Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel  September 26, 2009
Tarradiddle Players of the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, NC

Adapted from Virginia lee Burton’s 1939 Classic with music by Eric Lane Barnes Mike and Mary Ann, his beloved Steam Shovel, have been together for many years. They have dug holes for famous canals, mountainous railroad beds, superhighways, airports, and tall skyscrapers. Times have changed and newer, fancier shovels have become fashionable and there isn’t much work for an old steam shove. There is one last chance..the little town of Poppersville needs a foundation dug for its city hall and Mike and Mary Ann are determined to get the job. First they have to out bid the Diesel Shovel, the Electric Shovel and the fancy schmancy cappuchino making Nucleonic Diggatron. Are they up to the job? Not if Henry B Swap has his way!!

Set in Damon Runyon's mythical New York City, this oddball romantic comedy - considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy – soars with the spirit of Broadway as it introduces us to a cast of vivid characters who have become legends in the canon: Sarah Brown, the upright but uptight "mission doll," out to reform the evildoers of Time Square; Sky Masterson, the slick, high-rolling gambler who woos her on a bet and ends up falling in love; Adelaide, the chronically ill nightclub performer whose condition is brought on by the fact she's been engaged to the same man for 14 years; and Nathan Detroit, her devoted fiancé, desperate as always to find a spot for his infamous floating crap game.