Leicester Primary students Jaden Jaillet and Angelina Calamare perform the roles before an audience of fellow students at Mary Jo Maichack's show on Friday

Photo Credit: Daniel Castro

Rachel Capriore as the Sun, daughter of the Jade Emperor

Photo Credit:

Photo Credit: Daniel Castro

Photo Credit: Daniel Castro

Mary Jo Maichack

Photo Credit: Daniel Castro

LEICESTER, Mass. — Adorned like the rays of the Sun, Leicester Primary School student Rachel Copriore lifted her hands to sky and brought warmth back to the land as she and her fellow classmates acted out the Vietnamese myth of the Jade Emperor.

The story was one of many the young students had the chance to help perform last Friday, the vivid narratives brought alive by national award-winning Minstrel Storyteller Mary Jo Maichack.

Maichack sang, played guitar, and spun tales as part of her interactive show, “Folktales, Tunes, Dance and Drama”  a program designed to give children the opportunity to enjoy the art of storytelling.

And as the kids dressed up for their roles as blue jays, ducks and emperors, their laughter erupted as they engaged with the stories — their joy almost bringing tears to Maichack's eyes even after 22 years in the business.

"I've had this massive, horrible toothache, and I've done a week of shows, but when I see them so happy — I almost feel like crying because it makes me joyful that my work does that," she said, following the program.

Nominated for a Massachusetts Cultural Council Gold Star Program Award, and winning two national awards for her storytelling CDs, Maichack began her career as storyteller in 1989, and since then she has performed some 3,000 shows in libraries, schools and festivals.

As an English major who always loved the performing arts, Maichack eventually took a job as a children's librarian — and it was there that she started hearing storytellers.

"It was like a moment in a cartoon, where the sky opened up and the angels sing, and it was like 'at last! I know what I want to do," she said.

While the fun-filled show gives students a break from the classroom, the program also helps reinforce literacy, and ties in with the curriculum as well.

Throughout the year, Maicheck offers shows under different themes, from folklore of the sea to nature tales, as well as workshops for all ages from pre-school to adult in how to tell stories and why they are valuable.

In Friday's show, the audience of children had the opportunity to sing, echo, chant and take part in the fun of folktales, with a few of the kids getting to stand up with her and help tell the story to their peers .

"What I want the children to take away is what they're ready to take," she explained. "For one kids it might just be standing there is colossal, but two times on separate occasions I've had teachers come up to me, one with tears in here eyes, because the kids were autistic and had never spoken before. So theater really is transformative, and can just open a person up."

This program was supported in part by the Leicester Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

To learn more about Maichack, visit her website at http://maryjomaichack.com.