Her Story, 1996; Strega Nona Classic Board Book, 1997; Big Anthony, His Story, 1998

After seeing Strega Nona

In the play, Beautiful Strega Nona and the Handsome Big Anthony go into the town for the evening to dance the tarantella. What does the word tarantella mean? Try learning the tarantella. How is the dance different than dancing today?

Write your own stories about magic or lovable "stregas." Draw pictures that go along with your words.

Look in your newspaper and find some things that go hand in hand with Tomie DePaola's Strega Nona.

Look for pictures and stories about grandmothers. How are they different or the same as Strega Nona? Look for stories about magic and magical happenings. Look for stories about Italy. Italy is a very important country in Europe. Look for the weather in Italy's major city, Rome, at the weather map! What's it like there at this time of year?

Look for Italian food recipes or any pasta recipes in the food section. Try making some of the recipes yourself.

Look for ads for Italian restaurants in your area. Ask your family to have a fun Italian meal at one of the restaurants that sounds good to you.

Look in the master calendar of the Friday Go-Do section for Italian Festivals, etc., that occur in the area.

Look in the TV journal for shows about health, magic, cooking, and travel.

Look in the telephone book for the Italian-American Club. Call and ask what kind of fun programs they may have for you to participate in.

Go on the Internet and look for an Italian newspaper. Ask for one to be sent to you so you can look at all the neat things that happen in Italy.

Especially for Students...

In live theatre, unlike movies and television, the actors can hear (and often see) you as easily as you can hear and see them. If you comment out loud at a live show, or read or eat, you disturb not only other members of the audience but also the people on stage, thus diminishing the performance and, ultimately, your enjoyment of it.

This doesn't mean you have to remain silent. Actors want you to respond with laughter and applause; but such responses should always be genuine and appropriate to the moment. Such inconsiderate behavior as shouting, catcalling or sustained whispering, even during blackouts, can ruin the concentration of actors and audience members alike. And throwing paper or objects of any kind towards the stage is not only rude, it's also extremely dangerous to the performers.

In the event of any student misbehavior, the relevant school will be contacted and its principal informed.

We want you to enjoy your visit to Seaside Music Theater, and we rely on you to exercise your common sense and mature judgment. Thank you for being a valuable part of our audience this season.