CLASSIC TALES WITH CLASSICAL MUSIC

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  >>About Amuse Tales

AmuseTales are very different from anything that you can find in today’s marketplace – they are unique. You already know that they consist of stories and music. The music is specially selected and adjusted; stories are retold. Music is simple beautiful; tales are self-explanatory, easy to understand, and meaningful. Let me explain the uniqueness of AmuseTales in a little bit more detail.

THE MUSIC. I chose the best music written by the best composers: Bach, Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mendelssohn, Marcello, Schubert, Faure, Massenet, Dukas, among others. Each particular piece goes wonderfully with a particular chapter of the story. The music is soft and melodic, and these chosen pieces are among the best known and loved classical pieces in the world.

THE STORIES. AmuseTales are written in a way that doesn’t leave any place for confusion. For instance; in the famous Goldilocks and the Three Bears (in our version – Mary and the Three Bears) we explain situations that might confuse a child – some examples: Where did this little girl come from? What was she doing in the forest alone? Where were the bears? How was she able to break Little Bear’s chair – after all, a bear, even a small one, is much heavier then a little girl? What was the bears’ reaction when they got home? Our story flows smoothly from one chapter to the other; describing happenings; it is “self-explanatory”. It is written in the language that is simple, but not dull. There are emotions, there is intrigue – the story will capture the interest of any little child – that’s what I mean by “easy to understand”. And our stories have meaning – the message, if you will (I am not afraid of this word). Everything in a child’s life teaches him something and it is important. In our story the girl is not that “naughty”, “spoiled”, “mean-spirited” child you find in the old story; our's is a new version of this story. She is just a child. And the ending will surprise and please you; that I am sure of.

OUR NARRATORS.  We choose the narrators very carefully. We are looking not only for professional and talented actors, but for actors who can deliver the material in a telling, not reading, fashion. But, at the same time, we don’t want them to act the story. In my personal opinion, reading the story in different voices sounds fake and pretentious. Children understand that it is one actor doing all these different voices and, therefore, the believability in material is ruined. And believability is very important in any work for children. This is my credo based on many years of experience doing theater for kids. If a child believes in what he hears or sees, he pays attention, he follows the story and he enjoys the process. But to read the story this way is very difficult. That’s why it usually takes us a few hours to record a twenty minute story.

ANISSA HARTLINE is a professional actress and opera singer. She has a Masters of Music from University of Cincinnati. After college, she performed in a number of theaters – opera and musical theater alike; played in CATS on a National Tour and in The Sound of Music on an Asian Tour, and was a finalist and the winner in a few prestigious vocal competitions, and has developed an extensive concert repertoire. Anissa has a beautiful voice and is our main narrator: she reads “Mary and the Three Bears”, “The Snow Queen”, and “The Princess and the Pea”.

URSULA ANDERMAN is a professional actress, a Magna Cum Laude graduate in Theatre Arts with a Music Minor from Stephens College. She works in theaters around the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area, has a few films under her belt, and has participated in the Vocal Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall. Ursula narrated our “Thumbelina” story.

I had a lot of fun working on these tales. I hope that your child (and you) will enjoy reading and listening to them as much, as I enjoyed creating them

Inna Shapiro
Creator of Amuse Tales

The Snow Queen

The Princess
& the Pea