Books $7.00
Royalty $50.00
Printed Music Score (piano/vocal) $50.00
Music-Performance Accompaniment CD $50.00
31 pages text.
Approx. running time: 45 min.
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Hear SOUND SAMPLE of Music

Script and lyrics by Davied F. Eliet, Music by Nancy Rosenberg. Drawn from an ancient Inca folk tale, this play shows how a child, filled with truth and courage, can bring healing and hope. The music of Nancy Rosenberg leads us into another culture and energizes David Eliet's tale of a girl who reaches beyond what is expected of her as she saves her family and her people, and touches the heavens. Setting: Elaborate, or simple as described. Suitable for touring. Cast: 4 minimum (3 F, 1 M) or up to 14 with roles distributed.

When his son grows ill, The Inca king promises his own life to the Fire Spirit if his son's life can be saved. When the Fire Spirit claims that only the water from the Magic Lake can save the son, The Inca offers a reward for anyone who will bring the water. A young farm girl, Sumac, has a brother who covets this reward and sets out to find the lake but becomes discouraged and devises a plan to bring water from an ordinary lake. When his deception is discovered, The Inca sentences him to death. Sumac, stays the execution when she promises to find the Magic Lake, or die trying. With the help of a sparrow, a magic feather, and her own bravery against fearsome guardians of the lake, Sumac gets the healing water and brings it to The Inca. But just as things are about to end "happily ever after", the Fire Spirit returns for The Inca's life. Instead, Sumac throws herself upon the Fire Spirit in The Inca's place, an action that transforms her into a star of hope for the world.

Books $7.00
Royalty $40.00
55 pages text
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By Madge Miller. Stylized Chinese play, done in the ancient and delightful Chinese manner. 5 women, 3 men, 1 dragon. (Suitable for all-girl cast.) Empty stage with portable properties, Chinese and dragon costumes.

The lovely Princess Jade Pure is held practically captive by her jealous scheming step-aunt and her chancellor. Road Wanderer, a minstrel, passing through the country with his pet dragon, learns of her plight and rescues her, but disappears when she seems to him thoughtless and unkind. Making an effort to find him, Jade Pure decrees that the man she marries must have a pet dragon, and in the next scene two false dragons arrive, awkwardly practicing dragon ways, and scrambling for safety when they catch a glimpse of each other. Road Wanderer escapes from captivity just in time to save Jade Pure from a fatal marriage.

Books $7.00
Royalty $50.00
66 pages text
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By Barry Kornhauser. Young Tad Lincoln begins life against the backdrop of the American Civil War, and his growing pains mirror those of the nation. A heartwarming, sometimes wrenching story of a boy and his family. Told with rod puppets, shadows, period music, and projections of historic photos and illustrations, LINCOLN'S LOG has captivated audiences of all ages because it is engrossing theatre. 3 males, 1 female (performing multiple roles). Of course the roles may be individualized if you desire a larger cast. Open stage.

On July 15, 1871, a very ill 18 year old Tad Lincoln reflects on his long bygone White House days. We follow his reflections of privilege and prominence from which there is no escape from sorrows. His memories take the form of a log, now his only hope of keeping a promise made to his grief-stricken, unstable mother - - a promise never to leave her. Highly theatrical and moving. The playwright is a national honors recipient, and has worked with the IUPUI/Bonderman National Playwriting Symposium by whom he has also been honored.

Books $7.00
Royalty $50.00/$40.00
54 pages text
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By Lowell Swortzell. Based on Pyotr Yershow's epic poem of universal appeal. The first stage version in English of the popular classic, the centerpiece of children's theatre in Russia since its introduction in 1922. One basic set. 3 women, 7 men (extras as desired). 19th century costumes of Russian countryside and court.

When Ivan, a simpleton third brother, is sent to guard a field, he captures and then frees a mysterious White Horse who in gratitude gives him two magnificent steeds and a little Humpback horse with ears two feet long. Ivan's selfish brothers steal the stallions, but Ivan keeps his promise never to part with the little horse. Appointed Master of the Royal Stables by the greedy Czar, Ivan is helped by the little horse through three dangerous adventures. They fly to the Land of the Firebird. They free a landlocked whale on whose back resides an entire village. They sail through he skies to the Palace of the Moon. Through his friendship with the little Humpback Horse, Ivan proves his worth, marries the Daughter of the Moon, and becomes the new Czar.

Books $7.00
Royalty $40.00
61 pages text
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By Linda Daugherty. Delightful inventions, reverberating with the ecology of land, and ocean, render exciting and newly relevant this exciting adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale. Everywhere a sold out success. 7 females, 5 males, optional are 2 children. Space stage suggesting underwater, shore, ship, and castle. Fairy tale costumes.

