 | An easy, flexible, 25-minute musical play for grades 2-6. Comes with the script, audio recording (with both a vocal and instrumental version of each song), and a teacher's guide. No music or drama experience needed! |
 | ✓ Funny script ✓ Catchy tunes ✓ Flexible casting ✓ Dumb jokes
A survey of early California history, 1542-1850, along with its conflicts and challenges. Learn more! |
MusicalGr. 2-625 Min.
Musical Play: “California Missions — and More!”
Complete Script & Audio: $45 (other items also available)
We sell wonderful, short, funny plays and musicals for use in your classroom, after-school program, drama club, music class, summer school program, homeschool, and any other place where kids can thrive by participating in theater! If you are not familiar with us or how to use theater to teach, check out our Q&As.
Synopsis
JB, a Hollywood director, is making a movie -- a tour of early California up to statehood. We'll join her and the cast and crew on the set to watch all the drama of California history unfold. The story begins just before the arrival of Cabrillo in 1542, when we're introduced to the varied Native American tribes settled in California. Then the Spanish arrive with their three-point expansion plan: missions, presidios, and pueblos. As Mexico achieves independence from Spain and the mission era comes to a close, we'll meet the Californios who converted the mission lands to ranches, and then learn about the many people who came west for trade, gold, and other opportunities. Our thrilling blockbuster ends with California's annexation and statehood.
Preview the script and songs!Key Concepts
California Missions -- and More reinforces students' familiarity with the following people, events, and concepts:
- The many Native American tribes settled in California
- History of Spanish claims on California
- Joseph de Galvez's expedition to Alta California for colonization and expansion
- Purpose of missions, presidios, and pueblos
- Establishing the missions; Junipero Serra and Don Gaspar de Portola
- Breakup of missions after Mexico's independence from Spain; effects on the Mission Indians (Native Americans)
- Californios/rancheros and the establishment of ranches on former mission lands
- "Yankee" migration to California for gold and trade (Jedediah Smith); conflicts between locals and newcomers
- James Polk and western expansion
- Discovery of gold; John Sutter and James Marshall
- California statehood and symbols
California Missions -- and More, filled with colorful characters and catchy tunes, is a great complement to your curriculum resources in social studies. And, like all of our plays, this show can be used to improve reading, vocabulary, reading comprehension, performance and music skills, class camaraderie and teamwork, and numerous social skills (read about it!) -- all while enabling students to be part of a truly fun and creative experience they will never forget!
Aligned with national standards! View the standards and vocabulary.Publication Info
Author: Ron Fink (Composer) and John Heath (Book and Lyrics)
ISBN:
978-1-886588-23-3
© 2001
Bad Wolf Press, LLC
8 reviews for Musical Play: “California Missions — and More!”
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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 Administrators, Wives, Californios, 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:
JB (Director)
Johnson (assistant to JB)
Native Americans (group #1)
Joseph de Gálvez
Administrators
Junipero Serra
Captain Portolá
Set Director
Girl
Native Americans (group #2)
Costume Designer
Ranchero Wives
Farmers (husband and wife)
James Polk
Jedediah Smith
John Sutter
James Marshall
Californians
and a Chorus made up of all students who are not playing roles at the
time.
Script
This is the first one-third of the script.
(Lots of people are busy on a movie set. They are moving things around, rushing back and forth. There is a director’s chair that says, cleverly enough, "DIRECTOR" on the back. The Director, JB, enters, with her assistant JOHNSON, who always carries a clipboard.)
JB (shouting out directions, perhaps clapping hands to get attention): Okay, people, let’s get moving. We’ve got a movie to film and we’re already behind schedule.
JOHNSON: We’re all set, JB.
(to CAST and CREW of movie)
Your heard the director. Scene One of JB’s most brilliant work,
"California Missions."
JB (cringing): Aaaach.
JOHSNON: What is it, JB?
JB: That title. California Missions. It’s so, so…
JOHNSON: Mundane?
JB (ignoring JOHNSON): So…
JOHNSON: Prosaic?
JB: Icky. It’s icky. It needs something more.
(Thinks for a second, and then a lightbulb goes on over her head)
I’ve got it! Johnson, I’m a genius.
JOHNSON: What is it?
