Curious: Think Outside the Pipeline!

A Philadelphia-based duo aims to inspire more families and young people to work for a cleaner world with the return of their original musical called Curious: Think Outside the Pipeline! Upon its release in April 2019, the soundtrack won a Parents’ Choice Award, and fans can now see the live performance during a three-month tour starting in February. Ants on a Log is two Philadelphia musician-educator-activists: Julie Beth (a music therapist) and Anya Rose (a science teacher). Their folky eco-feminist fable is based on real science and community-organizing concepts. Tight harmonies, silly riddles, and a cast of engaging characters, along with a healthy dose of humor, inform the story and original songs.

The characters are fictional, but Curious is based on a true situation in Philadelphia, where communities continue to rally against an oil refinery affecting the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. The musical recently became even more relevant after the PES oil refinery explosion this past summer.

The story could take place anywhere. When siblings Clio and Taylor go to the pharmacy to get medicine for Taylor’s chronic asthma, they discover that many people are also suffering from similar illnesses. Big businesses (and greedy politicians) want to expand a big oil refinery in their town, which will only exacerbate the pollution and health problems. Even after jamming their laptop with too many questions, finding that no one takes them seriously, and withstanding their Uncle Steve’s “mansplaining,” Clio and Taylor manage to organize their neighbors and stand up for their community. The story ends with hope and promise, and during this tour, the Ants will debut a new musical ending, rewritten to reflect the ever changing landscape of climate change activism.