Book, Music and Lyrics by Michelle G. Reiff Sample Script Pages
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Book, Music and Lyrics by Michelle G. Reiff Sample Script Pages All production rights to this show are controlled exclusively by GreasePaint Script House LLC and governed by federal and international copyright law and the Production, Copy, and Video License granted by GreasePaint Script House LLC. Except as may be provided in such License, you are prohibited from copying, reproducing, or performing all or any part of this script and any accompanying materials, including music. All programs and advertising materials must include the following notice: Produced by special arrangement with GreasePaint Script House LLC, Denver, Colorado. www.greasepaintscripthouse.com Please contact GreasePaint Script House LLC at info@greasepaintscripthouse.com or 303-284-6080 with any inquiries. 2013 Michelle G. Reiff. All Rights Reserved.
BASIE S SONG (EVERYBODY SING ALONG) Book, Music and Lyrics by Michelle G. Reiff CAST OF CHARACTERS (In order of appearance) FLUTE... snobby, bullying woodwind CLARINET... snobby, bullying woodwind OBOE... snobby, bullying woodwind CELLO... snobby, bullying string instrument VIOLA... snobby, bullying string instrument VIOLIN... snobby, bullying string instrument TRUMPET... snobby, bullying brass instrument TROMBONE... snobby, bullying brass instrument BASIE... lonely upright bass HORN... snobby, bullying brass instrument CONDUCTOR... self-important conductor RAVEN... friendly, inclusive, and wise bird ANIMALS... friendly pond dwellers MAESTRO MAESTRO... open-minded, kind conductor TUBA... shy, large brass instrument
SEQUENCE OF MUSICAL NUMBERS MC1 The Small-Minded Symphony MC2 I m Worth Getting to Know MC3 We Sing MC4 And I Croak MC5 We Sing reprise MC6 If I Believe in Myself MC7 If I Believe in Myself reprise MC8 You re Welcome to Sing Along MC9 You re Welcome to Sing Along reprise Instruments, Conductor, Basie Basie Animals Raven and Animals Raven and Animals Basie Basie, Instruments, Maestro Maestro Company Company Michael O Konis, Orchestrator BASIE S SONG (EVERYBODY SING ALONG) originally was produced at The Challenge School Denver, Colorado. May 2013
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BASIE S SONG (EVERYBODY SING ALONG) SETTING: A concert hall SCENE ONE AT RISE: INSTRUMENTS are standing by their music stands. FLUTE: Clara, what do you think? I just went to the salon and had my keys polished. CLARINET: Oh, they are beautiful and shiny. I just had my reeds moistened so I am all ready to play. How about you, Ob? How are you feeling? OBOE: I ve been a little squeaky lately. I think my head is out of alignment. CELLO: Hey, Viola, did you see Violin at the barn dance last night? VIOLA: I wasn t there, but I heard she was fiddling around with that country band. VIOLIN: Listen, you two, no need to get your strings out of tune. I was just filling in for CELLO, VIOLA: You mean fiddlin in. (CELLO and VIOLA laugh.) 1
TRUMPET: Hey, you guys, want to jam a little after rehearsal. I could stand to blow off a little. TROMBONE: I think I might be able to slide on over. BASIE: Sounds like fun. Can I come? HORN: No one invited you, Spacy Basie. We don t need anyone playing just Doom bah, doom bah, doom bah, doom bah. TROMBONE: Yeah, Spacy Basie. We just want to play some cool melodies. So you just don t fit in. BASIE: My name isn t Spacy Basie. It s just Basie. (CONDUCTOR enters and taps stand. BASIE moves to stand by FLUTE, CLARINET, and OBOE.) CONDUCTOR: Everyone alright, everyone. Take your places please. It is time to rehearse. FLUTE: Spacy Basie, why are you standing here? OBOE: Spacy Basie, you are not a woodwind. CLARINET: Yeah, Spacy Basie. You don t belong with us. BASIE: My name isn t Spacy Basie. It s just Basie. FLUTE, OBOE, CLARINET: You don t play our melody. Move! (BASIE moves to TRUMPET, TROMBONE, and HORN.) 2
