Photo: Beverly Police Department
BEVERLY Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The legacy of Shoebert the Seal is being commemorate in a new operetta called “Shoebert’s Unfinished Journey.”
The Arpeggione Ensemble, a classical music ensemble based on the North Shore, has been developing the instrumental score of Shoebert’s story for the last two years, taking inspiration from the German composer Franz Schubert.
“I don’t know who gave him the name Shoebert, but if they only knew how perfect it was because Franz Schubert wrote a lot of music that is about mills and water, and even fish.” Andrea LeBlanc, co-founder of Arpeggione Ensemble, told WBZ NewsRadio.
In 2022, a grey seal briefly took up residence for a month in the Shoe Pond at the Cummings Center in Beverly, the former site for the United Shoe Machinery Company. The Mystic Aquarium rehabilitated and released Shoebert, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fixed it with a GPS tag to track his movements.
While Shoebert is thriving back in the wild, he has captured the hearts of many local communities, especially Beverly. The town installed a "Seal X-ing" sign and a mural at the Cummings Center to memorialize the unexpected visitor during that month.
Read more: Shoebert The Seal Returns To North Shore Area
Leblanc said she brought her flute to the pond and decided to play some of Schubert’s, the German composer, music. “Just imagining this little seal would come over to me, stick his head up, and think ‘oh, it'ss beautiful music,’ but of course he didn’t.”
So the operetta, “Shoebert’s Unfinished Journey,” will be an ode to the local seal sensation.
“It incorporates ocean conservation, marine mammal conservation,” LeBlanc said. “It incorporates local history of the textile and shoe industries.”
The group has put on a series of workshop performances for kids, asking for feedback on what they liked and what they didn’t. The final performance will debut next fall as the city celebrates turning 400-years-old.
WBZ's Kendall Buhl reports.
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