ONE-ONE-1. "Professor Time And The American Revolution" Cast of Characters. (Professor Time and Betsy Ross are played by the same actor:)

Transcription

1 ONE-ONE-1 "Professor Time And The American Revolution" Cast of Characters (Professor Time and Betsy Ross are played by the same actor:) (Professor Time is an aging eccentric scientist with Einstein like bushy hair and geeky bottle bottom glasses. He wears a lab coat and tennis shoes during much of the show except during the opening scene when is caught sleeping in his underwear. His underwear consists of Tony the Tiger Boxers, giant slippers and a Superman t-shirt. He is also wearing white tights that act as stockings for the other costumes. He speaks with a light German accent.) (Betsy Ross is played by the same actor as Professor Time. But, she has a proper English accent and wears a blue dress, white bonnet and blue blouse.)

2 ONE-ONE-2 ACT 1 SCENE 1 Scene / Setting (The professor is sleeping on a cot, stage left as the curtain rises or as the audience enters. The time machine is center stage and a giant video screen is above him. Stage right are many interesting props from his lab and a game wheel that will be used during the finale.) ANNOUNCER Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, thank you for coming today to see "Professor Time and the American Revolution." Uh, it looks as though we have a major problem. The professor has fallen asleep and we cannot wake him. Please help us. On the count of three shout wake up. 1,2,3... Wake up! (The professor wakes startled with his back to the audience. Many alarm clocks start going off all around the stage. The professor waddles about sleepily scratching his butt and turning the alarms off. He turns to face the audience and is shocked to see a room full of people.) Ahhh... Don't look! I'm in my underwear. (The professor runs behind a screen and puts on his lab coat and shoes As he is dressing he is apologizing to the audience. Professor Time's theme music begins.) (Continued) I don't understand how a man named Professor Time could always be running late. I am so sorry!!! I try and try.. (The Professor stumbles out in front of the audience.) (Continued) Hello everyone! I am Professor Time. (MORE)

3 ONE-ONE-3 (Continued) And we have a great show for you today all about the American Revolution and the birth of our country these United States. But before I begin, I must tell you that we will be playing a game at the end of the show. A game called, "It's About Time." (Cue game animation on giant screen) (Continued) It's a game where you can win prizes. All of the answers to the questions in the game will be given to you during the show. So pay close attention. Let's find out what prizes you can win today. Bob... (Cue prize animation.) BOB THE ANNOUNCER A year supply of tuna ice cream or... tree bark in a can. Oh how wonderful! You guys like tuna ice cream? Gross! Nasty! Yuk!!! Well how about tree bark in a can. Gross! Nasty! Yuk!!! Uh well let me see what else we have. Oh look, we have giant candy bars! Yeah! All right! And magic wands.. Wow! Cool! Etc.. Professor Time tee shirts! Awesome etc... And rotten bananas and stinky cheese.

4 ONE-ONE-4 Gross ugh.. That's ok cause we got giant candy bars! Yeah! Just remember to pay attention so you will know the answers. Ok, next I want to introduce you to my assistant, Al. He is back at time central and will be providing the video feed during the show. Al... Al come in. Al... (The professor turns to the large video monitor and begins speaking to Al. Al is an animated robot that appears on the screen through a haze of static.) Hello Professor. There you are, Al. Everyone say, "Hello Al." Hello, Al. Al, say, "Hello to everyone." Al, say hello to everyone. "No! Al, you don't have to repeat everything I say. Just say, "Hello to everyone." No! Al, you don't have to repeat everything I say. Just say hello to everyone. Ahh never mind. (The professor turns to the audience and in an agitated voice addresses the audience.) (Continued) I am so sorry. He is just learning and I'm still programming him.

