The Kite That Bridged Two Nations – The Musical

Homan Walsh loves to fly his kite. And when a contest is announced to see whose kite string can span Niagara Falls, Homan is set on winning, despite the cold and the wind and even when his kite is lost and broken. Homan’s determination is beautifully captured in this soaring, poetic picture book by Alexis O’Neill that features Terry Widener’s stunning acrylic paintings. Both author and illustrator worked with experts on both sides of the falls to accurately present Homan Walsh’s story. The book also includes an extensive author’s note, timeline, bibliography, and further resources.

The Kite That Bridged Two Nations: The Musical

The story of Homan Walsh’s 1848 kite flying contest over the Niagara Gorge now soars into song.  Inspired by Alexis O’Neill’s wonderful book, Paul Boyd-Batstone, Ph.D., a nationally recognized educator and songwriter; and his brother Billy Batstone, an award winning composer, instrumentalist and singer, composed and produced “The Kite That Bridged Two Nations: The Musical” (2021) as a gift for teachers and families who love this book.

The musical resource kit is designed with all the tools needed for creating school performances or for simply enjoying the recorded music while reading the book, and it’s all made available to you for free!

The free musical resource kit includes the following:

  • A complete 11 song musical with all original songs tracks + a bonus track, professionally performed and produced for listening enjoyment or rehearsal purposes (featuring on vocals, Billy Batstone and Lisa Bode Heard).
  • The same 11 song musical tracks, but with lead vocals removed for performance purposes in a karaoke format.
  • A Teacher’s Performance Guide, including detailed instructions for staging the musical, creating simple props, costuming, and performance sequencing. Additionally included for each song are instructional ideas, key vocabulary, and online activities for children.
  • A book of sheet music for each song, and a lyric sheet set to make printed copy for singers.

Simply download the musical tracks and print materials, and you are ready to soar into song with Homan Walsh in the The Kite That Bridged Two Nations.

Credits & thanks

The Kite That Bridged Two Nations:

The Musical

© 2021

by

Paul Boyd-Batstone and Billy Batstone

Music Editor: Curtis Heard

Special Thanks to Alexis O’Neill

 

Music Credits:

Lead Vocals:  Billy Batstone
Lead Vocals:  Lisa Bode Heard
Ensemble Vocals:  Stephen Batstone, Ian Batstone, Scotty Batstone

Voice of the father, Mr. Walsh:  Scotty Batstone

Voice of Charles Ellet, Jr. Engineer: Stephen Batstone

Instrumental  Credits:

Guitars, bass, ukelele, banjolele, percussion, and keyboards:  Billy Batstone

Drums: John Ferraro

Piano on “My Father”:  Curtis Heard

Juice Harp: Paul Boyd-Batstone

Sound masteringGordon Rustvold

The Kite That Bridged Two Nations, by Alexis O’Neill. Copyright © 2013 by Alexis O’Neill. Published by Calkins Creek, an imprint of Boyd Mills & Kane. Produced by permission.

Contact Paul Boyd-Batstone

Copyright © 2021 – The Kite That Bridged Two Nations: The Musical – Paul Boyd-Batstone  |  site design: Sinclair Creative Group