 | An easy, flexible, 30-minute musical play in English and Spanish 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 (English only). No music or drama experience needed! |
 | ✓ Funny script ✓ Catchy tunes ✓ Flexible casting ✓ Dumb jokes
This fun retelling of a Latin American folk tale incorporates equal parts English and Spanish and plenty of vocabulary. Learn more! |
MusicalGr. 2-630 Min.
Musical Play: “Martina y Pérez: A Bilingual Tale”
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
Known by several names, Martina y Pérez is a traditional Latin American and Spanish tale about a beautiful little cockroach who is courted by a Cat, Dog, Rooster, and Mouse -- and later cooks a very dangerous pot of onion soup! Our bilingual version features all the familiar characters (including Ratón Pérez, the "Tooth Fairy" of Latin America) singing catchy songs full of Spanish and English vocabulary.
Preview the script and songs!Key Concepts
Martina y Pérez is a great complement to your curriculum resources in language arts and multicultural 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 that they are learning about in the play itself (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 (Music)
ISBN:
978-1-886588-65-3
© 2016
Bad Wolf Press, LLC
7 reviews for Musical Play: “Martina y Pérez: A Bilingual Tale”
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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 Neighbors, Friends, Wedding Planners, etc. as desired. Actors can easily play several roles, or a single role can be divided between multiple actors. Note that all roles can be played by any gender; feel free to change names and pronouns (but you probably want to seek consultation on Spanish changes if you're not fluent).
CHARACTERS:
CUATRO NARRADORES (in two groups)MARTINA
CANDY
HAT
RING
RANDOM ADMIRER
EL PERRO
EL GATO
EL GALLO
EL RATÓN PÉREZ and FRIENDS
WEDDING PLANNERS (3)
NEIGHBORS (3)
EL GRANJERO
LA ABOGADA
EL MAESTRO
LA BOMBERA
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.
Song 1
Listen to
a sample!
CLASS (sings):
Bienvenidos todos
Welcome to you all
Vamos a divertirnos
We're gonna have a ball.
Bienvenidos todos
Welcome to our show
Entonces empecemos
Now we're all set to go.
Había una vez
A cockroach with such grace
Una cucarachita bonita
There also was a mouse
Un ratón is in the house
Esta es su historia—
We're sure that it won't bore-i-ya.
Bienvenidos todos
Welcome to you all
Vamos a divertirnos
We're gonna have a ball.
Bienvenidos todos
Welcome to our show
Entonces empecemos
Now we're all set to go.
(CLASS sits. NARRADORES UNO and DOS stand.)
NARRADOR UNO: Bienvenido a nuestra obra de teatro, Martina y Pérez.
NARRADOR DOS: Yes, welcome to our play. The story of Martina the little cockroach—
NARRADOR UNO: ¡La cucarachita!
NARRADOR DOS: —and Pérez the mouse—
NARRADOR UNO: El ratón!
NARRADOR DOS: —is told in many different forms all throughout the Spanish-speaking world.
NARRADOR UNO: ¡El mundo de español!
NARRADOR DOS (stares at Narrador Uno): Are you going to keep doing that?
NARRADOR UNO: ¿Haciendo qué?
NARRADOR DOS: That. Repeating everything I say.
NARRADOR UNO: No. But I think you should speak some Spanish. Ésta es una obra bilingüe.
NARRADOR DOS: ¡Oh, claro! (turns back to audience) Sólo tenemos treinta minutos. (SHE holds up three fingers on one hand and makes a zero with the other.) So let's get started.
NARRADORES (in unison): ¡Sigamos con el espectáculo...on with the show!
(THEY sit. MARTINA enters.)
MARTINA (addresses audience and waves): ¡Hola!
Audience (one can hope): ¡Hola!
MARTINA: Me llamo Martina, y soy una cucaracha. I just found this (SHE picks up gold coin from the ground). What luck!
(CANDY, RING, and HAT enter.)
CANDY: ¡Qué suerte! What will you buy with it?
RING: Sí, ¿qué vas a comprar?
MARTINA: No sé. I'm not sure.
HAT (sidling up to her): You'd look great in a beautiful...yellow...hat.
CANDY: No no, ¡cómprame! Who can resist candy?
RING (to others): No se molesten Martina. Besides, she wants a purple ring... (turns back to MARTINA) ...don't you?
MARTINA (looking fretful): Es difícil elegir. There are so many lovely, colorful things to choose from.
Song 2
Listen to
a sample!
CANDY, HAT AND RING:
So many colors
Red, green, and blue
Rojo y verde, azul
Tantos colores
What will she choose?
Candy, a hat, or a jewel?
CANDY:
Soy un caramelo
A sweet little fellow
Buy me now buy me today!
