Miss Trudy’s Traveling Trunk Show
LASM’s Saturday show offers entertainment and education
Before things get started, Sheldon wants to do a trick.
And that delights the third graders from the Youth of Excellence 21st Century Tutorial School.
They’ve traveled from Tallulah to Baton Rouge on this particular Saturday for a visit to the Louisiana Art & Science Museum. There are 97 in all, and more than 20 have made their way to sit within the warmth of the stained glass in the Adalie Brent Auditorium to watch Miss Trudy talk about autumn.
No, your ears aren’t deceiving you. It may be December, but the kids’ visit falls before Dec. 21, which is the official date for the Winter Solstice. Or, in plain English, the first day of winter.
“So, we’re still talking about fall,” Kristy Coast said.
She’s Miss Trudy this week. Actually there are three Miss Trudys. The museum’s science education curator, Nita Mitchell, is in the show’s Saturday rotation, along with LSU graduate student Maile Binion.
“We take turns,” Coast said. “I’ll set up everything, then I’ll walk through the museum telling everyone that Miss Trudy’s Traveling Trunk Show is about to begin.”
That’s the show’s official name — “Miss Trudy’s Traveling Trunk Show.” It starts at 11 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, as it does each Saturday.
And it begins with Sheldon the Sheepdog asking Miss Trudy if he can do a trick.
“Is that OK?” Coast asks the audience. “Would you like to see Sheldon do a trick?”
The third graders cheer.
Now, bear in mind Sheldon is an oversized hand-puppet, his personality created by Miss Trudy. Of course, the kids know this, and they can’t help laughing when Coast places Sheldon on the stage, then rolls him down the steps on her command of, “Roll over.”
“We usually get good size audiences,” Coast said. “Sometimes, we’ll get 30 kids, and sometimes the audience will be smaller. And we get a lot of repeat audience members.”
Meaning, kids don’t have to make the three-hour drive from Tallulah to see Miss Trudy or the museum’s other Saturday programs. Just a short ride to the Louisiana Art & Science Museum from anywhere in the Baton Rouge area will do.
And once there, you’ll meet Miss Trudy, who loves to sing, dance, play games and talk about the four seasons. And everyone in her audience is invited to come join her on the stage.
Miss Trudy doesn’t hog the spotlight. Everyone is part of the show.
“It’s totally interactive,” Coast said. “The kids are up here with me, and they really get into it.”
There is no hesitation among the third graders from Tallulah when Coast invites them on stage. It’s one of the things that makes Miss Trudy’s show special.
“It’s nice to have this show, and it’s so sweet to see the kids’ faces,” Coast said. “They come in, and they are very quiet, but this isn’t a show that’s quiet.”
Coast turned to her daughter, Maggie.
“Are we quiet in here?” she asked.
“No,” Maggie Coast said.
“No,” Coast said, laughing. “No one is quiet in here. The kids are so used to having to sit in the audience, but this show allows them to be a part of it all.”
Maggie Coast, and her younger sister, Molly, are Coast’s weekly helpers. They are well familiar with the show, and they many times lead the way to the stage, letting the other kids in the audience know that it’s OK to leave their seats.
Coast and Mitchell developed the show. Coast was a preschool teacher. She’s also a familiar face in local theater productions, her most recent stage role being Miss Hannigan in Ascension Community Theatre’s production of the musical Annie last July.
“I’ve been here for three years,” Coast said. “I came here as a substitute for a girl who was doing auditorium programming here. She went to work for the zoo, and I stepped in.”
The museum asked Coast if she would like to help develop not only Miss Trudy’s show but other Saturday programs, including “Dr. Spark,” a science-themed program that beings at 12:30 p.m., as well as special programming for First Saturdays, when museum admission is free.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity,” Coast said. “I can teach, and I can act. I combine them together, and I love it so much.”
The Miss Trudy’s show’s format changes with the seasons. So, when Miss Trudy hits the stage on Saturday, Dec. 31, she’ll no longer be talking about fall.
“The winter solstice will have passed by that time, so we’ll be talking about winter,” Coast said.
The show is a mass of energy from beginning to end, with Sheldon performing his tricks, Miss Trudy leading children — and maybe even some adults — in a song of touching their shoulders, knees and toes.
And then there’s the trunk filled with treasures that remind Miss Trudy of fall.
“When fall begins, one of the first things I think about is school,” Coast said.
“Yeah!” the third graders cheer in unison.
“In my trunk are some of the things we would put in our backpacks to take to school,” Coast continued. “Can you tell me what goes into our backpacks and what doesn’t?”
How about a ruler?
“Yes!” the students chant.
And a notebook?
Another yes.
So, how about a dog toy? Would they put one of those in their backpacks?
“No!,” the students chant.
Well, maybe Sheldon the Sheepdog would put a dog toy in his backpack, but Sheldon doesn’t go to school.
Still, that doesn’t mean Sheldon isn’t a part of the learning process.
He watches from his perch as kids sing about the colors of fall, search the auditorium for apples and recite a poem about five little pumpkins.
T he winter show begins Saturday. There will be lots to sing and dance about, and plenty of games to play.
And Sheldon definitely will be ready with a new bag of tricks.