 | An easy, flexible, 30-minute musical play for grades 1-5. 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
The intrepid Fairy Tale Advice Council tackles one of the foundations of good character and behavior: empathy for others. Learn more! |
NewMusicalGr. 1-530 Min.
Musical Play: “Character Matters III”
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
Join your favorite Fairy Tale Advice Council for another round of hilarious character education! This time they're out to help a world in empathetical crisis as they teach about empathy and how it's related to making good decisions.
No knowledge of or experience with the previous two Character Matters shows is required to use this play.
Preview the script and songs!Key Concepts
Character Matters III refers to and builds on students' familiarity with the following:
- Concepts of empathy, sympathy, compassion
- How to build/practice empathy
- How empathy leads us to feel and engage in kindness toward others
- How empathy can help us form genuine friendships
- Empathy in tough situations
- Empathy as reciprocal ("two-way street")
- The Golden Rule: treat others as you want them to treat you
- The Platinum Rule: treat others as THEY want to be treated
Note: Platinum Rule® is a registered trademark of Dr. Tony Alessandra, who graciously gave permission to use it in this show.
Character Matters III is a great, non-threatening way to get students thinking and talking about character issues. 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: Lisa Adams and John Heath (Book and Lyrics) and Mike Fishell and Ron Fink (Music)
ISBN:
978-1-886588-72-1
© 2019
Bad Wolf Press, LLC
3 reviews for Musical Play: “Character Matters III”
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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 Hens, Lost Boys, 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:
Cinderella
Puss in Boots
Fairy with the Turquoise Hair
Queen
Goose
Dog
Pig
Beauty
Beast
Little Red Hens (3)
Peter Pan
Tinkerbell
Lost Boy
Witch
Wolf
Emperor
Pinocchio
Stepsisters (2)
Rapunzel
Thumbelina
Country Mouse
City Mouse
Trainees (6)
and a 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.
(CLASS enters and sings:)
Song 1
Listen to
a sample!
Our show features
Famous creatures
From great fairy tales
So don't think twice
To take advice
From fairies, beasts, or singing mice.
Cinderella
She will tell ya
How to act real nice
Before you go
Pinocchio
Has something he wants you to know...
Character matters three times more
Than anything we've learned before
Hope you enjoy our jeu d'esprit
As we ramp up our empathy.
Cinderella
She will tell ya
How to act real nice
Before you go
Pinocchio
Has something he wants you to know...
Status and glamour, fame galore
And money oozing out each pore
Character matters three times more
Character matters more.
Character matters more.
(Actors sit facing the audience in a semicircle around stage. CINDERELLA, PUSS IN BOOTS, AND FAIRY enter.)
CINDERELLA: Welcome to today's empathy training session! I'm Cinderella.
PUSS: I'm everyone's favorite fashion-forward feline, Puss in Boots.
FAIRY: And I'm the Fairy with the Turquoise Hair. We are the current members of the Fairytale Advice Council.
QUEEN (a trainee) (rises/raises hand): Excuse me. You don't have turquoise hair.
FAIRY (sighs): Yes, my parents had a strange sense of humor. Nonetheless, that is my name.
CINDERELLA: Let's get started. We are here today to teach you about empathy and good character.
PUSS: We have set up these training sessions all over the kingdom.
FAIRY: And not a moment too soon. According to the latest report from Compassion Digest, sympathy, empathy, concern, and solicitude are measuring at record lows. [SHE refers to chart]
PUSS (dramatically): Ours, my friends, is a world in Empathetical Crisis!
GOOSE: That sounds really scary, but...um...I have a question.
CINDERELLA: We are happy to answer any questions.
(GOOSE looks at PIG)
PIG (stammers): Right...well. Um... (looks at DOG)
DOG: Well...it's just that...um...
PUSS: Spit it out, man!
GOOSE, PIG, and DOG: WHAT IS EMPATHY, ANYWAY?
(THEY sing:)
Song 2
Listen to
a sample!
Empathy it's sounding so exciting
What it is though isn't really clear
Maybe you can chew it
Maybe you shampoo it
Maybe it can make all of your acne disappear.
Empathy I think it's made by Honda
Drive an Empathy right off the lot
I think I have guessed it
Maybe we ingest it
A little deep-fried empathy could really hit the spot.
We're confessing
We're just guessing
What could empathy be?
Improvising
We're surmising
Empathizing must be...
Must be something!
Empathy it sounds a bit contagious
Hope that penicillin does the trick
Maybe it's a creature
Help us fool the teacher
Tells us how to spell and then do all our math real quick!
PIG, DOG, GOOSE, and CHORUS:
We're confessing
We're just guessing
What could empathy be?
Improvising
We're surmising
Empathizing must be...
Must be something big.
(PIG, DOG, and GOOSE return to their seats.)
FAIRY: I'm glad you asked. As you see on the chart, we have many terms that are related. Empathy, sympathy, compassion...
PUSS: Yes. And all of them mean that we try to understand and feel for other people.
CINDERELLA: But empathy is slightly different from the others. It means that we feel the feelings of someone else.
TRAINEE #1: But that's impossible! I'm myself and he's himself and she's herself.
PUSS: An apt observation.
FAIRY: But that doesn't mean you can't understand another person's emotions.
PUSS: Exactly. Everyone knows I am a very clever cat. But I also felt empathy for my master, and that's what inspired me to be so very clever on his behalf.
FAIRY: And I felt empathy for Pinocchio, which is why I helped him. What a deranged little puppet he used to be.