In the harmonious world of Merpeople, the little Mermaid, Pearl, dreams of the world above. Her sisters, Luna, Coral, and Anemone, her father the Sea King, and her grandmother, the Great Mother, warn her of dangers above. But Pearl, in love with the handsome prince whose life she saved, trades her voice to the Sea Witch to become human. After the Sea Witch is vanquished by her twin sister, the Great Mother, Pearl regains her voice, marries the prince, and happiness and harmony prevail.

Books $7.00
Royalty $50.00/$40.00
Printed Music Score (piano/vocal) $50.00
44 pages text
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By Nancy Seale, with music by Melissa Sweeney. This sparkling new version of the Frances Hodgson Burnett classic, while retaining its Victorian charm, is enhanced by humor, song, and suspense. Basic set with three interiors. 5 men, 18 women (including 12 pupils flexible in number and age according to production needs). Three scenes in front of curtain. Costumes of turn-of-the-century London.

To Sara Crewe, everyone at Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies is a story: cold Miss Minchin, her timid sister Miss Amelia, pupils such as spiteful Lavinia or plodding Ermengarde, as well as the next-door invalid Gentleman and his Lascar. Imagination sustains Sara when, orphaned and no longer "Parlour Boarder," she is banished to the attic. Becky, the little scullery maid, becomes her fast friend. Suddenly Sara's bleak garret is mysteriously transformed. Finally she learns who her benefactors are. Miss Minchin receives her just comeuppance. Sara's last song tells it all: "This is Just the Way It Ends in Books!"

Books $7.00
Royalty $40.00
40 pages text
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Dramatized by Charlotte B. Chorpenning. A memorable play, that children re-live over and over. 3 women, 2 men, 2 wolves. Three sets. Peasant and Wolf costumes.

A young Wolf, who thinks he is smarter than men, plots to outwit them, and make them his servant. He gains possession of Red Riding Hood's cloak by trickery. He learns the pass-word used between her and her grandmother. And he practices until he can talk and walk exactly like Red Riding Hood. But he cannot learn to control his Wolf nature, and just when success is almost within his grasp, the sly old grandmother trips him up. It takes him three acts to learn that it is better to be a good Wolf than an imitation man.

Books $7.00
Royalty $40.00
Printed Music Score (piano/vocal) $35.00
34 pages text
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By Moses Goldberg. Music by Ewel Cornett. A participation play by the American master of the form. This is a delightful romp out of the two well-known tales, united by a common enemy, the Wolf. 2 males, 2 females. Simple scenery. Fairy tale costumes. Readily adaptable for touring.

After a brief prologue introducing players and themes, the troupe acts out two wonderful cautionary tales - - among the very first favorites of every child. Cheer for the industrious and clever third Pig as she defends herself in a sturdy brick house - - built with the aid of the audience. Then laugh with delight and squirm with suspense as Red Riding Hood almost allows her bravado and all-too-trusting nature to deliver her to a very hungry (and equally funny) Wolf. Four simple songs by a master composer move the action along with great charm.

Books $7.00
Royalty $40.00
38 pages text
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Dramatized by Sara Spencer. A faithful, playful adaptation with plenty of dramatic action that will appeal to young actors and audiences alike.  One set.  Victorian costumes. Great roles for young women. CAST: 10F, 2M.

Set in 1863 New England, Jo, Amy, Beth and Meg, four spirited teenaged sisters find ways to bring life to troubled times.  With their chaplain father away serving in the Civil War, and their mother doing all she can to hold things together at home, the girls employ creativity and courage to help their mother while pursuing their passions - Jo's writing, Amy's art, Beth's service to the poor, and Meg's pursuit to become a proper young lady.  Next door neighbor Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, a lonely but charming teen, can't resist the energy and grace of these Little Women, and helps them to endure one trial after another.  In the end, Jo gets published, Amy gets to travel abroad, Beth overcomes a serious bout of Scarlett Fever and Father arrives safely home.

Books $7.00
Royalty $40.00
40 pages text
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By Ed Graczyk. Dramatized from Joel Chandler Harris' "Uncle Remus Tales." 4 women, 5 men, all more-or-less human-type animals. Unit set.

Brer Rabbit, plum tuckered out from caperin' and prankin' with Brer Fox and Brer Bear, has lost his zest for such escapades. His friends diagnose his trouble as a bad case of de Mopes, and persuade him to consult Aunt Mammy Bammy for a cure. To gather the ingredients for Aunt Mammy Bammy's curin' potion, Brer Rabbit has to resort to his old tricks, and thus recovers his joy in prankin -- which is just what Aunt Mammy Bammy intended. "Live de life ya got. De only worryin' ya should have is how to make tomorrow better dan today."

