Singing of saving planet Earth

EAST PROVIDENCE — All eyes shifted to 12-year-old Tray Thornton.

“I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,” he sang while busting his own choreographed moves. “I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s gonna be a bright, bright, bright, bright, sun-shiny day!”

The dance steps on stage were not a hand wave here and jazz fingers there.

He shook his shoulders in an on-beat spasm of sorts, dramatically covered his eyes on the word “blind” and fanned his arm out in a big circle to represent the sun.

The other 40 Edward R. Martin Middle School sixth graders smiled, but barely swayed as they also sung the Johnny Nash hit. Their House B teachers said they had never seen Thornton so animated before. He said it’s how he gets “into character” as well as the easiest way to get the audience’s full attention.

After all, the musical — titled Greensical — had an important message.

Through game show skits and songs, the students emphasized why it’s crucial for everyone to do their part to take care of the planet and environment. The children wrote the play themselves over the last six months and changed the lyrics, with some assistance from teachers, of a couple of songs to make them fit with the eco-friendly performance.

They performed the numbers twice last Thursday — in the daytime for the rest of the school’s sixth graders and for the community that evening. They hope to improve it a bit and take the show on the road — to the city’s elementary schools — next school year.

“We started a green team to increase our awareness early in the school year,” said Barbara Burns, one of four teachers who helped the children. “They did the research, we began to recycle more in the classrooms and they started writing the play in January.”

They took a field trip to Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, the state agency that runs the Central Landfill in Johnston and oversees Rhode Island’s recycling efforts. The students also used recycled goods for their props and had their programs printed on recycled paper.

In addition, “we did a school-wide survey of environmental practices and the students interviewed the janitors and cafeteria staff,” Pam Thacker, a science teacher, said. “We want to bring that message forward so the kids can see we need their help.”

The first song said just that.

Sung to the Brady Bunch theme tune, the students belted:

“… Here’s the story ’bout the careless humans, who were busy thinking only of themselves. Dirty smokestacks and toxic water, it was not so nice. Until one day when they all looked out the window. And they saw what they had done to planet Earth. Then they knew that they had to stop polluting. It was getting worse and worse and worse and worse.”

They also rewrote the lyrics to the Beatles hit, “Paperback Writer.” It was now “Paper Recycler.”

Using the popular Amazing Race show for inspiration, the opening scene was teams competing to find the cleanest water around the world. Oh Zone, the character played by Thornton, and his team went to Lake Ladoga in Russia because it’s a lake where some bottled spring water comes from. A test, however, showed the sample was dirty.

The winning team — which consisted of Patti Planet, Ethan All and Lauren Green (played by Debra Gomes, Corey Lopes and Gina Salisbury, respectively) — went to Antarctica for their water sample.

Said Gomes, “It’s so old and uninhabited that no one could have dirtied it.”

In other skits, the audience learned the benefits of hybrid cars, energy-efficient light bulbs and that Ohio’s Mt. Rumpkey, a giant garbage dump, towers over the state.

“Maybe if we had more people join in we could actually make a dent in Mt. Rumpkey,” said Roy Cycle, a character played by both Katie Bockes and Tyree Simmons.

Paul Lootion (in real life known as Ryan Almeida) responded, “I don’t think so dude, take a look at those trucks coming in to the landfill. They are all full of more trash. It’s never ending!”

The entire cast said, “Ohhh nooo!!!”

Salisbury ended the skit with, “People, we gotta do something because we’re destroying our planet one trash bag at a time!”

By Alisha A. Pina

http://www.projo.com/news/content/EB_EPROV_GREENSICAL_5_06-05-08_FLAD7D4_v23.3577d1d.html