CINDERELLA: Now we're going to hear from some other people who learned empathy and transformed their relationship. Please welcome Beauty and the Beast!
(BEAUTY and BEAST enter, while TRAINEES applaud)
BEAST: Hi there, glad to be here.
CINDERELLA: As everyone knows, these two didn't always get along.
BEAUTY: She's right. I didn't understand him at all.
BEAST: She thought I was scary and smelly!
BEAUTY: Well...you were.
BEAST: Sometimes when you live alone, you start to let things go.
BEAUTY: But once I listened to him, I realized that he was sad and lonely. I understood why he was acting the way he was. Like throwing tantrums. And refusing to bathe.
BEAST: I was working through some stuff, okay? So yes, at first I didn't appreciate how she was always shoving soap at me. And shampoo. And deodorant.
BEAUTY: Don't forget the Febreze!
BEAST: But once I listened to her, we began to trust each other.
BEAUTY: We understood each other's feelings.
BEAST: And now we're best friends!
(BEAUTY and BEAST sing:)
Song 3
Listen to
a sample!
BEAUTY:
I have to say when we first met
You struck me as one ugly pet
Your howling and your hygiene just weren't cool
And almost way too late I spied
The gentle beast beneath the hide
And now I do not even mind the drool
BOTH:
We're walking hand in paw
Best friends you ever saw
A beauty and a beast now who'd have thought?
It took a while to see
That you're a lot like me
And now, hurrah!
We're walking hand in paw.
BEAST:
Although you shuddered at first glance
You were willing to give me a chance
And saw the good inside of me somehow
Despite a shower and good hair rinse,
I still don't quite look like a prince
But things are looking rosy for us now.
BOTH and CHORUS:
We're walking hand in paw
Best friends you ever saw
A beauty and a beast now who'd have thought?
It took a while to see
That you're a lot like me
And now, hurrah!
We're walking hand in paw.
And now, hurrah!
We're walking hand in paw.
(BEAUTY and BEAST exit.)
FAIRY: I love that story. Each one tried very hard to relate to the other.
PIG: I still don't get it.
DOG: Me either. I don't know how talking helps you understand somebody else.
CINDERELLA: Talking is an important part of it. But you also have to engage your emotions.
GOOSE: Engage your emotions? What does THAT mean?
PUSS: It means that you really try hard to imagine yourself as the other person, and feel what they feel.
CINDERELLA: And now we're going to practice doing just that. (to PIG, DOG, and GOOSE) You might recognize our next guest.
(LITTLE RED HENS enter)
PIG: Oh no! It's the Little Red Hen!
GOOSE: Our old roommate!
DOG: She's always so mad at us!
HEN #1: Hello, there. Do you even understand why I was so angry?
(PIG, DOG, and GOOSE shake their heads)
HEN #2: Hel-LO! You refused to help Little Red Hen do ANYTHING! And then you got upset when she wouldn't share her food with you.
HEN #3: So typical. I lived in a house with a goat once. She ATE my nest! And my rare book collection.
HEN #2: I'm so glad we chickens all moved in together.
HEN #3: Me too. We have achieved Hen Zen!
HEN #1: It IS a lot nicer living with folks who think about each other's feelings.
FAIRY: All right, trainees. Try to imagine that you are the Little Red Hen as you listen to her story.
(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
Character Education
Language Arts
- Common Core Reading Standards for Literature: K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
- Common Core Reading Standards: Foundational Skills:
- Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards: Comprehension and Collaboration - K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
- Common Core Language Standards: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use - K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
- Common Core Standard 10: Range, Quality & Complexity: Range of Text Types for K-5th
History/Social Studies
National Core Arts Standards
- Music - Anchor Standards 4-6
- Theater - Anchor Standards 3-6
- Dance - Anchor Standards 1-6
Vocabulary
| jeu d'esprit | ramp up | status | glamour | ||
| solicitude | sympathy | compassion | ingest | ||
| improvise | surmise | contagious | penicillin | ||
| apt | deranged | hygiene | hide (n) | ||
| shudder | engage | zen | feat | ||
| mill (v) | rye | amoeba | organism | ||
| single-celled | swashbuckler | syndrome | shtick | ||
| clique | simpleton | prattle | cuisine | ||
| knack | photogenic | infiltrate | regret | ||
| failing (n) | snide | cornerstone | sham | ||
| pretentious | deconstructed | nuance | sorrow | ||
| passion | |||||
| |||||
| "ciao" | "fashion-forward" | "feel at ease" | |||
| "no-can-do" | "no way, no how" | "feelin' the feels" | |||
| "two-way street" | "in the buff" | ||||
| "blow this popsicle stand" | |||||
Matthew Manera –
This one might be the best in the entire character matters trilogy! It has very catchy songs as usual, great jokes, and teaches students the importance of having good character qualities. How we treat each other matters! Character matters!
Michele (verified owner) –
Before we were interrupted by the Coronavirus shelter-in-place rule my students were preparing to present the Empathy play for the school. The theme for this play goes hand-in-hand with our social-emotional program called Toolbox. The children were excited about the songs and loved the parts they were playing. Sadly, unless we return to school in time to review and practice the play, we will not be performing it.
Meryl Jefferson, NBCT (verified owner) –
Yet again, my students had an amazing time performing this musical. The message is LOUD and CLEAR! I think that both my students and the many who came to our six shows (all in one day) learned a LOT about empathy. This is such an important life skill! Thank you for your wonderful shows!