Musical Play: “Matter and Its Properties”

The Show

We want you to know what you're getting, so the cast list and first third of the script are available here! Bad Wolf shows are written for flexibility and can be edited however you like to meet the needs of your actors, school, curriculum, parents, astrological chart, latest whim, etc. If you have questions about the portions of the script not shown, please contact us.

Casting

Flexible casting from 11-40 students. Use as many Dancers, Superfans, Architects, etc. as desired. Actors can easily play several roles, or a single role can be divided between multiple actors. All parts can be played by any gender.

CHARACTERS:

Floor Director
Chad
Nina
Concerned Guests (3)
Scientists (2)
Audience Members (4)
Architects (3)
Bob, Bonnie, and Baby
Superfans (3)
Dancers (3)
Soap Opera Cast (3)
The Melting Points (3)
Striker Baldwin
Aria Marx
Bakers (3)

and a STUDIO AUDIENCE (CHORUS) composed of all students who are not playing roles on stage at the time.

Script

This is the first one-third of the script.

Song 1

CLASS (sings):
Well hi, hello, how are you?
And welcome to the show
We just can't wait to tell you
About the stuff we know.
'Cause we all love to chatter
'Bout the properties of matter
We just can't get enough
Of the science of stuff.

We love observing liquids
When they evaporate.
Let's crank the heat up higher
And watch the change of state.
Or what great satisfaction
From a chemical reaction
We've all become a buff
Of the science of stuff.

We'll put on this show for you
And we won't even sweat
But if we do
You can bet
It'll be the best condensation yet.

Well hi, hello, how are you?
And welcome to the show
We just can't wait to tell you
About the stuff we know.
'Cause we all love to chatter
'Bout the properties of matter
We just can't get enough
Of the science of stuff.

(CLASS takes places. Everyone not in a particular scene/song forms the live studio audience for the program. CHAD and NINA should be on stage at all times, but positioned in a way that they do not get in the way of other performers. FLOOR DIRECTOR should be positioned to make eye contact with CHAD and NINA.)

FLOOR DIRECTOR: And we're on in...
(counts down with fingers, 5-4-3-2-1, then points at CHAD and NINA to cue them)

(FLOOR DIRECTOR exits.)

CHAD: Hello and welcome to The Morning Mishmash with Chad and Nina.

NINA: All this week on The Morning Mishmash we're exploring a topic near and dear to my heart...the science of stuff.

(CHAD makes a face)

NINA: Chad!! You agreed to stop making that face on the air!

CHAD (sighs): I know. Sorry. But I just want to get back to the things we usually do, like talking to movie stars and making brownies with retired racehorses.

NINA: And we will, Chad. But this one week is dedicated to SCIENCE. And the audience can't wait to get started, am I right?

(CLASS applauds wildly. You may wish to have someone hold up an "APPLAUSE" sign during all these instances.)

NINA (to CHAD): See? Just give it a chance, will you?

CHAD: Fine.

NINA: Great. Well, now that we have that over with, let's get on with today's show. We're going to start by talking about a little thing called MATTER.

CHAD (cheesily): Matter? Sounds important.

NINA: Oh, it is, Chad. And our first guests today are very concerned that it's also DANGEROUS. Let's welcome them to hear their story.

(CLASS applauds. CONCERNED GUESTS enter.)

GUEST #1: Thank you, it's great to be here.

CHAD: And it's great to have you. Tell us why you're so worried.

GUEST #2: Well, most people have no idea, but this stuff called matter? It's EVERYWHERE.

GUEST #3: Matter's in our food, in our drinking water, even in the air we breathe!

CHAD (aghast): Is that true?

GUEST #1: Absolutely, Chad. And we are prepared to do something about it. That's why we're here today getting the word out.

(CLASS applauds)

NINA: Can we back up just a minute? I'm not sure everyone in our audience knows what matter even IS. Could you explain it?

GUEST #2: Well...it's...you know...small particles of...you know...
(looks helplessly at other CONCERNED GUESTS)

GUEST #3: It's kind of hard to explain.

NINA: Let's bring on some physicists to help us out.

(CLASS applauds. PHYSICISTS enter.)

PHYSICIST #1: Thank you, Nina.
(to GUESTS)
And thank YOU for bringing up these concerns.

PHYSICIST #2: Yes, it's important that we address scientific misconceptions before they spread and make people panic.

GUEST #1: We're good at panicking!

PHYSICIST #2: We know.

GUEST #2: What do you mean, misconceptions?

PHYSICIST #1: Well, you are right that matter IS in everything.

GUEST #3 (to ALL): SEE? Even the scientist says so!

PHYSICIST #2: But matter is not dangerous. It's simply the "stuff" that's makes up everything in the whole universe.

GUEST #1: Wait...are you saying that all of this matter is NOT harming us?

PHYSICIST #1: Far from it. It's making us what we are!

Song 2/h4>

Listen to a sample!

GUESTS (sing):
Times are pretty crazy
There's matter everywhere
It's in the food you eat
It's in the clothes you wear
Take an evening bath and you'll find matter on your toe
That sneaky matter follows you no matter where you go.

