A CONCORD THEATRICALS TITLE

A Penny Friend

Full-Length Musical, Comedy  /  18any gender (youth)

Music by Shirley Hansen
Lyrics by Ed Graczyk
Story by Ed Graczyk, dramatized with Mary Lou Cassidy

The story of a straw girl in search of adventure, A Penny Friend is a gentle blend of happy and sad, fun and suspense, significance and froth – a musical adventure for every audience.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    18any gender (youth)
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Fantasy, Adventure, Theatre for Young Audiences
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Children (Age 6 - 10), Pre-Teen (Age 11 - 13), Teen (Age 14 - 18)

Details

Summary

The story of a straw girl in search of adventure, A Penny Friend has appeal for children and adults. The mood of the show is reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz, a gentle blend of happy and sad, fun and suspense, significance and froth. It is a musical adventure for every audience.

A gameboard is the setting of this original musical for young people, a gameboard where the Game of Adventure is played. But no one has found any adventure in the game in ten years. There have been so many new rules added that the players are able to move only as far as Square Five, far short of the adventures that await at the end of the game. The board and those who live on it are dull, colorless, and without hope, exactly the way that Minerva, the creator of the rules, wants it. No one even dreams anymore... no one, that is, except a Straw Girl, a scarecrow staked up to scare crows away from the unused sections of the gameboard. The Straw Girl dreams of becoming somebody, and her dream is so strong that she retires as a scarecrow and seeks a new life on the Adventure Gameboard. The rules stop the Straw Girl at Square Five, just as they have stopped every other adventurer before her, but they do not stop her dream. The Straw Girl refuses to accept a life without adventure, and therein lies our story...

NOTICE: Please be advised, this title is from the Samuel French Vault and is made from a scan of an archived manuscript.

History

A Penny Friend was first produced by the Pickwick Players of Midland Community Theatre in Midland, Texas, directed by the author.

STRAW GIRL – A scarecrow who wants to be a somebody
CARETAKER – Custodian of the adventure gameboard
CONSTABLE – Policeman of the gameboard
MINERVA – Ruler of the adventure gameboard, a villainess
WOODEN SOLDIER – A discarded soldier who wants peace and understanding
TESSIE LIZZIE – Minerva's cronies, social climbers
CARSON McDRIZZLE – A rainmaker
NICHOLAS NIGHTMARE – A con man
ZERO – The mute clown who works for Nicholas

ENSEMBLE – A cchorus of lost adventurers

  • Time Period Not Applicable
  • Setting

    A gameboard for The Game of Adventure.

  • Features Fantasy Costumes
  • Additional Features No intermission, Special Effects
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Music

Opening – Orchestra
“A Somebody” – Straw Girl, Caretaker, Adventurers
“Game Moves” – Straw Girl, Minerva, Constable
“A Penny Friend” – Straw Girl
“We're Off to Fight a Battle” – Straw Girl, Soldier
“You're So Clever” – Minerva, Tessie, Lizzie
“You're So Clever (Reprise)” – Minerva
“A Somebody (Reprise)” – Straw Girl
“Nicholas Nightmare's Medicine Show” – Adventurers
“Sniklefritz” – Nicholas, Straw Girl, Adventurers
“A New Dream” – Wooden Soldier
“Frendizemo Twizzle” – Carson McDrizzle, Zero, Straw Girl
“A Penny Friend (Reprise)” – Straw Girl, Soldier
“Frendizemo Twizzle (Reprise)” – Entire Company
  • Musical Style Classic Broadway
  • Vocal DemandsModerate
  • Orchestra Size Small/Combo
  • Chorus Size Medium

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

Music Rentals

Concord offers a full suite of resources to help you put on the show of a lifetime!
18 Vocal Books
Piano 1
Piano 2
1 Bass
1 Bells

Add-Ons

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Authors

Ed Graczyk

Ed Graczyk is probably best known as the author of Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. The play was produced on Broadway in 1982, directed by Robert Altman with a cast that included Sandy Dennis, Cher, Karen Black and Kathy Bates. It has been translated into ei ...

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Author

Shirley Hansen

Author

Mary Lou Cassidy

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