ICKY: A Radio Musical

Created During the Pandemic Lockdown

The Children’s Hour Inc. presents…

ICKY: A Radio Musical

Way back in the days before the end of The Big Sick, students everywhere were forced to stare at computer screens featuring live video feeds of their classmates. This was happening in bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens across the country and the world.

With the help (and the subconscious musings) of a dreamer named Halley, a team of super heroes discover that unity and togetherness can get them through any sicky situation.

ICKY runs 35 minutes.

Poster art by Noe Barnett

© 2020 The Children’s Hour Inc.

ICKY: A Radio Musical poster art by Noe Barnett © The Children's Hour Inc.

Credits

Starring
Illuminata, Maya F, Airdrie, Flo, Kodiak, Corbit, Maya M., Melissa, Amadeus, Zen, Isaac, Thaniel, Xander, Kalum, Lucas, Sasha Menéndez,
Tania Hopkins & Katie Stone

Produced by Katie Stone
Directed by Jonathan Dunski

Written by Sarin Monet West
Composed by Jules Latimer Warren
Lyrics by Hakim Bellamy
Assistant Direction by Nicholas Main
Musical Direction & Arrangement by Sage Sarason
Recording Engineering by Andrés Martínez Scoring by Robb Janov
Sound Design by Jen Kraus
Poster & Coloring Book Art by Noe Barnett  

The ICKY Band:

Guitar by Kyle Malone
Violin, Robb Janov
Drums & Percussion, Josh English
Keyboards, Shaun Hettinger
Bass, Paul Hunton
Ukelele, Maya Malone

Making ICKY during the COVID pandemic lockdown

How did we make ICKY during a pandemic lockdown in New Mexico? The Children’s Hour Radio Musical Players are children from our Kids Crew and a few parents. We met weekly online together with our professional creative team and learned about how everyone was coping with the pandemic lockdown. Our creative team asked us to think about how we might envision an end to COVID-19. The ICKY story came out of these online weekly workshops, including quotes taken directly from our conversations. 

Our creative team worked to write the story, musical compositions, and lyrics. The Kids Crew was presented with a script and songs which we practiced together on Zoom. 

One cloudy day, we recorded ICKY in person, gathering in a field next to our Sunspot Solar Studio. Each member of the cast was in their family’s car, with a wireless microphone coming through a window. We wore headphones that carried the sound of all our voices, plus the soundtrack instrumentals.  Our director Jonathan was in the back of his convertible giving us instructions and keeping the recording moving along. 

Because there was a restriction on having more than 5 people together at once, our music director Sage, composer Jules and writer Sarin were with us online. The only people not in cars were the guys on our engineering team and Katie Stone. Photos here were taken by The Children’s Hour. 

ICKY: Art Contest Winners

1st Place

“Visitation”
Xander, 8

2nd Place

“Boredom”
Valerie, 16

3rd Place

“Sorrow”
Maya, 8

ICKY In The News

The Paper

Katie Stone guest writes a column all about ICKY and how it came to be. What inspired it and how all the creatives were assembled to create a once-in-a-lifetime creation. She explains how this musical opens up conversations about COVID-19 and kids’ concerns about it.

New Mexico In Focus

Katie discusses ALL THINGS ICKY with Gene Grant from New Mexico in Focus, A Production of NMPBS. Watch the interview in its entirety here online. Find out how this sick icky came to life.

Hear the Podcast of the interview!

New Mexico Living

Katie zooms with Flavia Costa to discuss how ICKY came to be and how you can find it! Find the interview here

{I want to start by expressing my gratitude for being included on this project. It brought so much joy and creativity to a time when I was so unsure about everything! Feeling very very lucky to be involved. As much as this process seemed to be about the process for the kids (and I think they had a wonderful time!) the product turned out beyond expectations!! The work that happened after we recorded really brought everything to the next level. Katie, you and Robb and Jen knocked it out of the park!
5
mystery person
Nicholas M.
{Thorfin is one of the Children’s Hour’s biggest fans. Every Saturday at 8:58 a.m. he runs up to his room, closes the door, and turns on his radio to listen to the show all by himself. He knows it is also available as a podcast, and so could be listened to at any time, but he says he likes hearing it over the radio, and pretending he’s living in the olden days. He is beyond excited to hear the radio musical they’ve been working on all winter. I’m grateful to [The Children’s Hour] for giving Thorfin something to look forward to this week.
5
mystery person
Christina
{I loved it! I feel like participating in ICKY with so much fun! I loved working with people I already new and it was fun getting to see everyone again! It was different and cool recording in cars, and I think it will turn out awesome in the end!
5
mystery person
Maya F.
{So wonderful to have experienced this radio musical. You brought laughter and curiosity, tears, and superpower feelings. Thank you.
5
mystery person
Rebecca L.
{Community is so important, especially during times like this!
5
mystery person
Sarin W.
{Great job everyone! So proud of all the kiddos who performed!
5
mystery person
Judith C.
{You should all be SOOO proud of yourselves!!!
5
mystery person
Sarin M.
Playwright
{Yay!!!! That was amazing! Great job TCH crew!!
5
mystery person
Eric G.
{WHAT FUN!!! Great job everyone!
5
mystery person
Margery N.
{I learned to stay committed and increase responsibility on my part. It helped me learn to sing better and definitely improved my voice acting skills. It was a really positive experience!
5
mystery person
Zen M.
ICKY / Player
{Great dog voice, SandDollar!
5
mystery person
Pam K.
{It was awesome to be a part of it and hear it progress, and see it all come together. Everyone working with the kids were positive and encouraging, and great in general! I’m really glad that Maya was a part of it.
5
mystery person
Laura J.
Parent

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