The young ones stare quietly, some with mouths agape, at the dapper man with the soft Southern accent speaking from the deck of a riverboat. "Hello there," he says, his words sounding from beneath a long, silvery mustache. "I'm Samuel Langhorne Clemens." The fact that this is happening in the auditorium of West View Elementary School isn't so much surprising as it is enterprising. That's because Clemens -- known famously as Mark Twain -- and the riverboat are the result of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera's effort to bring live musical theater to inexperienced ears. The musical theater company each year brings history-based musicals to schools across the region through its "Gallery of Heroes" program. This year, the schedule -- which began in January and ends May 14 -- includes 142 performances of "Young Mark Twain" at 105 schools in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. The program helps the schools and the CLO. The CLO hopes the program will create new fans or inspire future performers. The schools receive a performance that ties into their curriculum and could fulfill state education requirements in categories such as the arts and communications. Teachers at West View Elementary "wanted a way of tying in social studies curriculum with music and performing arts and this was a natural way to do this," said Shaun Cloonan, a music teacher at the North Hills School District school. "Gallery of Heroes" began in 1985 when the CLO was looking to build its outreach programs, education director Buddy Thompson said. Each school pays $550 for the CLO performance. Thompson considers it a deal, saying it costs the CLO almost three times that to pay the cast of eight, as well as producing and transporting a full set and sound equipment. Sponsors pick up the rest of the tab. "Depending on what the show is, it could be live music or recorded," Thompson said. "It gives the kids that fullness, that richness. It's not a scaled-down version." Each year, the CLO picks a historical theme. It has produced musicals -- some originals -- on people with Pittsburgh connections, such as Pirates superstar Roberto Clemente and pioneer female journalist Nellie Bly. Last year's performance was about the first Apollo mission. For next year, Jason Coll, director of "Young Mark Twain," is writing his fifth original musical for the "Gallery of Heroes" program, this one on George Washington. The CLO provides guides for teachers and students so they can bring the lesson back to the classroom, including ways to tie the musical's theme to Pittsburgh. With this year's show, for example, the CLO provides a primer on steamboats in Pittsburgh during the Industrial Revolution. Social studies teachers use the performance to help teach American history, while other teachers will include Twain's literary works in their reading lessons, Cloonan said. Two teachers who suggested the cross-curriculum initiative and sought grant money for the performance are using the efforts to meet their state-mandated professional development requirements, Cloonan said. Cloonan is planning a musical with his fourth-graders based on historical heroes. The CLO performance allows those students to show them what their play may look like. For cast members, the looks on children's faces and the way they react to live theater often are reinvigorating, said Alivia Vereb-Owen, 24, of Mt. Lebanon, who plays the wily and belligerent Jason Badger, a Clemens contemporary who works on board the St. Louis-bound steamship John Paul Jones in exchange for free travel. "You can see their faces and interact with them," said Vereb-Owen, her mouth open wide with her hands to her cheeks, mimicking a typical response. "They scream out. That doesn't usually happen in live theater." While the lessons learned are historical, the students also are being taught theater etiquette, something that's included in the teacher's guide, Thompson said. "We are teaching them to be an audience, how to respect the theater," said David Minniefield, 41, of Homewood. Minniefield plays Zeke Taylor, Clemens' friend who works on the boat. At one point in the performance, Zeke is asked to test the river's depth. The river is at 2 fathoms -- 12 feet -- which he indicates by yelling "mark twain," which means "mark number two." Using his booming voice, Minniefield hollers "maaaaaaaaaaaaark twaaain," a sound that echoes through the auditorium and sent several little pairs of hands over little pairs of ears. During a question-and-answer session with the 200 kindergarten through third-grade students at West View Elementary, one boy asked how Minniefield makes such a noise. So the actor demonstrated again. As they left the auditorium, several young voices could be heard practicing their own performance. "Maaaaaaaaaaaaark twaaain." On the road The Civic Light Opera will stage its Mark Twain presentation at more than 100 schools by mid-May. Performances started in January and include trips to Ohio and West Virginia. Among the local schools the performers will visit by the end of the year: Aiken Elementary, Butler, May 7 Allegheny Traditional Academy, Pittsburgh Public Schools, April 14 Arsenal Middle School, Pittsburgh Public Schools, May 3 Beaver Area Middle School, May 6 Bonair Elementary, Lower Burrell Schools, April 1 Bon Meade Elementary, Moon Area Schools, April 14 Carlow College, April 7 Central Elementary, Hampton Schools, April 28 Clairton Middle School, March 31 Colfax Elementary, Pittsburgh Public Schools, May 5 Dorseyville Middle School, Fox Chapel Area Schools, March 25 East Junior High School, Woodland Hills Schools, May 14 Edgeworth Elementary, Quaker Valley Schools, April 23 Good Shepherd, Braddock, March 29 Hampton Middle School, April 2 Highcliff Elementary, North Hills Schools, April 28 Hopewell Junior High, May 4 Independence Middle School, Bethel Park Schools, March 29 Kelly Elementary, Wilkinsburg Schools, May 3 Liberty School, Pittsburgh Public Schools, May 12 Marzolf Elementary, Shaler Area Schools, May 11 Mellon Middle School, Mt. Lebanon Schools, April 16 New Brighton Middle School, April 15 O'Hara Elementary, Fox Chapel Area School District, April 26 Peabody High School, Pittsburgh Public Schools, May 5 Peters Township Middle School, April 7 Quaker Valley Middle School, May 14 St. Peter & Paul, Beaver, May 4 Shaler Middle School, April 16 South Hills Middle School, Pittsburgh Public Schools, April 15 Streams Elementary, Upper St. Clair Schools, April 29 Thomas Jefferson High School, West Jefferson Hills School District, March 30