5 ONE-ONE-5 (The professor turns back to Al) (Continued) Never mind, Al. Please just roll the video on the history of time measurement. Yes, Professor. Thank you Al. (Professor Time turns to the audience.) (Continued) I want to show you how we measured time through the ages and explain how I have developed my time machine. (Cue video "To Tell Time" a brief history of telling time during which images matching the voice over are shown.) (Continued) You see, long ago we measured time by the rising and the setting of the sun...and by the movement of the moon and stars in the night sky...and by the changing of seasons from winter to spring and summer to fall. In ancient times, we measured time by watching the sun's shadow move across a fixed dial or what we call now a sundial. During the medieval times, man told time by watching sand flow through a narrow opening between two glass bulbs or by an hour glass. As we went to work in factories during the industrial revolution we had to arrive at work on time. So we built mechanical clocks with gears to be more accurate. As time went on, we became more and more interested in measuring time as accurately as possible so we built bigger and better clocks. Recently, man has discovered that we can gauge time by measuring the disintegration of an atom. So now we have entered the atomic and digital age where we can measure time in millionths of a second. (Video transitions into "To Tell Time" game graphics.) (Continued) Now it is time for us to play a little game where you can win prizes. I'll ask a series of questions. The questions will be simple at first and everyone should be able to answer them. But as I go along, the questions get harder and harder. The answers to the questions will help us form a mathematical equation. (MORE)

6 ONE-ONE-6 (Continued) Who ever is able to answer the final question will receive double prizes. Only two kids in ten years have ever been able to answer the final question. So good luck and let's play. (The professor goes through a series of questions, at first, allowing the entire audience to answer and then narrowing down to only those students that raise their hands. The questions start as simple as, "How many seconds are in a minute. The Final question is, "How many seconds are in a day? All the questions and answers are shown on the big video screen. ) (Continued) Very good! You will find many other fun math and time games at So please visit us on the web. Now, I want to ask you if have you have heard of this man? (Graphic image of Albert Einstein appears on video screen.) Yes! Etc... What was is name? Albert Einstein. Very good. Einstein was a scientist, physicist and mathematician. He was a true genius. He often said that I had one of the greatest minds of our time. I have based a lot of my theories on Einstein's work. In fact, I used his theory of relativity to make my time machine. Einstein said that time is relative. That gravity when acting upon an object will speed up or slow time down. Who knows what gravity is? It keeps our feet on the ground. Etc... Yes that's right. It is the force that holds our feet to the earth and pulls objects in space together. We cannot see it but we feel it pull. If there was little or no gravity here on earth, we would float out in space. (MORE)

7 ONE-ONE-7 (Continued) Einstein discovered that gravity also slows time down. As I drop this ball time is actually slowing down for the ball. (The professor drops a ball to and speaks slowly as he says, "Time slows down.") (Continued) So I have combined Einstein's theory of relativity with my own theory, Perception Is Reality and built the worlds first time machine. The "Perception Is Reality" theory is easily shown here with this demonstration. I ask what do you see? (Professor holds up a magic mirror) A mirror. Yes, a mirror with the reflection of beautiful kids and very pretty teachers and ahhh how ugly. (The professor turns the mirror towards himself and sees his own reflection.) (Continued) Never mind that. Can you tell me, "Is the mirror solid?" (Professor Time allows several audience members including an adult to confirm the mirror is a solid object.) (Continued) Now I will pass this ball through the mirror with the help of your minds and the magic words. Everyone hold up your hand and wave them. Say woobie woobie woobie. Woobie woobie woobie. Hah, you have no idea how silly you look. Now concentrate on moving the ball through the mirror. Woobie woobie woobie. That's it! Concentrate. We've almost got it.

8 ONE-ONE-8 (The professor passes the ball through the magic mirror.) (Continued) As you can see, we have done it. We passed the ball through the mirror. Our perception of the world around us has changed. Now I have set this time machine to go back into time to: The American Revolution, June 2nd 1776, 8:00 P.M., 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA.. Where a very important meeting is taking place. You will find out more about that meeting later. But, now I want to find out what you know about the American Revolution. I going to ask you some questions. Al.. Al come in. Al... (Al appears on the big video screen) Yes Professor? Al, Please roll the questions about the American Revolution. I want to find out what these kids know. Yes Professor. (Video screen shows questions and gives correct responses with maps pictures and text to help explain the answers.) Ok, First. When did we fight the American Revolution? More specifically, who can tell me when the first shot was fired? Audience Responds April 19th, (Of course the children do not always get the answers correct. If they do not, the professor has a few comedic response depending upon the answers. Then he gives the correct answer.) That's correct. It was known as "The Shot Heard Around The World." What was it called? "The Shot Heard Around The World." (In the longer one hour show, the Professor tells the story of Paul )