Delicioso
That is what I know so
Cómprame, cómprame, hey!
ALL THREE:
So many colors
Red, green, and blue
Rojo y verde, azul
Tantos colores
What will she choose?
Candy, a hat, or a jewel?
RING:
Anillo morado
And here is my motto:
Buy me now buy me today!
Soy precioso
That is what I know so
Cómprame, cómprame, hey!
ALL THREE:
So many colors
Red, green, and blue
Rojo y verde, azul
Tantos colores
What will she choose?
Candy, a hat, or a jewel?
HAT:
Sombrero amarillo
The best of the trio
Buy me now buy me today!
Soy grandioso
That is what I know so
Cómprame, cómprame, hey!
ALL THREE and CHORUS:
So many colors
Red, green, and blue
Rojo y verde, azul
Tantos colores
What will she choose?
Candy, a hat, or a jewel?
Candy, a hat, or a jewel?
MARTINA: Yo quiero...el sombrero amarillo.
HAT: Woo-hoo!
RING: ¡Ay de mí!
CANDY (clutching chest): ¡Mi corazón roto!
(THEY exit. NARRADORES TRES and CUATRO stand.)
NARRADOR TRES: So those other narrators weren't joking.
NARRADOR CUATRO: ¿Bromeando sobre qué?
NARRADOR TRES: You're telling me this story is actually about a COCKROACH?
NARRADOR CUATRO: Oh, sí. Una cucaracha muy bonita.
NARRADOR TRES (still skeptical): A very pretty cockroach?
NARRADOR CUATRO: Sí, claro. Es un cuento popular, a folktale. ¿Cuál es el problema?
NARRADOR TRES: Oh, nada...
(THEY sit. MARTINA enters. The actor playing HAT can be with her, or she can be wearing an actual hat.)
MARTINA (waves): ¡Hola!
Audience: ¡Hola!
MARTINA: Todo el mundo le gusta mi sombrero. I've gotten so many compliments already!
RANDOM ADMIRER: Hey, nice hat!
MARTINA: See? (SHE smiles up at the sky.) Hace sol. Me voy a sentar en mi patio.
(SHE sits down. PERRO, GATO, and GALLO enter.)
PERRO: ¡Hola, Martina!
MARTINA: ¡Hola!
GATO: We all want to marry you.
MARTINA (shocked): ¿Qué?
GALLO: He said, "Nos queremos casar contigo."
MARTINA (still shocked): What?
PERRO (to GATO and GALLO): ¡Caballeros, vamos a cantar!
MARTINA (looks alarmed): Sing? ¿Por qué?
GATO: To show our love, of course!
GALLO: Sí, para mostrar nuestro amor.
MARTINA (covering ears, putting finger over lips): En voz baja, por favor.
PERRO: You heard the lady! Loud as you can!
GATO: Sí, con voces muy fuertes.
Song 3
Listen to
a sample!
(PERRO steps forward and THEY sing:)
PERRO:
Me llamo Perro; I've got love to spare-o
Me gusta cantar para ti, ti, ti.
I will sing loudly
Con orgullo. So proudly!
Si oyes mi voz, you'll pick me, me, me.
(sings in an overly loud, silly voice)
One two three
Four five six
Seven eight nine ten!
(MARTINA covers ears and cringes. PERRO steps back, disappointed, and GATO steps forward.)
GATO:
Me llamo Gato and you've won the lotto!
Me gusta cantar para ti, ti, ti.
I will sing loudly
Con orgullo. So proudly!
Si oyes mi voz, you'll pick me, me, me.
(loud and silly)
Uno dos tres
Cuatro cinco seis
Siete ocho nueve diez!
(MARTINA looks even more disturbed by the loud noise. GATO steps back, disappointed, and GALLO steps forward.)
GALLO:
Me llamo Gallo and I've got real sty-o! (style)
Me gusta cantar para ti, ti, ti.
I will sing loudly
Con orgullo. So proudly!
Si oyes mi voz, you'll pick me, me, me.
(loud and silly)
Eleven twelve thirteen
Fourteen fifteen!
(even louder)
Once doce trece
Catorce quince!
(MARTINA has curled into a ball, holding her ears.)
ALL THREE and CHORUS:
Clever muchacha, you sweet cucaracha
Me gusta cantar para ti, ti, ti.
I will sing loudly
Con orgullo. So proudly!
Si oyes mi voz, you'll pick me, me, me.
