Plenty of Westporters filled the seats at the Fairfield Museum and History Center (FMHC) for last night’s MouseMuse Productions “I’ve Got a Ticket to Ride” storytelling program. If you weren’t one of them—not to be the bearer of bad news—you missed an electric show.
Six storytellers stood before the rapt audience and shared 10 minutes stories that ranged from a heartbreaking meditation on loss to a thrilling spy story to uproariously funny adventures all of which, in keeping with the theme, included travel. In MouseMuse tradition, after a brief intermission, three volunteers were pulled at random to tell their stories. Last night’s performers enthralled the audience, who collectively oohed and gasped and guffawed their way through the program. Part of the thrill is not knowing where the next story will take you emotionally but knowing that MouseMuse’s polished performers will take you there in style.
FMHC’s exhibits enhanced the event’s theme. Currently running are the Holiday Express Train Show, featuring the handiwork of the Housatonic Model Railroad Club and the Connecticut G-Scalers Club, and the Station to Station exhibit, which includes memorabilia, a model of the Fairfield train station circa 1903 created by Metro North Railroad employ and Housatonic Model Railway Club member John Valakas, and two lenticular photographs of the Southport train station created by Miggs Burroughs. Deep red curtains trimmed with gold fringe, part of FMHC’s Bravo! exhibit celebrating a century of theater in Fairfield County, draped behind the performers, creating an intimate mood but also an awareness of theatrical tradition, history, and our place in them.
The minutiae of our daily lives have changed dramatically over time, but one thing has remained constant: sharing our stories with those whose lives intersect with our own in ways both profound and peripheral. MouseMuse’s foundation and success lie in this intrinsically human need.
“Get involved,” founder Ina Chadwick urged the crowd at the program’s close. “Because you’ll never know your neighbors unless you know their stories.”
So you missed last night’s show, but what’s the good news, you ask? MouseMuse Productions will be back at FMHC in Feb. for another go around. The theme will be “Love Hurts.”