TRUMPET: Spacy Basie, you can t stand here. HORN: You aren t one of us. TROMBONE: You aren t made of brass. TRUMPET, HORN. TROMBONE: Spacy Basie, you don t play our melody. Move! BASIE: My name isn t Spacy Basie. Please, just call me Basie. (BASIE moves to CELLO, VIOLA, and VIOLIN.) VIOLIN: What do you think you are doing here? BASIE: I m a string instrument just like you. VIOLA: String, maybe but you are not like us. CELLO: Yeah, you re too big and clunky and VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO: You don t play our melody, Spacy Basie. Move! BASIE: My name is not Spacy Basie! CONDUCTOR: Are we all ready now? Let s begin. (MUSIC CUE 1: The Small-Minded Symphony ) 3
CONDUCTOR Do re mi fa sol. Do re mi fa sol. Do ti la ti sol. Do ti la ti sol. Do re mi fa sol la ti do. First, the strings begin. CELLO, VIOLA, VIOLIN Do re mi fa sol. Do re mi fa sol. CONDUCTOR Woodwinds, please join in. FLUTE, CLARINET, OBOE Do ti la ti sol. Do ti la ti sol. CELLO, VIOLA, VIOLIN. FLUTE, CLARINET, OBOE Do re mi fa sol la ti do. CONDUCTOR And for the chorus, The brass will now play for us. Trumpets, horns, trombones, Now please add your tone. 4
TRUMPET, HORN, TROMBONE Do re mi fa sol la ti. Do ti la sol fa mi re. Do re mi fa sol la ti. Do ti la sol fa mi re. CONDUCTOR All of you, now play. CELLO, VIOLA, VIOLIN Do re mi fa sol. Do re mi fa sol. FLUTE, CLARINET, OBOE Do ti la ti sol. Do ti la ti sol. CONDUCTOR and INSTRUMENTS Do re mi fa sol la ti. Do ti la sol fa mi re. Do re mi fa sol la ti. Do ti la sol fa mi re. Do do re. BASIE CONDUCTOR Basie, you don t play. INSTRUMENTS Spacy Basie, you don t play. Re mi fa. BASIE 5
CONDUCTOR Basie, just doom-bah. INSTRUMENTS Doom-bah, ha ha ha! Fa sol la ti. BASIE INSTRUMENTS Silly Spacy Basie! Ha ha ha, hee hee hee! CONDUCTOR Now everybody! CONDUCTOR/INSTRUMENTS Do. Re. Mi. Fa. Sol. La. Ti. BASIE Doom-bah. Doom-bah. Doom-bah. Doom-bah. Doom-bah. Doom-bah. Doom-bah. CONDUCTOR AND INSTRUMENTS Do ti la sol fa mi re do. Doom-bah. BASIE INSTRUMENTS Ha ha ha ha ha! 6
CONDUCTOR: All right, everyone. Settle down. Basie, you must just play your part. You can t join in with the others and play their melodies. BASIE: But, why not? Why can t I play with them? Aren t we all part of the same orchestra? CONDUCTOR: Yes, Basie, but you see FLUTE: You re too big to play melodies. OBOE: You aren t delicate enough to play melodies. CLARINET: You aren t quick enough to play melodies. BASIE: That s not true! Anyway, why should any of that matter? VIOLA: You re just too clunky to play melodies. VIOLIN: You re too slow to play melodies. CELLO: Your voice is just too deep to play melodies. BASIE: That s not true. You don t really know if I can play melodies or not. None of you has gotten to know me well enough to know what I can play. TRUMPET: We know all we need to know. Basses just don t play melodies. 7
BASIE: Some basses don t, but some do. Just because I am a bass doesn t mean I am like all other basses. There are lots of different types and sizes of basses. I am actually an upright bass. TROMBONE: Upright bass, uptight bass. You re still a bass and basses don t play melodies. BASIE: That isn t nice. I don t make fun of your background or the type of instrument you are. And, as I said, I I am an individual. I am not like every other bass. HORN: You are not like us, either, Spacy Basie. BASIE: My name is not Spacy Basie! FLUTE: Oh, Spacy Basie. Give it a rest. A rest, get it? OBOE: Yes, very funny. You made a musical joke. CLARINET: The only joke around here is that Spacy Basie thinks she can be one of us, that she can sing the melody with us. BASIE: It s no joke. You re being mean. My name is Basie, and I am proud of it. You shouldn t make fun of my name. It hurts. And, I can play melodies just like you. If you give me a chance, I ll show you. TRUMPET: Forget it, Spacy Basie. You are not just like us. 8