(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
Language Arts
- Common Core Reading Standards for Literature: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
- Common Core Reading Standards: Foundational Skills:
- Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards: Comprehension and Collaboration - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
- Common Core Language Standards: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th
- Common Core Standard 10: Range, Quality & Complexity: Range of Text Types for K-5th, Range of Text Types for 6th-12th
History/Social Studies
National Core Arts Standards
- Music - Anchor Standards 4-6
- Theater - Anchor Standards 3-6
- Dance - Anchor Standards 1-6
Vocabulary
Martina y Pérez can be used as a supplement and springboard for many lessons on Spanish and English vocabulary and usage. The vocabulary in the play focuses on:
- Greetings
- Valedictions
- Directions
- Colors
- Months
- Days of the week
- Seasons
- Exclamations
- Food
- Animals
- Numbers
- Professions
- Common verbs
- Common adjectives
- Common nouns
Of course, there are many ways to say the same thing in both languages, and usage and vocabulary can change with the country or location. Feel free to explore synonyms and alternate phrasing as needed!
Penelope Haskew (verified owner) –
I used Martina Y Pérez as one of two short musicals with my kids this year and everyone really enjoyed it. We let all the kids have animal characters and they loved working the characteristics of their animal into their scenes. They had differing levels of excitement about learning Spanish (I did not attract as many native Spanish speakers as I'd hoped to auditions though we did get lots in the audience) but in the end the kids were really proud at what they'd accomplished. Overall it was a very happy experience for everyone and that's the win in my opinion.
We used shadow puppets for our soup scene and that was a lot of fun, the kids could have spent all day watching each other make shadows the day that I first showed them how the scrim worked and the audience was delighted (initially by the transformation of the house into the shadow screen and then seeing the real Pérez working his puppet).
One adjustment we made was to speed up the tempo of most of the songs. Right Derecha, Left Iziquierda in particular was much more exciting at a quicker pace but I think the Wedding song might have been the only one we didn't nudge.
Natalie Yoder (verified owner) –
This play was so great. The characters were funny and the songs were some of the best we've bought from this website. We added a few things throughout the play tomake it a little longer, but the parents thought it was hilarious and our Spanish teacher had a great time working with us on it.
Maria (verified owner) –
My class and I enjoyed the play. It was easy to do, I really liked the idea that it was bilingual. it would be great to have one totally in Spanish. It was the first time many of my parents to see a musical play, they really liked it!
Mike Fishell (verified owner) –
The kids were delighted to see the Spanish. One particularly tough kid got all into it and took on a narrator role. Very nice moment!
CTooley (verified owner) –
I was so excited to purchase and produce this play with my third grade class until I presented it to the students. I didn't expect to receive flack from my native English speaking students! I thought, for sure, they would embrace the challenge… Well, I made a deal with them to give it two weeks. They were to listen to the songs and read the script, and then, if they still wanted to do another play, I would change it. We were barely two days in when everything turned around! They became so excited I couldn't contain them. In the end, it became a vehicle for my native English speakers to develop empathy for how difficult it can be for someone to learn a new language. All of my students worked together to help each other make it a great performance. I applaud you Bad Wolf Press for taking on a bilingual play!
Lili (verified owner) –
We performed Martina y Pérez over the summer with kids ranging in age from 5 to 11. While it played to more of the younger crowd, all of the kids had fun with it. As always, the music was catchy and fun. They loved the animal characters and when Pérez fell into a large cardboard box (our pot of soup). Most of the kids performing attend a dual language (Spanish/English) school, so this play was perfect. Even for the few who don't speak Spanish, it was easy to swap the narrator roles to make it English-only. One of our performances was at a retirement home and it was very well received.
UPDATE: This was my second time doing this play, and I loved it even more than the first time! From the silliness of the characters to the catchy songs, the group of third graders performing enjoyed everything about this play. We have a unique school in that a dual language program is offered, but we also have English-only students. We gave the non-Spanish speakers the option to translate their parts to English and were pleasantly surprised when some of them decided to keep the lines in Spanish. It was an easy switch for those who opted to go that route. We're always looking for ways to incorporate traditions from different Latin American countries into school programs; this play was perfect for that. The bilingual chorus in "Right, Derecha, Left, Izquierda" was a cast favorite!
Maria (verified owner) –
I was very excited to finally see that one of your plays had some Spanish. I have been teaching in the an Immersion School the last couple of years and have been dying to use some of your plays as I have used them in the past and love the musical plays. The audience members have always loved them. The last couple of years I'm in a bilingual Spanish immersion school so I need to have some Spanish in our performances. I was so excited when I saw you finally had one that just came out with some Spanish. In fact it allowed me to not only do that skit but the other one called matter as I felt I had incorporated some Spanish. We had an hour performance and all three grades 15 classes of 3rd-5th graders…..students and teachers loved it including parents. I really hope that you will hire on a translator to transform and make available the other skits that you have with some Spanish. Having both in Spanish and English were a great balance! Thanks again for incorporating educational musicals that are quite entertaining!