Synopsis
Our musical review of the Gold Rush presents the highlights of the great stampede of 49ers to the California goldfields. From Sutter's Mill to Mad Mule Gulch, Sacramento to Fiddletown, the land's gone nuts with Gold Fever. Guiding us on our tour is the remarkable Luzena Wilson---wife, professional cook, innkeeper, commodities gambler, banker, and founder of a city. Whether you set your wagon on the Overland Trail, sail across Cape Horn, or wade across the swamps of Panama, get yourself to the mother lode, where tents turn into jeans, a dozen eggs cost ten dollars, and the mud's so deep the cows disappear.
Preview the script and songs!Key Concepts
Gold Dust or Bust is a great complement to your curriculum resources in elementary and middle school history. 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:
978-1-886588-11-0
© 1998
Bad Wolf Press, LLC
Mrs. Stevens (verified owner) –
My students LOVE the music and I love that they learn so much about the Gold Rush! Such a fun way to learn history and improve reading fluency!
M.C. Masulis (verified owner) –
We performed our play in a small extra classroom – due to Covid restrictions – and the CD was very helpful. I was able to play it in our small portable boom box. Perfect!
M.C. Masulis (verified owner) –
We had a BLAST with this play. Everything about it was wonderful. I especially appreciate how the play plot and dialogue led to great discussion and side research. The costuming was super simple and I was able to score easy props from thrift stores and Amazon. We found youtube productions from other similar sized classed helpful too. The play fit perfectly with our study of the Gold Rush in Social Studies. The songs are catchy and fun to sing. LOVE THIS PLAY and look forward to performing it every year. Thank you!!!!
4th Grade Rocks (verified owner) –
The students absolutely love the play. They were skeptical at first of the idea of doing a musical, but they have found their niche.
Teacherrich (verified owner) –
I've produced this play six times, but not for ten years until this year. I'd forgotten how much fun this play is, for students, for parents, and for me. This group of fourth graders having already done a "living history" day in costume, were already costumed for the musical. Song by song, they learned not only the lyrics, but appropriate gestures for all the songs, giving great energy to their performance. The content of the play added to and extended one of their Social Studies themes for the year, though some of the jokes were a bit dated ("air Gordons", for example) and had to be explained. Parents, however, understood the jokes. There are a minimum of speaking parts for this musical, which is a drawback if one's goal is to get everyone speaking. The lack of speaking parts, however, puts an emphasis on the music and each child is in at least two singing groups, some more. We were fortunate to have a wonderful comedienne to play Becky and another young lady who played the "straight-man" role of Luzena perfectly. All and all, it was great fun.
Mrs. Hudson (verified owner) –
My kids look forward to performing the "Gold Dust" musical play each year! The kids in third grade watch with special interest as do the 5th grade (who have already presented it)! The entire student body enjoys the production! I enjoy the kids singing spontaneously during lunch and recess. The past two years I have kids memorize their parts. (on their own) A few kids each year really enjoy being on the stage crew. There is always a part for someone!
Lesley (verified owner) –
I downloaded the songs for my play and used them on my smartboard in class for rehearsals. It was a really easy way to practice and get the students very well prepared for the performance. We had our play Friday night and it went off without a hitch!
Nicole (verified owner) –
Wonderful play. We are putting on our production in one week! The students love the music and the comic relief. Thank you!
LadyDowns (verified owner) –
My fourth grade class did this play to finish off our unit on the Gold Rush. The songs are easy for the kids to remember and are catchy tunes. The way the play is set up made for easy grouping of students which made life sooo easy for me! I had some kids want to do just one part or song, and others wanted to be in as many as they could. The kids loved performing the play for other classes (our "dry run" before performing for families.) The parents loved the play, too! I'm shopping for something new this year, since I alternate grades each year (3rd and 4th) and don't want to do the same play each year.
Gillian (verified owner) –
My students are enjoying learning about the California Gold Rush through the fun songs in the play!