Once in the town of Hamelin…
What really happened to the children of Hamelin in 1284? Where did they end up after following the Pied Piper out of town? Was their disappearance an act of revenge, or something else entirely? And were there actually any rats?
Petra, a young teacher from Hamelin, sees these as questions of the past—a past she prefers not to revisit given her own troubled history. When her student Mila discovers a scroll containing a different version of the Pied Piper tale, Petra is forced to contend with her family’s 700-year legacy…and decide whether a story of the past has the power to change the story of the present.
Piper’s story
The idea for a new, multi-generation musical first grew out of the goal of creating performance opportunities for the Kaiserslautern Military Community— a unique, ever-rotating pocket of US military servicemembers and their families nestled within the heart of Europe.
Composer and writer Avril Callicutt found inspiration in the mysterious tale of the Pied Piper, which (unlike most fairytales) was based on a documented event in a real place. That real place is the town of Hamelin (or Hameln), which provided a unique inspiration all its own.
After an 18-month writing process, Callicutt teamed up with director and dramaturg Amy Barron Smolinski to workshop Piper with an 8-member cast. This culminated in a developmental reading of the full two-act musical in November 2025. Following feedback, revisions, and auditions, the show entered production in January 2026 with a full cast, including a 22-member youth ensemble.
Piper: A New Musical opened to sold-out crowds on April 10, 2026 at KMC Onstage in Kaiserslautern, Germany. With its fresh, compelling story, its mixed-age cast, and its enchanting score, Piper took the local community by storm.
The celebration continued at the 2026 US Army IMCOM Europe Tournament of Plays (TOPPERs), where Piper won five awards including “Outstanding Family Show.”