JB: The new title of my movie:
(pause: emphasize the “and more”)
California Missions—and more.
JOHNSON: Brilliant, JB!
Song 1
Listen to
a sample!
CLASS (sings):
We’re gonna make a movie ’bout the Missions
The kind of film our fans will all adore
Yeah it’s got grit and luster
A holiday blockbuster
California Missions—Missions and more.
Early California, so exciting
There’s mountains and there’s valleys to explore
A history bonanza
A film extravaganza
California Missions—Missions and more.
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
On with the show
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Cue the lights and cam’ras here we go.
From Spanish exploration up to statehood
There’s tragedy and romance here galore.
Let’s travel the king’s highway
JB:
As long as it is my way
CLASS:
California Missions—Missions and more.
California Missions—Missions and more.
(JB takes her seat in the Director’s chair. The set clears. Three NATIVE AMERICANS enter. Note that the gender is important for two of these characters.)
JOHNSON: Okay, Scene One. It’s the sixteenth century, before the Spanish start exploring California. Where are the Indians?
NATIVE AMERICAN #1: Excuse me.
JOHNSON: Oh, you’re here. You look great.
NA #1 (female): Thanks. But you really shouldn’t call us Indians.
NA#2 (male): That’s right. There are hundreds of thousands of us throughout the west coast, and we belong to dozens of different tribes.
NA #3: Hey, has anybody seen my acorns?
(looks around, panicked)
I think I’ve lost my acorns!
JOHNSON: What?
NA #2 (pointing): Is that them in that basket over there?
NA #3: Yes! My acorns!
(races over and grabs basket)
I love acorns. Little ones. Big ones. Some of them get these cute little
lines on them and look just like they’re smiling. See? There are
fourteen
different varieties of acorn in early California. Would you like me to
name
them?
JOHNSON: No! I mean, we’ve got to shoot this scene. Are you all so, uh, fond of acorns?
NA #1: No. That’s the point. We live in all kinds of places and live all kinds of lives.
Song 2
Listen to
a sample!
NA #1:
Some of us make baskets
NA #2:
Some make great canoes
NA #3:
Some of us wear deerskins
NA #1:
Some wear just tattoos.
NA #1:
I live in the desert
NA #2:
I live by the sea
NA #3:
I live in the mountains
Near an acorn tree!
ALL THREE:
Don’t call us Indians
We are not all the same
Don’t call us Indians
We do not know that name
We’re Chumash and we’re Yokuts
Miwok and Pomo too
Don’t call us Indians
If that’s alright with you.
NA #1:
Some of us pick berries
NA #2:
Some of us catch fish
NA #3:
Some of us find acorns
What a nutty dish!
(getting carried away)
Acorn paste for breakfast
Really tasty goop
Lunch is acorn porridge
Dinner’s acorn soup!
(Spoken:) I LOVE acorns!
ALL THREE and CHORUS:
Don’t call us Indians
We are not all the same
Don’t call us Indians
We do not know that name
We’re Chumash and we’re Yokuts
Miwok and Pomo too
Don’t call us Indians
If that’s alright with you.
(NATIVE AMERICANS exit)
JB: Cut! Brilliant. Perfect. It’s got a message but it’s catchy. And there’s the food angle. I’m not a big fan of acorn porridge myself, but I think there may be an untapped audience out there of nut lovers. Johnson—get me on one of those cooking shows for the publicity tour.
JOHNSON: Right, JB. Okay, Scene Two. We need Joseph de Gálvez on the stage. Where is the Spanish Visitor-General of Mexico?
GÁLVEZ: (entering, accompanied by ADMINSTRATORS. HE is holding a letter): At last my request has been granted from the king. We shall send an expedition to Alta California and colonize it for Spain.
ADMINISTRATOR #1: Excellent, Governor Gálvez. But we Spanish have claimed all of California for 200 years. In 1542 Cabrillo sailed to San Diego, and in 1602 Vizcaíno charted Monterey Bay. Why send an expedition now in 1769?
GÁLVEZ: Why now? Because the Russians and British are poking their noses around our territory. Why now? Because for 200 years we have done nothing with Alta California. Why now? Because it will be fun!
ADMINISTRATOR #2: But how do we do it?