Times are pretty crazy
There's matter everywhere
It's in your uncle's beard
(Though please try not to stare)
Matter's in the air you breathe and in the kiss you blew
Don't look now but there is matter standing next to you!

PHYSICISTS:
But it's OK, it's OK, it's OK you know

Everything is made of matter
Matter's in everything
Can't get enough
Of that physical stuff
That gives the world its zing.

Times are not that crazy
Matter's just the same
It's always been around
The world's claim to fame.
The universe is made of it; thank goodness this is true
Without it there would be no me and there would be no you!

Yeah it's OK, it's OK, it's OK you know

GUESTS and PHYSICISTS:
Everything is made of matter
Matter's in everything
Can't get enough
Of that physical stuff
That gives the world its zing.

GUESTS, PHYSICISTS, and CLASS:
Everything is made of matter
Matter's in everything
Can't get enough
Of that physical stuff
That gives the world its zing.

(GUESTS and SCIENTISTS exit.)

CHAD: Phew! Well that's good news. I was definitely heading into panic mode.

NINA: Let's take a question from the audience.

(AUDIENCE #1 stands)

AUDIENCE #1: If matter is in everything, why isn't everything the same? Are there different kinds of matter or something?

NINA: To explore that excellent question, let's bring out our next guests.

(CLASS applauds. ARCHITECTS enter.)

ARCHITECT #1: Thanks, Nina. I never thought small-town architects like us would get to go on a famous talk show!

CHAD: Architects? I thought today's show was about science?

ARCHITECT #2: It turns out that building houses has a lot to do with science.

CHAD: Really? Are you sure?

ARCHITECT #3: It came as a surprise to us, too.

NINA: So tell us what happened.

ARCHITECT #1: Well, the crux of the matter—get it, the CRUX of the MATTER? HA!—is that different kinds of matter have different properties.

CHAD: I've always wanted to have a lot of different properties.

ARCHITECT #2: Actually, Chad, what she means is that matter comes in different shapes and sizes and has different qualities.

ARCHITECT #3: Some things are soft; some are hard. Some things are flexible; some are rigid.

ARCHITECT #2: And you have to consider the properties of an object before you know how to use it.

ARCHITECT #1: We learned this the hard way.

Song 3

ARCHITECTS (sing):
Bridges made of metal
Buildings made of wood
What a lack of vision
In my neighborhood!

No one's trying gumdrops
No one's using hats
No one's stacking weasels
To use as roofing slats.

So I went to city council and I showed my blueprints there
Complete with liquid sidewalks and highways made of hair
They took a look and praised me for my creativity
And then they rolled my blueprints up and gave them back to me.

Properties of matter
Properties of matter
Help us figure out what an object can do
Properties of matter
Will it bend, absorb or shatter?
Properties will tell us what an object can do.

Now I've learned my lesson
Properties are key
Like hardness, strength and texture
And flexibility

So now I build more wisely
With bricks and boards and dirt.
I save the hats for wearing,
The gumdrops for dessert.

Properties of matter
Properties of matter
Help us figure out what an object can do
Properties of matter
Will it bend, absorb or shatter?
Properties will tell us what an object can do.
Properties will tell us what an object can do.

(ARCHITECTS exit.)

CHAD: Wow. Whoever said "mind over matter" never tried building a gumdrop house, am I right?

NINA: Words of wisdom, Chad. Now let's move on to today's Power Question: What are the three states of matter?

CHAD: That answer and more...after this word from our sponsor.

(BOB, BONNIE, and BABY enter. BABY sits on the ground playing with toys.)

BONNIE: Are your child's toys driving you CRAZY?

BOB: All those fancy parts always breaking?

BONNIE: All those awful sirens and songs giving you a headache?

BOB: What you need is to get back to basics.

BONNIE: With Bob & Bonnie's Building Blocks of the Universe.

(BONNIE holds up one or several small blocks. These can be actual blocks, or dice, or any other cube-shaped objects. The important thing is that they should appear to have nothing on them.)

BOB: "Normal" blocks are covered with DISTRACTING letters and pictures.

(HE holds up a normal block and gives it to BABY, who can't stop looking at all the sides.)

BONNIE: Studies show that "normal" blocks make babies feel bad about themselves for not being able to read.

(BABY starts to cry.)

BOB: But Bob & Bonnie's Building Blocks of the Universe are pure creative fun!

BONNIE: Your baby can build a variety of objects, take them apart, and build something else.

(SHE gives BABY the plain blocks; BABY looks overjoyed and starts to build.)

BOB: In the same way that matter has been built since the beginning of the universe.

BONNIE: With the same particles combining to make different objects.

BOB: Think about it. Doesn't your child deserve better than some loud, flashing, fragile toy that destroys his or her self-esteem?

BONNIE: Get back to basics—

BOB: —and we mean BASICS—

BONNIE: —with Bob & Bonnie's Building Blocks of the Universe!

(BOB, BONNIE, and BABY exit. FLOOR DIRECTOR enters.)

(This concludes the first one-third of the script.)