9 ONE-ONE-9 (Revere and the Minute Men of Lexington and Concord.) Very good. Next question. Who did we fight? The British! That's right. The British or England. (Video graphic show world map with Britain highlighted and it's colonies.) (Continued) Though Britain seems like this little island off the coast of Europe, it was actually very powerful. In fact, at its height England totally ruled! They ruled over 1/3 of the world. It was called the British Empire. As you can see the areas marked in purple were part of this empire and here we are in the new world or America. So where did we fight this American Revolution? America! Very good! But at the time what was it called? The Thirteen Colonies. Exactly, the Thirteen colonies. You see they resemble many of the states we have now on our Eastern Coast. (A large world map appears on the video screen. The professor uses a laser pointer to show the location of the performance, Britain and the 13 colonies.) (Continued) Ok next question, "Why did we fight the American Revolution?" For our freedom. Precisely! For freedom. But why did we want to be free? Let's find out. Al.. Al..

10 ONE-ONE-10 Snoring (Al appears on the video screen sleeping. The professor is upset and embarrassed.) Al, what are you doing? Wake up! Wake up! Oh, sorry professor! I was sleeping. Sleeping! Sleeping! What do you mean sleeping in the middle of my show? What has gotten into you? Oh your show can be so boring. Boring! Boring! What? When I get back, I am going to turn you into a bucket of bolts. No, Professor I will be good. Ok, Al just roll the video, "To fight for freedom." Yes, professor. (Video shows images that mirror the professor speech.) Well, let's see. In the years leading up to the war, England made us pay taxes or money for goods that we needed such as coffee, tea, paper etc.. It wasn't just the taxes that bothered us. It was also that the King of England, King George III, kept the money for himself. We had no say where the money was to be spent. Each tax or act placed upon us by the British government made us more and more angry. They even made us house and feed the British soldiers in our own homes and beds. This was known as the Quartering Act. Can you imagine being forced to let a soldier sleep in your house and eat your food? We begged and pleaded with the King but he would not listen. He even tried to make us buy tea and goods only from England. It wasn't as though we could go to Walmart or shop around to get the cheapest prices. They jacked up the price to make more money. So we decided to do something about it. We decided to have a party. Do you guys like to go to parties.

11 ONE-ONE-11 Yes! Check this party out. It was really cool. Al... Al... are you there? Al, role the video on the tea party please. Yes, professor. (Video of Professor Time with a bunch of dolls at a tea party appears.) Al, Al stop the video. Stop it! Not my tea party! The Boston Tea Party. How embarrassing. Sorry Professor. I am so sorry everyone. Please forgive him. He is still learning. (The video of the Boston Tea Party plays.) (Continued) The Boston Tea Party, it was December 16th 1773, Boston Massachusetts. A group of 150 men dressed up as American Mohawk Indians paddled out to ships from England anchored in the harbor. The ships had over 250 tons of tea. These men called themselves the Sons of Liberty. They climbed aboard the ships and broke open crates of tea then threw it into the harbor. The water turned brown like a giant tea kettle. When King George III heard about this, he tried to force the colonist to pay for the lost tea. We refused and the King closed the Boston Port and forced severe restrictions on the colonist's freedoms. The Sons of Liberty went on to cause more trouble for the British all over the American Colonies. By 1775, two years later there had been so much trouble the King said, "It will come to blows." He meant war of course. And war it was. Ok, now we are almost ready to go back into time but first we must find out more about the colonist. Like what kind of clothes did they wear? And what music did they listen to? It is time for the next segment of our show, "Fashion Faux Pas, Fashion Emergency." Yes, that's right we are going to have a little fashion show and a contest to see who is best dressed for the American Revolution. (Cue Fashion Faux Pas theme and animation. )

