The students of Fullerton’s schools get a lesson in unconventional history, although entertaining, in a local monument which is itself at the center of the history of the city.
The Muckenthaler Cultural Center, formerly the house of the agricultural company of citrus and nuts held by Walter and Adella Muckenthaler, is organizing an original musical for children, telling the story of Fullerton.
The members of the Electric Company theater interpret a scene representing a silent film during Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. Annual ECT broadcast for students of the elementary school honors the 100th anniversary of the Muck Building and Country Homing to Thornton Wilder’s Play. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
Giant baseball is moved to the public while the members of the electric company theater tell the story of Babe Ruth playing Fullerton during Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Flerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. Annual ECT program for students of the elementary school honors the 100th anniversary of the chip. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
The Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, CA, Tuesday March 4, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register / SCNG)
The members of the Electric Company theater interpret Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. The annual ECT show for the students of primary school honors the 100th anniversary of the Boue building and pays homage to the Thorton Wilder game, our city. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
The members of the Electric Company Theater, Wesley Chavez, Top, and Rob Bethancourt during Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. The annual ECT show for elementary schools honors the 100th anniversary of the Muck Building and Pays to Thornton Wilder’s Play, Our city. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
The members of the Electric Company theater interpret Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. The annual ECT show for the students of primary school honors the 100th anniversary of the Boue building and pays homage to the Thorton Wilder game, our city. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
The members of the Electric Company theater interpret Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. The annual ECT show for the students of primary school honors the 100th anniversary of the Boue building and pays homage to the Thorton Wilder game, our city. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
The students watch the members of the electric company theater interpret Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At the Muckenthaler cultural center in Fullerton, California, on Tuesday March 4, 2025. The annual ECT show for elementary school students honors the 100th anniversary of the construction of the mud and pays tribute to the play by Thornton Wilder, our city. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
The Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, CA, Tuesday March 4, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register / SCNG)
The members of the Electric Company theater interpret Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. The annual ECT show for the students of primary school honors the 100th anniversary of the Boue building and pays homage to the Thorton Wilder game, our city. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
The Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, CA, Tuesday March 4, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register / SCNG)
The members of the Electric Company theater interpret Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. The annual ECT show for the students of primary school honors the 100th anniversary of the Boue building and pays homage to the Thorton Wilder game, our city. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
The members of the Electric Company theater interpret Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. The annual ECT show for the students of primary school honors the 100th anniversary of the Boue building and pays homage to the Thorton Wilder game, our city. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
The members of the Electric Company theater interpret Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. The annual ECT show for the students of primary school honors the 100th anniversary of the Boue building and pays homage to the Thorton Wilder game, our city. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
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The members of the Electric Company theater interpret a scene representing a silent film during Fullerton: our city (a little wilder!) At Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, California, Tuesday March 4, 2025. Annual ECT broadcast for students of the elementary school honors the 100th anniversary of the Muck Building and Country Homing to Thornton Wilder’s Play. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Register / SCNG from Orange County)
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Production covers prehistoric at 1925, the year when the Muckenthalers built their house, a mansion of 18 rooms which now houses art galleries and mud classrooms. After being the family home for 40 years, Harold Muckenthaler, son of Walter and Adella, donated the manor to the city of Fullerton in 1965, under the condition that he remains a cultural center.
Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Muckenthaler Mansion, the musical “Fullerton: Our Town (a little wilder!)” Will be seen by around 1,000 Fullerton students on a 10 -day race culminating on March 14.
A public performance is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday March 8.
The title gives “a nod and a sign of the head” to one of the greatest playwrights in America, Thornton Wilder, who wrote the winning piece of the Pulitzer Prize, “our city”, but the “piece is mainly original,” said Callie takes Johnson, director of communications for Muckenthaler, with her husband, Brian Johnon.
“We wanted to create something that would engage children and adults by incorporating historical events and important figures from Fullerton’s past,” said Johnson.
The artists of the electric company play the roles of eminent local personalities who have had an influence on the creation of Fullerton as a rail city, formerly vital for the local citrus industry.
Among the local pioneers represented in the musical are the Amerige brothers, the founders of Fullerton, and George H. Fullerton, president of the Pacific Land and Improvement Company, who has never really lived in Fullerton, but who is recognized for having introduced the railroad in town.
The temple of the replacement of the Walter Johnson baseball, a graduate of Fullerton High School, is represented, with Babe Ruth, who played in America Park with Johnson.
The former president of Fullerton of Cal, Jewel, Plummer Cobb, the first woman and first African-American president of the university, is also represented.
The fifth year students of the Laguna Road primary school saw the musical on March 4.
“So I watched, the children seemed to love him,” said Brendan Ledden, who teaches the fifth year. “I thought it was wonderful.”
Performance even addresses darker moments in history, such as schools and separate districts where only whites could have houses.
The music is composed and interpreted by Wesley Chavez, who plays the guitar throughout the performance.
By writing the songs, Chavez had to find a balance, he said, aiming to be “as fun as possible” without being “too clumsy” to reduce the seriousness of what will happen.
Johnson said that she had done in -depth research to collect the details of Fullerton’s past, spending a lot of time in the Local History Salle of the Fullerton Public Library and at the Center for Oral History in Cal State Fullerton.
“Fullerton is devoted to the preservation of historic files and buildings,” said Johnson. “This testifies to the community’s commitment to honor its past.”
Other events are planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Muckenthaler Mansion. To see the calendar lists and buy tickets for the public performance of “Fullerton: Our Town”, go to Themuck.org.