Books $7.00
Royalty $50.00
49 pages text
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By John Urquhart. This play won the 1997 Bonderman/IUPI National Youth Playwriting Competition. Set in the hills of Appalachia in the mid-Nineteen Thirties, it moves among various mountain settings nearby. Period costumes. Five children may appear in the cast of 6 male and 5 female roles. Doubling possible. Open stage. Premiered in Lexington Kentucky and New York University.

Liza Tucker was born different. She can't talk but she has an extraordinary ability to solve riddles. Misunderstood by her mother and her neighbors, she lives a reclusive life at the family homeplace. But after her father fails to return home following a flood, it is Liza who solves the mystery of his disappearance. In this heart-warming Appalachian adventure, Liza and her brother Jacob, match wits with a pair of mischievous ghosts in a magical cave deep within mysterious Ice Mountain. At the end Liza wins acceptance, while her mother gains a new understanding of the "kind of magic that holds a family together."

Books $5.00
Royalty $20.00
9 pages text
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Play by Judith Martin. Music by Donald Ashwander. A brightly modern mini-play about the Christmas giving-spirit, created by the Paperbag Players. For as many actors as one wishes to use, or as few as 5 females and 5 males. Settings of painted cardboard, a bus stop, a bus, a parlor, and a Christmas tree, all on a bare stage or in a classroom. Modern costumes.

Josephine Kindly, Christmas shopping on the last day, struggles to the bus stop with her many presents. While waiting for a bus, she cannot resist lending her presents to fellow shoppers in need. Forgetfully, she gets off the crowded bus, without collecting them again. All ends merrily in a surprise Christmas party in a tiny house. Everyone will heed the final cry: "Roll up the rugs. Pass out the cookies. Let's do 'The Christmas Squeeze,' " Donald Ashwander's irresistible song. Ideal for in-school performance.

Books $7.00
Royalty $50.00
Printed Music Score (piano/vocal) $75.00
CD rehearal tracks (with voices) $20.00
53 pages text
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Hear SOUND Sample of the Music

Book by Cynthia L. Cooper and Joel Vig, Music by Annie Lebeaux, Lyrics by Jane Smulyan. With an uplifting story and a vibrant score, this musical shows the power of a teenaged Louis Braille's belief and determination to change the expectations of the world. This is an ambitious musical with a strong story line. Flexible staging. Period costumes 1880s. Printed piano/vocal score available. A CD of rehearsal tracks, with singing, is available for learning the songs. (Recorded accompaniment tracks are not available.) Cast: 5 minimum (2 F, 3 M) or up to 26 with roles distributed. Strong roles for the individuals in the ensemble.

Young Louis Braille, blind since age three, enrolls in The Blind School of Paris hoping to learn to read and write.  He dreams of becoming a diplomat.  When Louis protests broom-making class and exposes a fake display of reading at the annual presentation for donors, he nearly gets expelled.  Thankfully, Marie deVries, an instructor, introduces him to music and supports his creative mind by arranging a meeting with the French captain who invented a rudimentary method of nightwriting for soldiers.  The method’s absurdity and impracticality are clear to Louis, but it gives him the springboard for a burst of creative genius.  The result?  The Braille system, a code to be scanned under the fingertips, opening a world of literature and musical notation previously closed to the blind.

Books $7.00
Royalty $50.00
30 pages text
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By Doreen B. Heard, freely adapted from the scenario by Carlo Gozzi. A delightful, fast-paced comedy, full of the broad and wacky humor of the commedia dell'arte,the Italian comedy theatre of olden times. Loosely based on a scenario by Count Carlo Gozzi, written in 1761 for the commedia and derived from a southern European folk tale. Cast: 5 male, 4 female, 2 either. Also strolling players, grotesques, courtiers, as desired. Can be performed with 8 actors (with doubling). One set. Seventeenth-century costumes. Approximate running time: 50 minutes.

The kingdom of King Silvio is in an uproar. Prince Tartaglia never smiles and the inept court doctor, Il Dottore, cannot cure him. The impish jester Truffaldino and the kings advisor Pantalone decide to have a festival to cheer up the prince.The event backfires when the comical sorceress, Fata Morgana, puts a curse on the prince. He must search for three magic oranges which belong to the wicked fairy Creonta. The prince and Truffaldino capture the oranges, but then are faced with many hilarious adventures before a surprise ending---after which all "live happily ever after".