Enter into this madness the Sandbox Series musicians and storytellers.  Monday through Friday starting in July, musicians and storytellers visit playgrounds across Central Park to break up the bedlam with a magical tale of long ago or a playful rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” The 45-minute sessions are free to the public and attract dedicated followings. Although most fans are between the ages of 3 and 8, sometimes the parents are just as captivated as the kids.

Storytellers

FOR ELENI CONSTANTELOS, telling a good story is like making a good soup: start with a tried and true tale, add a few different translations, let the brew simmer, stir it around... and voila!

Serve with liveliness on a hot summer’s day over a statue of Hans Christian Andersen in Central Park.

Constantelos has been telling stories at playgrounds around Central Park since 1990, one year after the Central Park Conservancy launched the Sandbox Stories Program. Constantelos and fellow storyteller John Colligan set up shop in the park’s playgrounds from July through August each summer, sharing tales of long ago and far away with park-goers young and old.

children woke up, they were fascinated by the record album cover.  Colligan made up a story to explain the picture and the kids loved it. They demanded he tell it over and over, and soon other students in the school wanted to hear Colligan’s stories. That was 20 years ago. Now Colligan is a professional storyteller who composes his own original music to accompany his tales.

Constantelos moved to the city to “become an unemployed actress” after completing her bachelor’s degree in literature from Colgate University. A few years and only a few mediocre roles later, Constantelos decided to change careers.

“I started thinking about what I like to do and what skills I had and it all added up to storytelling,” Constantelos said.

The first story she learned was the “Tigers Minister of State,” a tale that originated in Burma, and today she has over 300 in her repertoire. The only rule she has for choosing a story is that she must really like it.

“If you don’t love it, don’t tell it because it will never work,” Constantelos said.

After selecting the story, Constantelos reads as many different versions from as many different countries she can find.

“It’s amazing to see how many different ways there are to tell stories,” Colligan added. “There are about 200 versions of Cinderella across different cultures.”