12 ONE-ONE-12 (The professor chooses four kids two girls and two boys to come up on stage. Three will be models and one will be the game show contestant.) (Continued) Now, here's the way the game is played. I will dress the three of you into costumes from various times in world history. You, as our game show contestant, will have to decide which of these models is best dressed for the American Revolution. If you get it right, all four of you can walk away with double prizes. So let's play. (The professor dresses up the kids in three outfits: an American Revolution dress with bonnet, a satin lace dress from the American Civil War and Roman Tunic. He places a satin dress on the first boy as a joke. The professor asks the audience and then the game show contestant who is best dressed for the American Revolution. After the best dressed is revealed the professor explains why. Prizes are awarded according to the answer given.) (Continued) Now it's time for the next segment of our show, "Golden Oldies." (Cue "Golden Oldies" animation and music. Professor time speaks in his best imitation of a radio DJ.) (Continued) That's right folks. It's time for "Golden Oldies." Where we explore the hits from the past. And let's see what the number one hit from 1776 was. Who knows? "Yankee Doodle" That's it "Yankee Doodle. Hey kids did you know that "Yankee Doodle" was not originally written by the Americans. No sir It was written by our enemies, the British, to make fun the colonists. But, we took the song and changed the words to make fun of the British. We turned it around and gave it right back to them. And you know the part about macaroni? Well, we were poking fun at the way the British men dressed. (MORE)

13 ONE-ONE-13 (Continued) Often they would wear fancy clothes with lace. I need a hand singing this song. I need some volunteers. (Professor Time selects 12 audience members to come up to the stage and gives them all Kazoos.The video screen shows a fife and drum core.) (Continued) During the revolution the colonists didn't have a lot of money. So it was rare to find musical instruments. Most commonly played during the war was a fife and drum pictured here. But soldiers were inventive and learned to take a blade of grass and place it against their wooden combs. If they blew just right the it would make a buzzing noise kind of like our modern day kazoos. Ok, take your kazoos and place the big end in your mouth. Now hum... Let's join in singing "Yankee Doodle." We will let the kazoos have a solo the second time through. (Cue "Yankee Doodle.") (Continued) Awesome. Let's give them a big hand. You can keep your Kazoos. I don't want them after you have slobbered all over them. Hey everyone now it is time for "Nearly Not So Famous People.!" (Cue the Nearly Not So Famous animation.) (Continued) Here is where we find out about those B -list celebs that helped to change the course of human events. Today's Not So Nearly Famous guy is none other than Crispus Attucks! An African American slave that escaped captivity and made his way to Boston. Where on March 5th, 1770 a group of men including Crispus started protesting against the British. The group became unruly and the British soldiers or as they were more commonly called "The Red Coats" fired into the crowd killing five of the protesters. The first to die for cause of freedom was Mr. Crispus Attucks. This event was known as the Boston Massacre. Let's have a round of applause for Cripus Attucks. Ok boy's and girls it's time for "Fact or Fib." (Cue "Fact or Fib" animation) (Continued) Where we explore the truths, the lies and the myths of the past. And today's fact or fib is... Mrs. Betsy Ross.

