A CONCORD THEATRICALS TITLE

Doonesbury

Full-Length Musical, Comedy  /  4w, 7m

Book and Lyrics by Garry Trudeau
Music by Elizabeth Swados

A delightful romp of a show based on Mr. Trudeau's famous comic strip.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    4w, 7m
  • Duration
    Duration
    120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Adaptations (Literature)
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Accolades
Accolades
  • Nominee: Four 1984 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Book and Lyrics

Details

Summary

Zonker, Mike Doonesbury, J.J., Boopsie, B.D. and Joanie are all present and happily accounted for in this delightful romp of a show based on Mr. Trudeau's famous comic strip. While they try to make it through commencement, the Walden crowd must fend off Zonker's Uncle Duke, who wants to bulldoze their off-campus house and replace it with condos. Mike Doonesbury steadfastly pursues the feisty and lovely J.J. while J.J. tries to come to terms with her long-lost mother, Joanie Caucus.

History
Doonesbury premiered on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on November 21, 1983. Directed by Jacques Levy, the cast included Gary Beach, Ralph Bruneau, Kate Burton, Laura Dean and Mark Linn‑Baker.
Cast Attributes

ROLAND
MIKE DOONESBURY
MARK
B.D.
BOOPSIE
ZONKER
DUKE
HONEY
J.J.
JOANIE
PROVOST

MIKE is Walden's Everyman, revered for his abiding sense of decency and ridiculed for his awesome social gracelessness by, among others, his roommate MARK, an unreconstructed activist. Sensing that there was nothing wrong in Jimmy Carter's America that hasn't become even more deplorable in Ronald Reagan's, Mark worries, with some justification, that graduation will place his soul in mortal peril. No such troubling thoughts cloud the perfectly placid mind of B.D., a minor gridiron legend who takes life entirely on face value, thereby failing to comprehend most of what is uttered by his nemesis, ZONKER. Zonker is Walden's Peter Pan, which is to say, he refuses to grow up and he doesn't spend a lot of time on terra firma. He is, however, the very picture of normalcy when compared to his uncle, DUKE, Doonesbury's High Lord of Inner Space. Duke's numerous schemes of self-aggrandizement are usually sabotaged by his own overreaching, and the only person standing between him and permanent incarceration is his devoted Gal Friday, HONEY. Formerly Duke's translator during his tenure as Ambassador to China, Honey has surrendered herself, mind and body, to the thankless task of protecting her imagined paramour from himself. Another mitigating presence on the scene is Walden Commune's erstwhile den mother, JOANIE, a veteran of the feminist wars and mother of the bitter and willful J.J. Mike's intended fiancée, J.J. is as complicated as B.D.’s girlfriend BOOPSIE is simple. Neither woman faces the future with a surplus of talent, but the Divine Miss B has the advantage of a boundless faith in the star system. On hand to record all of the above goings-on is the supercilious ROLAND, a correspondent for ABC Wide World of News. A man of many talents, none of them of any use to a journalist, Roland nonetheless creates suspense every time he goes on the air.

Intended for double casting.

  • Time Period 1980s
  • Setting Walden, an off-off-campus house. Graduation weekend, spring 1983.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Duration 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

“A larkish lampoon of an entertainment... very funny!” – Christian Science Monitor

“The qualities that have made Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury a national treasure are all present. You'll hear the offhand dialogue that snares the self-contradictions of college kids of the 60s. You'll find sly political jokes. Best of all, you'll notice that the tone of Mr. Trudeau's work is intact.” – The New York Times

“A larkish lampoon of an entertainment, sometimes sweet and often very funny. The score ranges from rock and calypso to tender ballad and boogie woogie – a lively assortment of solos, duets and ensembles.” – Christian Science Monitor

Videos

  • Doonesbury Broadway Promo youtube thumbnail

    Doonesbury Broadway Promo

Music

Act I

“Graduation” – Roland, Mike, B.D., Boopsie, Mark and Zonker
“Just One Night” – Mike
“I Came To Tan” – Zonker and Ensemble
“Guilty” – Duke and Ensemble
“I Can Have It All” – Boopsie and Ensemble
“Get Together” – J.J. and Mike
“Baby Boom Boogie Boy” – Mark, Roland and Ensemble
“Another Memorable Meal” – Mike, B.D., Boopsie, Mark, Zonker, J.J. and Joanie

Act II

“Just A House” – Ensemble
“Complicated Man” – Honey and Boopsie
“Real Estate” – Duke and Zonker
“Mother” – J.J. and Joanie
“It's The Right Time To Be Rich” – B.D. and Roland
“Muffy & The Topsiders” – Boopsie, Mike, Mark and Zonker
“Just One Night (Reprise)” – Mike and J.J.
“Graduation (Reprise)” – Ensemble

Piano

Reed (Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet, Oboe, Alto and Tenor Saxophones)

Trumpet/FlugelHorn

Trombone

Cello

Drums

Guitar (Acoustic, Electric, 4-string Banjo)

Keyboard

Bass (Electric)

  • Musical Style Pop/Rock
  • Orchestra 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!
1 Piano-Conductor Score
9 Vocal Chorus Books 
1 Reed
1 Trumpet-FlugelHorn
1 Trombone
1 Cello
1 Drums
1 Guitar
1 Keyboard
1 Bass (Electric)
1 Piano-Conductor Score
9 Vocal Chorus Books 

Add-Ons

Take a look below at how you can enhance your show!

Authors

Author

Garry Trudeau

Elizabeth Swados

Elizabeth Swados (1951-2016) composed, wrote and directed over 30 theater pieces, including The Trilogy, The Red Sneaks, Nightclub Cantata, Runaways, Alice in Concert, Doonesbury, Rap Master Ronnie, The Haggadah, Jewish Girlz, Jonah, Job, Esther, Jerusalem (with Yehudah Amich ...

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