The Mathews VA250 Committee is working hard on next year’s celebration of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and that includes getting the word out about the many activities planned.
Among those activities is a series of performances of the musical “Crickets on a Hill,” written by the late Judy Ward, a Gwynn’s Island native, and given new energy and vibrancy through the talented efforts of Ward’s onetime collaborator, Dave Shuber of Mathews, as well as the show’s director, Cindy Bocrie of the Court House Players.
Mathews VA250 committee members Joe Syslo and Sandy Warhol, who are working on the Crickets effort, were looking for ways to publicize the show and reached out to John Millington, head of a mentorship program at Jersey’s Cards & Comics in Gloucester, about creating a video trailer for the show.
With a background that includes setting up computer animation systems for Marvel and Disney in addition to a 20-year career as a nuclear engineer for the U.S. Navy, Millington has a lot of connections with industry professionals who volunteer their time to help with his mentorship efforts. In addition, Jersey’s Comics has a collaborative relationship with a studio in Scotland that works on video game design and comics and can professionally mix animated videos.
Millington told Syslo and Warhol that he and his students would have a go at the trailer, then presented the idea to the students, who are in and out of his shop on a regular basis. What began as a simple trailer soon burgeoned into three separate projects.
As Millington himself began work on a short trailer depicting an animated Revolutionary War soldier who would share the story of the Battle of Cricket Hill, student Madelyn Daniels of Gloucester came up with the idea of creating a coloring page for children, and she drew a playful cartoon of crickets dressed in Revolutionary War regalia manning a cannon on the shoreline while ships sit in the haven. Millington said that idea can be revamped into an entire comic book with images that depict “more of a Revolutionary War kind of hero” rather than actual crickets. He said both Daniels and Stephen Serrange, another mentee, will create the images for the coloring book, along with other students, once they get the go-ahead from the committee.
The students also came up with the idea of a song to go along with the trailer, and because of constraints on the time they could spend on it, Millington took up the task and finished writing the lyrics, then sent them off to some of his professional collaborators to have the finished piece put to music reminiscent of the stirring songs from the era. Millington’s brother, Howard Millington of California, recorded the vocals.
The second verse of the song tells part of the story:
“Lord Dunmore’s ships at anchor, paint black with pitch and brine,
Sick tents on the island edge, ranks thinning by the line.
A drummer from the Ethiopian ranks beats hope against the dread,
While fever haunts the shoreline and prayers are softly said.
Across the flats the battery wakes, slow-match burning low,
General Andrew Lewis nods—“Let the warning thunder go.”
A Gloucester gunner whispers, “For my kin across the mill,”
And the first round finds the water, then the second finds its will.”
John Millington said that parts of the song have characters and situations that aren’t recorded in history, but that telling a story of ordinary people is artistic license used by many songwriters.
Daniels, 17, and Serrange, 31, said they’ve learned a lot under Millington’s mentorship. They said they’re given plenty of space to learn by doing, but they can also get help with the software they’re using, as well as feedback on their efforts. Both students said they began drawing as small children and have been attending art classes at Jersey’s Comics for years. While they still use the traditional methods of pencil and ink and painting for their artwork, they also now use an iPad with a stylus, allowing them to create digital art in an app for seamless transfer to an online format.
“As a major sponsor of the upcoming ‘Crickets on a Hill’ production in July, our Mathews VA250 Committee is deeply grateful for the energy, creativity and community spirit provided by John Millington and his volunteers at Jersey’s Cards & Comics in Hayes. And this is only the beginning—there’s more to come,” Syslo said. “This is a true tribute to the writers of ‘Crickets,’ Judy Ward and David Shuber. We are looking forward to a revolutionary July.”
To listen to the “Ballad of Cricket Hill,” go to youtube.com/watch?v=md-8LciJmLE.
To learn more about the VA250 events in Mathews and to watch the animated trailer for “Crickets on a Hill,” go to mathewsva250.org.