TROMBONE: Yeah, Spacy Basie. You are different. HORN: You don t belong singing melodies with us. BASIE: But But, it s not nice to leave me out. It s not nice to anyone out. Conductor? leave CONDUCTOR: I m sorry, Basie. Basses just don t play melodies. Now, everyone, get into your sections to rehearse your parts. (CONDUCTOR exits.) FLUTE, OBOE, CLARINET: Sorry, Spacy Basie, you can t come with us. You don t play our part. (FLUTE, OBOE, and CLARINET exit.) CELLO, VIOLA, VIOLIN: Sorry, Spacy Basie, you can t come us. You don t play our part. with (CELLO, VIOLA, and VIOLIN exit.) TRUMPET, TROMBONE, HORN: Sorry, Spacy Basie, you can t come with us. You don t play our part. (TRUMPET, TROMBONE, and HORN exit.) BASIE: My name is Basie! Just Basie! They are being so mean like bullies. It really hurts when they make fun of me or my name or the kind of instrument I am. It hurts when they leave me out. None of them seem to want to get to know me or play with me. It makes me so sad. 9
(MUSIC CUE 2: I m Worth Getting to Know ) BASIE How I wish that they Would let me join and play. They say I m all wrong. They say I don t belong In their popular throng. I just want to play their pretty song. Can t we all just get along? It hurts me when they tease, Exclude and bully me. I play. They say I can t. They stop when I begin. They say I don t fit in. I know I am different from them. Can t they accept me as I am? Being picked on isn t right, And being laughed at s not okay. Being bullied is a crime, And being left out is a shame. Everybody s not alike. Everyone is not the same. Wouldn t it be nice If all of us could play? 10
BASIE (continued) I m not better. I m not less. I m as good as all the rest. Still, they leave me all alone. If they d only take the time To get to know me, maybe I Could change their minds. Maybe I could show I m worth getting to know. I m worth getting to know. I could be brown or yellow Or loud or mellow. Short or big Or round or a twig. Gold or red Or silver instead. White or black Or sharp or flat. I m worth getting to know. I m worth getting to know. BASIE: (Sighs.) Maybe one of these days. END OF SCENE ONE (BASIE walks over to the edge of the pond.). 11
SCENE TWO SETTING: A pond AT RISE: ANIMALS enter and gather together. RAVEN enters and stands to the side. BASIE stands alone. (MUSIC CUE 3: We Sing ) ANIMALS Sing tra-la-la-la-lay. Tra-la-la-la-loo. We sing every day. That is what we do. Sing tra-la-la-la-lo. Tra-la-la-la-lee. In sunshine or in snow, We sing. Each one has a sound. Each one has a song. It s better we have found When everybody sings along. Some of us may chirp. Some of us tweet. Sweet music s heard When everybody sings. 12
ANIMALS (continued) Sing tra-la-la-la-lay. Tra-la-la-la-loo. Go ahead and sing away. Yes, we want you to. Sing tra-la-la-la-lo. Tra-la-la-la-lee. In sunshine or in snow, We sing. Won t you sing with me? Sing tra-la-la-la-la-la-lee. (RAVEN hops over to BASIE.) RAVEN: Hello Hello. (Pauses.) I said, hello. (Pauses and shrugs.) Oh, well. (RAVEN starts to hop away.) BASIE: Oh, excuse me. I didn t mean to be rude. I didn t mean to ignore you. I know how it feels to be ignored. It doesn t feel very good. RAVEN: No, I guess it doesn t. But that s okay. BASIE: No, it s not, but I m sorry. RAVEN: Hey, what s the matter? You seem to have kind of a millstone around your neck. Around your very lovely long neck. BASIE: A what? 13
RAVEN: A millstone around your neck. It means something seems to be bothering you. What s bothering you? BASIE: That song is so nice. RAVEN: The song is bothering you? BASIE: No, of course not. I love pretty music. But, doesn t it bother you? RAVEN: No. Why should it? BASIE: Well, everyone is singing over there and you re not included. RAVEN: Not included? That s because I m here talking to you. Kid, everyone here is welcome to sing along. That s the rule around here. BASIE: Even you? RAVEN: Sure. I may be different from all the others and I can t sing like the others, but I still join in and sing my song. BASIE: I don t understand. RAVEN: Let me see if I can explain. End of Sample 14
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