14 ONE-ONE-14 (Cue Betsy Ross Graphics. Professor Time in a scathing lawyer's voice accuses Betsy Ross of falsely claiming to have sewn the first American Flag.) (Continued) On the night of June 2nd, 1776, Mrs. Ross claims that she was asked to sew the first American Flag. She claims that George Ross her uncle and George Washington our first President came to her house that night after the Second Continental Congress. She also claims that George Washington asked her to sew a flag of red, white and blue with thirteen stars arranged in a circle one star for each state. The circle was to represent that no state was more important than another. But my friends, there is no proof. There are no legal documents or receipts from Mrs. Ross. And that is why today there are historians that say it is not true. Well my friends we are going to find what really happened. For I have set the time machine to go to The American Revolution, June 2nd 1776, 8:00 P.M., 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA where and when the meeting took place. I will trade places with Betsy Ross and she will come tell you what happened that night and all about the first American flag. But I need someone to help me launch the time machine. I need someone who can follow directions. I need someone like you. (Professor Time selects a child and guides them to the light box at the edge of the stage. Then he gives the following directions.) (Continued) You are going to start the launch sequence by pressing these buttons. First, I will count to three then you will push the green one. The green light will come. Then you push the blue one. Then the yellow one. But whatever you do, do not push the red one. For it will overload the machine and it get could go yank blunk crank splat kaput! So let's go over it again. Everyone, first he presses? (The professor turns to address the audience.) The green one. Then he presses? The blue one.

15 ONE-ONE-15 Then? The yellow one. But what ever you do, do not press the? Red one (The professor turns again to address the volunteer.) Do not listen to your friends. They will try to get you to press the red one. Just do as I say and all will be fine. So here we go (The professor enters the time machine and alarms and buzzers start a horrendous sound. The machine starts to smoke and colored strobe lights go off. The audience almost always tries to entice the volunteer to press the red button. The wires are switched on the light box to where no matter what he presses the red light lights up. The Professor races back out to center stage coughing) (Continued) What happened? I told you not to press the red one! (The volunteer responds noting that when he pressed the yellow light the red one came on.) (Continued) Oh dear it looks as though I have crossed the wires. You did fine. Give him a hand! Ok let's try it again. But this time you are going to just press the green and blue one. Don't listen to the audience. I think they just want to see the time machine blow up! Here we go (The professor goes back into the time machine. Again, the red light comes on and the machine starts to cough smoke and bells and alarms go off. This time a rubber chick goes flying over the top of the machine. )

16 ONE-ONE-16 (The professor comes back out in a cloud of smoke.) (Continued) What happened!!! Oh dear not again. The machine is about to fall apart. Let's try it one more time so I can finish the show. This time just push the green one. I will override the launch sequence from here. Ok? Here we go (The professor enters back into the time machine and the machine seems to be working fine with lots of bells and whistles. In the mean time, the actor is backstage changing into a Betsy Ross costume. With a blast of smoke and the sounds of bells and whistles, Betsy Ross falls out of the machine astonished and frightened.) BETSY ROSS Oh dear! Oh dear! I was sitting in my rocker. There was a flash of light and a man appeared. He said his name was Professor Time and that I, Betsy Ross, was to be going to the future. Where there would be group of children that wanted to hear about the flag and that... that... (Betsy notices that she has a beard and hair on her arms and starts to freak out.) BESTY ROSS Oh my!!! Oh my!! He didn't tell me that I would have a beard and hair everywhere. Oh I must be in the professor's body! How horrible! Oh my... But he said it would be over in a matter of minutes. He mentioned that there would be a blue box. Then we were to count to ten and at precisely 10:21 today the flag I had just finished would appear. (Betsy looks around the stage to the professors lab equipment and finds the box.) BESTY ROSS (Continued) Now children help me by counting backwards. (Betsy notices the volunteer.) BESTY ROSS (Continued) Oh that's right! The professor told me that there would be a young gentleman here and that I was to ask him to sit down and ask everyone to clap for him.

