Water Rocks! organization premieres new musical, makes script available to schools

When the cast and producers of “Water Rocks!: The Musical” say the “world premiere” of their new musical is 7 p.m. Thursday at Ames City Auditorium, it might sound like they’re joking. But this group is serious about having fun teaching people about the importance of water.

They’re hoping the production is widely performed in schools and communities across Iowa and the United States, as Water Rocks! offers the production package for the musical at no cost.

A second performance will be staged at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 23. Admission is free to both shows.

“Water Rocks! started as a play on Schoolhouse Rocks,” said Jacqueline Comito, director of the water education program that is based at Iowa State and is part of the university's extension service. “We’ve always had the intention of using music to help teach science.”

Comito wrote the book, music and lyrics in collaboration with Alex Kirstukas, Ann Staudt, Kaleb Stevens and Todd Stevens.

Music is one of the three pillars of the Water Rocks! program. The other two pillars are good, sound science and fun, hands-on activities, Comito said.

The musical is a combination of Magic School Bus and water science. It’s written with a middle-school audience in mind, but — as with everything Water Rocks! does — it’s also written so adults will enjoy it and learn from it, she said.

“Behind every kid, there are also adults, and we’re educating and entertaining everybody,” she added.

“Water Rocks!: The Musical” cast members are Alex Kirstukas, Anna Stevens, Nysio Poulakos and Julia Divine.

Before she earned a degree in anthropology, Comito received degrees in theater and music.

“This is a past-life joy of mine. I was a playwright in the old days, and am an anthropologist now,” she said.

As co-writer of the musical, she embarked on the project in 2019, and last year the opportunity arose to hire Alex Kirstukas.

“Alex was somebody who had worked with us seven years earlier. He’d gone on to London to get his MFA in theater,” Comito said. “We knew Alex was also an incredibly talented composer and musician. We wouldn’t have this musical if it weren’t for Alex.”

Kirstukas returned to Iowa on a one-year contract starting last August to do some Water Rocks! teaching and also work on the musical. He helped write the play and is also directing and acting in it.

More: Water so tasty it spawned a video and merchandise: How an Ames utility got online notoriety

“A lot of what we do with Water Rocks! is incredibly collaborative. Like a natural system, everything works better when it’s in harmony,” Comito said.

The genre of the show is like nature itself, she said. Every song is a little different, like jazz, rap, rock and more.

The song “Wash Me Away” was written by Kaleb Stevens, an intern who’s been working with Water Rocks! since he was 12.

“He was one of our first high school interns,” Comito said. “He’s been working with us on this, and it’s such an extraordinarily good and insightful piece of music. It’s really powerful.”

'Water Rocks!: The Musical' production package available for free

People don’t expect the Iowa State Extension Service to write and stage a musical, she said. But as a former theater reviewer, she thinks the production is really good.

“That’s important because one of the things we’re doing is creating a package that will be available to communities and schools to do their own productions,” she said.

The performances this week and next are to see if there’s anything that needs to be tweaked before Water Rocks! makes the production package available.

Not just available — available for free.

“Here’s the deal about Water Rocks! and this has been true since the program began 10 years ago,” Comito said. “We want our program, our materials to be available and we don’t want money to be a barrier. So almost everything we do is at no charge.”

The organization does outreach to about 180 Iowa schools each year. In its 10 years, Water Rocks! has impacted more than 160,000 youth and has been in 85% of Iowa’s public schools, plus many private schools as well.

“This musical is available for free because our goal is an educational one and an access one. In fact, schools can use it as a way of making money. We don’t need any of the royalties,” she said.

Although the script is written for four actors, it can easily be adapted to add as many characters as desired to be cast as things like raindrops and clouds to amplify the scenery and the dancing.

The theme of the musical promotes the values of the Water Rocks! program. Values like science is cool and fun, and it shouldn’t be left to just the professionals. Also everyone should have access to music, and it shouldn’t be left to just the professionals either.

“One of the things we did was bring in musicians to record a track so schools and communities don’t have to have a live band to stage it,” Comito said. “Music is such a powerful learning tool. Kids love this music — especially middle-school kids. They shouldn’t feel like they’re too cool to see it.”

Musical tracks feature Ann Staudt on keyboard and Todd Stevens on guitar, bass and percussion.

Although Water Rocks’ mission focuses on Iowa, Comito said they would welcome schools from anywhere in the country to request a production package. The package includes some alternative versions of songs that can be generalized for other areas of the U.S.

“If this musical can be sung and done by communities across the country, how cool would that be?” Comito said.

To request a production package for your school or community, contact Water Rocks! through its website, waterrocks.org.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Iowa State Extension's new 'Water Rocks' musical available to schools