Musicals & Plays
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William Strauss is a noted playwright, theater director, author, and lecturer. He is co-founder and director of the Capitol Steps, for whom he occasionally performs. He is the author or co-author of nine books. For information about William Strauss, see www.williamstrauss.com. ●
Makiddo |
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MaKiddo
is a broad comedy about a
High Stress, High Strung High School, the Priti-Nu Charter Designer
School for Gifted and Trophy Students. It’s a dead-on satire of
teaching-to-the-test high schools in the age of No Child Left Behind,
where students are always taking “bubble tests” and have to be perfectly
perfect, or else they’ll get an evil envelope rejecting them from the
C-word (college). In the story, the Priti-Nu students have learned to
be perfect at the “bubble test” (the standardized state test), and learn
they have been selected to be the cut-score-setting school for the
entire nation. If they stay perfectly perfect, they will force
teenagers everywhere to fail the bubble test, which means theater and
music classes will be canceled, and tens of millions of teenagers will
spend the next summer in school. Not wishing to be hated by their
generation, they decide to fail the test—but it doesn’t turn out to be
so easy.
This is a full parody of The Mikado, with music by Sir Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert & Sullivan). The operetta-style score has 28 songs, some of which are vocally challenging. There are some dance numbers. Sets and costumes can be simple or ornate, in Japanese styles. The principal cast is 5M/5F, but can be 6/4 for either gender. An ensemble can be added, of any size, including a very large cast. E-script. Printed piano-vocal score. An orchestration of The Mikado may be used. Demo CD, Rehearsal CD. Two acts. 100 minute running time. See the MaKiddo web site, at www.makiddo.com. |
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A high-energy dance-and-romance musical about a new generation with a new attitude toward music. The story is about a collegian who wants to distribute his songs on the internet, a friend who wants the freedom to download songs, a girl friend who wants her U.S. Senator father to block a law that would jail downloaders—and a big music company that will stop at nothing to get its way. A clash ensues, between young people who look upon music as something to be shared, and older people who who look upon this as “piracy.” In this battle, they each use different weapons. Young people have the technology, older people the lawyers, lobbyists, and the media “spin.” This generational war over music plays out as a battle over the recall of an old Congressional Chairman who doesn’t have a clue about high-tech music.
This musical is
based on Millennials Rising
and Millennials in the Pop Culture,
two books Strauss coauthored with Neil Howe. The first act is set in
the U.S. Capitol, the second act on a college campus. Original music by
Bo Ayars and Steven L. Rosenhaus. There are several up-tempo dance
numbers, among 19 songs in a variety of styles, none of which are more
than moderately vocally challenging. Simple costumes. Costumes can be
simple or elaborate. Principal cast of 5M/5F, but can be 6/4 for either
gender. The show can be done with or without an ensemble of any size,
including a large cast, and can be presented on a small or large stage.
E-script. Piano/vocal score. Demo CD, Rehearsal CD. Intermission.
115 minute running time.
For a sample script, click
here. See the web site at www.free-the-music.com to download songs and lyrics from the show. |
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Anasazi tells the story of “The Pahaana of the Prophecy,” a Hopi legend about a white person (“Pahaana”) who brings a missing piece of the prophetic “Anasazi Stone” to Black Mesa, unleashing fateful events. The question arises: Will the “Pahaana” culture go the way of the old Anasazi tribe, which disappeared seven centuries ago when its live got out of balance—or will “the Hopi Road” prevail and save all civilization. This is Native American musical, with a compelling story of love and courage wrapped around Hopi and Anasazi legends and prophecies, revealing the lessons of Hopi spiritualism for the “Pahaana” money culture. The music has a Native American aspect in its melodies, rhythms, and orchestrations, with an original score by two-time Grammy nominee Peter Kater (www.peterkater.com). For a sample script, click here. The show is mostly music, with 32 songs and other musical set-pieces, several of which are quite vocally challenging, and several dance numbers, mostly for Native American choreography. For sample lyrics, please click here. Anasazi requires creative stagecraft, with sets and costumes in Hopi and other Native American styles, and imaginative sound and lighting. Principal cast of 6M/4F, but can be 5/5 or 4/6, with other minor speaking roles. An ensemble of eight (or more) is required, and a large cast (and stage) recommended. E-script, printed piano/vocal score, printed score for six musicians. Demo CD, Rehearsal CD. Intermission. 130 minute running time. For more information, click here. For pictures click here. |
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The History of America’s Future. A
play about the full saga of American generations, from the first New World
settlers to the children born after 9/11, with a particular focus on
generations (like Boomers) born after times of crisis.
This show has no music, one set (simple or
ornate, period costumes, and basic sound and lighting. Can be done on
a small or large stage. Written for a cast of 3M/3F, with each
performer portraying a different phase of life (youth, midlife, active elder
hood, deep old age) in each of four acts. Alternatively, there could
be a lead cast of 1M/1F and an ensemble cast
as large as 11M/11F, each with significant spoken roles. E-script.
Intermission. Estimated 120 minute running time. |
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A play about a reversal of
time. The Big Bump is partly comic farce, partly a
melancholy but sweet story about the hopes and fears of life. Five people,
who don’t know each other, have each experienced traumatic events very
recently. The night after they all met, in a doctor’s office, they find
themselves stuck in the same dream together. In this dream, they think time
hit a “big bump” and, under the law of physics, is
starting to run backwards. They are all thinking this because, for their
own different reasons, they wish time could run in a reverse direction,
thereby undoing the horrible events of the past few days. For awhile,
they’re intrigued by how so many everyday things, and great stories in
history, carry different meanings and morals in a backwards-time universe.
But when they learn exactly what it was that seared their minds and put them
in this dream together, they start having second thoughts. The story ends
with a commentary on core aspects of the human experience—life, death,
courage, and heroism.
Cast of five: 3F/2M. Simple set, costumes, sound, and lighting. Ideal for a small stage. E-script. Intermission. Estimated 100 minute running time. For a sample script, click here. |
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