GÁLVEZ: How? How we always do it, of course. We’ll follow the famous Spanish three-step plan to territorial expansion.
ADMINISTRATORS #1 and #2 (together): The three-step plan?
GÁLVEZ: Don’t they teach you anything in college these days? Your résumés explicitly stated that you had taken Imperialism 101: Introduction to Being a Colonial Power.
ADMINISTRATOR #1: Uh, I think I may have missed a couple of those classes.
GÁLVEZ: The three-step plan of expansion is quite simple. Repeat after me: Missions.
ADMINISTRATORS #1 and #2 (together): Missions.
GÁLVEZ: Presidios.
ADMINISTRATORS #1 and #2 (together, baffled): Presidios?
GÁLVEZ: Presidios are forts. And the third step is pueblos. Pueblos are cities.
ADMINISTRATORS #1 and #2 (together): Pueblos.
GÁLVEZ: All together now.
ADMINISTRATORS #1 and #2 (together, chanting, going faster and faster):
Missions, presidios, and pueblos. Missions, presidios and pueblos.
Missions, presidios and pueblos. RAH!
GÁLVEZ: Now you get it.
Song 3
Listen to
a sample!
The first step towards our ambition
Is to build ourselves a mission
And then turn the natives Christian
It’s really for the best
Then we’ll fortify that mission
With presidios positioned
To discourage opposition
To our California quest.
GÁLVEZ and ADMINISTRATORS:
Missions, presidios and pueblos
A three-step plan to stretch our Spanish rule
Missions, presidios and pueblos
The New World will be ours
The New World will be ours
The New World will be ours and that’s so cool.
For step three we’ll build a city
Though this pueblo won’t be pretty
A few families tough and gritty
Will ranch and farm the land
You might call it colonizing
But we’re really globalizing
Though the natives are down-sizing
In the end they’ll like the plan!
GÁLVEZ, ADMINISTRATORS and CHORUS:
Missions, presidios and pueblos
A three-step plan to stretch our Spanish rule
Missions, presidios and pueblos
The New World will be ours
The New World will be ours
The New World will be ours and that’s so cool.
(THEY exit)
JB (from chair): I love it. It’s got pathos. I don’t even know what pathos is, but I know that scene’s got it. Keep rolling. Cue Junipero!
(JUNIPERO SERRA and CAPTAIN PORTOLÁ enter)
PORTOLÁ: Father Serra, the mission here in San Diego is really beginning to take shape.
SERRA: It is a miracle, Captain Portolá. I thought our overland trip here from Mexico was difficult, but it was even harder for the ships. We are fortunate that more of us did not die.
PORTOLÁ: True. But we have now established a Spanish presence in San Diego and Monterey.
SERRA: And someday we will have missions and pueblos up and down California along El Camino Real, the King’s highway.
PORTOLÁ: Perhaps you too will be famous one day. Children will study Father Junipero Serra and his missions.
SERRA: Ya think? Naaaaah. Wouldn’t that be horribly boring? I am just a humble Franciscan friar doing my best to serve as I can.
PORTOLÁ: The mission is almost finished. Soon we will hang up the bells.
SERRA: Ah, I love the bells. They have traveled a long distance to become part of our little mission. Our building is modest now, but someday it will rise up with tall brick walls. The ringing of the bells means our work here has just begun:
Song 4
Listen to
a sample!
Hear the bells
Cheer the bells
These lovely bells gonna ring away
Hear the bells
San Diego to Monterey.
I love the smell of adobe
Drying in the sun
The walls are rising
Let’s start baptizing
Our mission has begun.
SERRA and PORTOLÁ:
Hear the bells
Cheer the bells
These lovely bells gonna ring away
Hear the bells
San Diego to Monterey.
PORTOLÁ:
I love the sight of a cornfield
Furrows deep and straight
The grain is rising
So civilizing
Our mission’s taking shape.
SERRA, PORTOLÁ, and CHORUS:
Hear the bells
Ding dong
Those lovely bells gonna ring away
Ding dong
San Diego to Monterey
Ding dong
These lovely bells gonna ring away
Ding dong
San Diego to Monterey.
(This concludes the first one-third of the script.)
