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MOBY DICK! The Musical is a musical that was originally developed in England and became a big hit. Because of that, an Americanized musical was made and more American comedy was inserted. Major Characters
Minor Characters
American Show Song ListAct One Act Two American SynopsisIshmael (portrayed by the actual writer) opens the show with the ever so popular "Call Me Ishmael" speech. This leads into the first song of the "Moby Dick" play entitled I Live And Breathe. At the end of this escapade, Ishmael arrives at Nantucket Town where the characters Stubb (second mate, played by a ditz), Starbuck (first mate, played by a rebelious and indifferent girl), Tashtego (harpooner, played by a nerdy girl), Pip (cabin boy, played by a security guard), Queequeg (a cannibal harpooner, played by another indifferent girl), Peter Coffin (a superintendent, played by a boy who Esta snuck in) Flask (a harpooner, her real personality is never established) are introduced in In Old Nantucket. After this, we see Esta (Ahab's wife, played by the new girl with attitude) where she sings her soulful solo, A Man Happens about her husband and his soon arrival with her three friends. Soon, Ahab arrives to his house where Ahab's Homecoming is sung. Ahab decides to show Esta his peg-leg torn off by the evil Moby Dick he battled at sea (Moby Dick is a voice over, but can be portrayed by a regular person). After Ahab damns Esta, she goes hysterical and falls out of a window and splashes into the sea, dying. Pip notices Ahab's psychotic behavior due to his wife's death and escorts him back to his cabin aboard the Pequod. They later sing the transing duet Love Will Always. Ishmael, after making it to the Spouter Inn (run by Peter Coffin), is introduced to Tashtego, Flask, Stubb and Daggoo (Another harpooner, no specific person to portray). However, Queequeg, Ishmael's bedmate, is missing and Ishmael gets suspicious knowing Queequeg is a cannibal. Queequeg returns and Ishmael and Queequeg make a deal that if Queequeg gets blessed, Ishmael will make friends with Queequeg. Queequeg decides to tell Ishmael how he became a traveling harpooner in his ritual-like song Primitive, where the shrunken heads come to life! We are now back at poor Pip, who sings A Sinking Man, where he tells how Ahab is like a father and how he wishes for him to be happy. Within the song, Ahab dreams of Esta coming back as a ghost and subliminally telling him to go back at sea and search for Moby Dick and kill him. The church is now the next scene and Father Mapple is giving his sermon to all who attend, (Including Ishmael, Starbuck and Queequeg). Starbuck tries recruiting other sailors as Father Mapple tries to tell everyone that God will be with you everytime in the song Jonah Fell. After this, Queequeg and Ishmael have to choose a boat to join. Queequeg says that Ishmael must pick the boat for his bones tell him so. Ishmael chooses, randomly, the Pequod (which, ironically enough, is Ahab's boat where Starbuck, Stubb and everyone else works.). An elegant ballet is danced as the sweet song Pequod is sung by Ahab, Queequeg, Ishmael and all the sailors. But suddenly, Elijah, a one-armed pirate (played by a janitor) appears to tell them the curse of the Pequod. An Irish-step-like song entitled At Sea One Day is sung by Elijah and the gang that explains the prophesy of the Pequod curse--they will smell land one day but land will not be present. Then Moby Dick will come and kill all of them, except for one. Fed up with Elijah, they throw him overboard. The never-ending patriotic song Building America is sung by Starbuck, who says farewell to his wife [Mary], as well as the harpooners. Ishmael and Queequeg are introduced to Starbuck and Stubb introduces the purpose... to build America. Act One ends. Act Two opens with the Headmistress explaining to the audience why the show is being put on. The cast then sings their way back into the show with Moby Dick (Reprise). (An optional 3D effect is offered for performance dates, where glasses will be handed out during intermission. The effect is of harpoons being thrown at the audience, which would regularly be introduced in the beginning of Act Two of when to put the glasses on.) The crew sails through cold winters and warm waters where they party. Pip and Tashtego keep the party alive by singing Deck Dance. After they get sick of the heat, Ahab emerges from his cabin to tell them that if anyone sees Moby Dick, they will win a "ten dollar piece" (which is typically a year's wages). They suddenly encounter a bunch of black whales, (unlike the albino, white Moby Dick) and kill them while singing the dark Heave Away (this is where the 3D effect would occur.) After hope is given up, Ahab is seen in his quarters losing his mind and singing Can't Keep Out The Night. After this, Starbuck is seen with the rest of the crew at a "PJ party", where he sings the 60's-"Doo Wop" song Whale Of A Tale. Ahab is then seen sleepwalking and he dreams of Esta, who along with the company sings the song Love Will Always (Reprise). The next day, Ishmael spots a ship with large sails. It is the ship of Captain Gardiner, called The Rachel. Gardiner encounters the crew and explains his loss of a child and his hell that he had encountering Moby Dick in the Gilbert and Sullivan-esque song The Rachel. They let Gardiner go without helping him out at all, for they now know that Moby Dick is near. After this rather comedic and random moment, the crew gets ready in search and crazily gets out of hand. Pip is suddenly thrown overboard and everyone weeps in his death. However, he comes back in the well harmonized song Shadows Of The Deep, where he is an angel telling everyone that maybe they are leaving the circle of life in this incident. The next days are full of terror and Queequeg has been fiddling with his voo-doo in the song Bones, where he tells them death has come. Everyone damns Queequeg and his land of bones, but suddenly, Moby Dick is encountered. Ishmael and the crew suddenly smell land, but they are in the middle of the sea (Elijah's prophesy). They sing Heave Two in return of Moby Dick and their actions are preparing for Moby Dick's death. However, they do not know how clever Moby Dick is, and the entire crew is wiped out except for Ishmael, who survives and is found by Captain Gardiner, only to tell his story. The play within a play is over and St. Godley's students and staff celebrate in singing Moby Dick Finale. NotesAlthough the play may not seem funny, running gags such as playing of the word "dick" are used for comic relief. The deaths are also very over-exaggerated and comical. The point of the play is to make it as crazy and different as possible. Other ideas used are white beach umbrellas in the form of Moby Dick's head to kill Ahab in the end (one of the lines includes the need of props and sets, where one girl mentions the things in the closets like the umbrellas.) The play also has an official website: www.mobydickthemusical.com where costume ideas, posters, previous productions (etc.) are provided. Rights available at Music Theater International, website: mtishows.com |