17 ONE-ONE-17 (The audience responds and Betsy turns back to the box placing it center stage on a podium.) BESTY ROSS (Continued) Now lets try this. Help me everyone. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. (Nothing happens) BESTY ROSS (Continued) Oh dear! Let's try it again. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 (Using flash cotton in a finger flash pod, the empty box explodes with light and the flag appears with several important old documents and a rabbit.) BESTY ROSS (Continued) Oh! There it is. Look the professor has sent me a gift, a pet rabbit. How sweet. (Betsy picks up the live rabbit and shows it to the audience. Everyone ohhs and ahhs.) BESTY ROSS (Continued) Yes, here it is... the flag. You see George Washington and George Ross, my uncle, came to me the night of June 2nd They were in meetings all day discussing the future of our new country. They called these meetings the Second Continental Congress. Mr. Washington asked me to sew a flag of red, white and blue with a circle of thirteen stars one for each state. The red was for the blood of courage, the white for peace and the blue for liberty. (Betsy holds up the flag.) BESTY ROSS (Continued) Oh! what a beautiful sight! Let's give the flag a big applause. I really must be going back home now. The professor asked me to select someone to come back to the stage to push buttons. And I am to count to three then push the silver button here and step into the... What did he call it? Time Machine! He said for you to push only the green one. (Betsy selects a child and instructs him to push the green light. Betsy goes into the machine. Alarms of all kinds start and smoke pours out. The professor dressed as George Washington falls out of the screen.)

18 ONE-ONE-18 Whoa!!!! Oh dear!! Wait a minute. Hold it! It's me Professor Time! But I'm...I'm in George Washington's clothes. Uh oh. There is no telling what Washington is wearing right now! You see George was suppose to come out but it looks like there was a... (The professor looks to the boy at the light box and sees the red light.) (Continued) Oh no wonder! It's Ok. It's ok. let's give this boy a big hand for helping. Thank you. It doesn't matter. I can tell you every thing George was going to say. And I have sent two very important documents from the past to share with you. (Audience applauds and the volunteer sits down. Graphic of George Washington appears on the video with bullet points of information.) (Continued) We all know that George Washington was our first president. But did you know he was the general of the American Army during the revolution. He led them to victory finally at Yorktown, Va in Also did you know that he had no teeth! That's right all of his teeth had fallen out by the time he was president. And that's why you never see him smiling. At first he had wooden teeth, then later teeth made from ivory. (Professor holds up two documents from the magic box.) (Continued) Now, I want to show this. I have brought to the future two documents. One starts out saying, "In unanimous declaration of... Can anyone tell me what this document is called? The Declaration of the United States. Very good. This document was written by a man named Thomas Jefferson. What does the document say? That we are a new nation free from England. Yes that's right. (MORE)

19 ONE-ONE-19 (Continued) That we were a new nation free and independent of England. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in May of It was first signed on July 4th, And it is the reason we celebrate the Fourth of July every year. It took two months before all of the delegates from each state had finished signing it. Now this document starts out, "We the people of these United States in Order to form a more perfect Union to establish Justice... Who can tell me what this document is called? The United States Constitution Very good! It stated that we were a new nation to be ruled by the people and for the people. That we were to be free as long as we lived by the laws of the land. Our forefathers, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben Franklin and many others decided to base our government on the ancient Greek idea called a democracy. And this government was to have three branches or parts. Each branch was to check power and make sure that no one person or agency would have more power than the others. The three branches are the Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial. The Legislative branch creates our laws and is made up of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Executive branch guides us and creates policy and is made up of the President and his assistants or his cabinet. The Judicial branch enforces our laws. It is made up of the courts and they decide who is guilty of disobeying our laws and how they should be punished. (Alarms go off and the "It's About Time" animation starts to play on the big screen.) (Continued) Wow! Hey everyone it is time to play "It's About Time!" Would you like to win some prizes? Here is how the game is played. I will select an audience member at random to come up and spin the wheel. The wheel will land on one of the categories: who, what, when or where. I will ask you as many questions as I can in thirty seconds. All you have to do is answer two of the questions correctly. So, who would like to play, "It's About Time?" (Professor Time selects a child and brings them to the wheel. The child spins the wheel and the professor moves to the podium and plays sound effects as he asks the questions. The game is played 3-4 times. )

20 ONE-ONE-20 (Then an another alarm goes off.) (Continued) Boys and girls thank you so much for coming to see me. I had a wonderful time. But I am afraid this is all the time we have. Give yourselves a big round of applause. I would like to thank... thanks again and until next time it's good bye from Professor Time. Applause. (The professor exits and Professor Time's musical theme begins to play.)