The Songs
Click on any song to listen to a snippet. Click the cart icon to purchase any track for $1.
Standards
Common Core and Other National Standards
History/Social Studies
- National History Standards 3, 4, and 5 for K-4th
- National US History Standards, Eras 1, 2, and 4 for 5th-12th
- National Social Studies Standards 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6
Language Arts
- Common Core Reading Standards for Literature: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
- Common Core Reading Standards: Foundational Skills:
- 2nd: Phonics and Word Recognition
- Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards: Comprehension and Collaboration - 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
- Common Core Language Standards: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use -2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
- Common Core Standard 10: Range, Quality & Complexity:
National Core Arts Standards
- Music - Anchor Standards 4-6
- Theater - Anchor Standards 3-6
- Dance - Anchor Standards 1-6
Vocabulary
mundane
prosaic
adore
grit
luster
bonanza
extravaganza
galore
globalizing
down-sizing
pathos
furrows
biodegrade
parcel
Zeitgeist
machismo
élan
fandango
tango
squatter
pelt
dredge
skirmish
limbo
Historical Terms
statehood
Chumash
Yokut
Miwok
Pomo
Alta California
Cabrillo
Vizcaíno
imperialism
presidio
pueblo
El Camino Real
Franciscan
adobe
hacienda
tallow
Californios
manifest destiny
Compromise of 1850
Eureka
Minerva
Rebecca (verified owner) –
The play is cute and very adaptable. All the students are enjoying the play. The CD singers are very difficult to follow due to pitch and intonation issues. So, I ordered the sheet music and taught the children the songs via use of the piano so they could actually know the pitches. Consequently, they are singing better than the singers on the CD and are more confident. I felt that if we relied on the CD to learn the songs, the singing would be sloppy and out of tune.
Griffin (verified owner) –
Great fun
Skrouse (verified owner) –
This is the third year I have taught this play (this is my second school district) and the all the students really enjoy it. The play was recommended to me by another teacher.
I love this play because the kids learn about the history of California, they get to sing and act, and they become more confident people. The script is simple yet interesting and the songs are catchy. In my class students practice the play just before they are going to recess. Eventually the play occupies more of our class time as we make final preparations to put on a performance for parents and fellow classes.
Lili Husseman (verified owner) –
We performed CA Missions for the 4th/5th grade classes last week. The teachers LOVED it and the kids were mesmerized! They enjoyed watching their friends and classmates perform in a show that had content they have recently been learning. The feedback we received was so positive. We also invited a 1st grade class and I was amazed that even they sat through, no fidgeting, thoroughly entertained the entire time. It was so fun!
4th/5th teacher (verified owner) –
I own four plays now and have been putting on a musical by Bad Wolf Press at the end of each school year now for 10 years. My students are able to learn all the lyrics in a period of two weeks and absolutely love putting on the plays. They beg for time to practice and sing. I love the content imbedded and the connections my students make to their learning. The parents of course love seeing their kids on stage and enjoy the humor of the scripts. I originally purchased the musicals with a CD and was so appreciative to find the music able to be downloaded since I no longer have a CD player.
Leonna Tate (verified owner) –
We have done this play now for three years. I ordered the extra CD's for new teachers in our grade level. The play provides an interesting way to learn about the explorers and mission construction. The songs are easy to learn and the music is engaging. Our class loved it. The parents were very impressed with the content and the vocabulary that was mastered. I highly recommend this play for fourth grade.
Mrs. J Music (verified owner) –
This is a great musical for 4th grade learning about California Missions. However, keep in mind that I did need to adjust and cut out three songs, which was relatively easy to do, as the time on it with seven songs currently is about 35-40 minutes. However, script was easy to modify to time length and I was able to expand parts to meet my 22 speakers, so everyone got a speaking part. The lingo of Galvez is a bit hard for 4th graders (discussing Imperialism?, resumes, etc), so I had to dull down a bit. Parents thoroughly enjoyed.
Mrs. J (verified owner) –
I've been working with my 4th graders on this play and Missions is always a hard unit to teach. It is good to see them portraying the characters and understanding the history a bit more by being part of it than just reading it from a book. The music is also upbeat and I like that it has instrumental/vocal tracks. I've seen this play performed many times and it always works out.