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
Students, Plumbers, etc. in each
scene as desired. Actors can easily play several roles, or a single role can be divided between multiple actors.
Lexi Miller has a huge number
of lines—her role can easily be split
into two or three by switching actors or adding Miller siblings. Note that all roles can be
played by any gender.
CHARACTERS:
Lexi Miller
Rumpelstiltskin
Lumpelbumpkin
Zed
Castle Manager
Chef
Animal Handler
Students (3)
Plumbers (3)
Knights (2)
Jester
Artist
Musician
King
Neuroscientists (2)
and a CHORUS composed of all actors 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
Oh here's a little story that you think you know—
But you don't.
'Cause we changed it.
A girl who claims that she can turn some straw to gold—
But she can't.
Just rearrange it.
She's learning how to learn and she's quite excited
Learning how to learn and you're all invited
Learning how to learn and it's copyrighted
The Rumpelstiltskin Method
TM!
The Rumpelstiltskin Method.
You think a little man will do the job alone—
But he won't.
(spoken) He doesn't DO that anymore.
She's gonna have to learn to do it on her own—
And she will.
She's got a mentor.
She's learning how to learn and she's quite excited
Learning how to learn and you're all invited
Learning how to learn and it's copyrighted
The Rumpelstiltskin Method
TM!
The Rumpelstiltskin Method
The Rumpelstiltskin Method.
(LEXI MILLER sits alone, surrounded by a spinning wheel
and straw. SHE picks some up in despair, letting it run
through her fingers. Then SHE picks up her cell phone and
makes a call.)
LEXI: Hello, Rumpelstiltskin? My name is Lexi Miller and I need
your help. (SHE pauses to listen.) I'm in some room in the palace.
Maybe the king can tell you where.
(RUMPELSTILTSKIN, LUMPELBUMPKIN, and ZED
enter.)
LEXI: Whoa! That was fast.
RUMPY: It's what we do, Miller. Can I call you
Miller?
LEXI: Um—
RUMPY: Great. I'm Rumpelstiltskin, and these
are my associates, Lumpelbumpkin and Zed.
LUMPY: We don't keep our names secret
anymore. Company policy.
LEXI: I need your help. See, I sort of bragged at a party that I could
spin straw into gold. And I actually can't. And the king overheard
me and put me in this room so I could prove it.
ZED (with sympathy): Ohhhhh no.
LEXI (businesslike): So the straw is right here, and
if you could just take care of that and send me an
invoice, that would be great. I'm just going to sit in
the corner and play on my phone till you're done.
RUMPY (laughs): You want ME to do it for you?
Sorry, I don't do that anymore.
ZED (as in "I can't believe you said that"): Ohhhhh no.
LUMPY: Doing all this work for someone, never getting paid,
falling into chasms? It was a terrible business model.
RUMPY: So nowadays we're consultants. We're here to teach YOU
how to spin straw into gold.
LEXI: What? No way! I can't do that. Only magical people like you
can spin straw into gold. If I tried I'd just look ridiculous! And I
HATE looking ridiculous.
(RUMPY, LUMPY, and ZED look at each other sadly.)
ZED (as in "how sad"): Ohhhhhh no.
LUMPY: Miller needs a cautionary tale.
RUMPY: We'll sing you the ballad of Melody Smart.
(THEY sing, perhaps pulling out lutes or other
medieval-looking instruments)
Song 2
I sing you the ballad of Melody Smart
(Whoa Melody Smart)
In hopes that you'll listen and take it to heart
(Whoa Melody Smart)
Melody Smart did the best on a test
And her teacher said she had a chance to advance
(Whoa Melody Smart)
(Whoa Melody Smart)
Melody Smart opened up the new book
(Whoa Melody Smart)
The work looked so hard that her knees and hands shook
(Whoa Melody Smart)
Frightened to fail, she chose to turn tail
Closed the book with a smack and then gave it right back
(Whoa Melody Smart)
(Whoa Melody Smart)
She didn't take risks.
She didn't branch out.
She didn't work hard.
She took the safe route.
If only she'd put her ego aside
And cared about learning as much as her pride
She would have been smarter if she really tried...
If only she'd put her ego aside.
I sing you the ballad of Melody Smart
(Whoa Melody Smart)
In hopes that you'll listen and take it to heart
(Whoa Melody Smart)
It's scary to struggle to do something new
But you'll never soar high if you won't even try.
(Whoa Melody Smart)
(Whoa Melody Smart)
(RUMPY, LUMPY, and ZED exit.)
LEXI (folding hands across chest): Cautionary
tale, my foot! Melody Smart was right. She knew
her limitations, and so do I. Humph!
(CASTLE MANAGER, CHEF, and ANIMAL HANDLER
enter.)
MANAGER (setting up blankets and pillows): Hello there, deary.
We're here to make your stay a little more comfortable.
CHEF (removing cover from tray): Help yourself to my finest
creations. All locally sourced and farm-to-table, of course.
HANDLER: And can I interest you in a comfort animal? People
get nervous staying here sometimes. I have cats, dogs, snakes,
goldfish...oh wait, never mind, we stopped offering fish after that
whole "squashed mackerel" incident.
LEXI: Oh wow, this is so nice! Especially since it looks like I'm
going to be here forever. FOREVER! (SHE starts to sob.)
MANAGER: Oh, don't cry, dear.
I'm sure you will figure it out soon.
CHEF (holds out tray): Nourishing
food will help. Quinoa bowl? Kale
chips?
HANDLER: And a snuggle with
this flying squirrel!
LEXI: I'll NEVER figure it out! Don't you understand? You're
either able to turn straw into gold or you're not. There's no way to
LEARN something like that.
MANAGER: If we listened to that kind of talk, we'd never be where
we are today.
(THEY sing:)
Song 3
MANAGER:
They said I'd never do it
I didn't have the brains
But I went out and did it
The fire was in my veins.
I studied hard until I finished my degree:
Certified in Castle Hospitality.
ALL THREE:
You are what you are
Well not quite true:
You get what you get
Then you have to DO!
We're born with different traits and talents, yes that's so
But anywhere you start there's always room to grow.
It's all about your mindset, don't you know.
COOK:
They said I'd never do it
I didn't have the skills
But I went out and did it
I went through all the drills.
I used to burn my toast, but I became a pro:
Now I cook with truffle oil and escargot.
ALL THREE:
You are what you are
Well not quite true:
You get what you get
Then you have to DO!
We're born with different traits and talents, yes that's so
But anywhere you start there's always room to grow.
It's all about your mindset, don't you know.
ANIMAL HANDLER:
They said I'd never do it
I didn't have the guts
But I went out and did it
I showed them who was nuts!
No matter what the odds, I kept my dream afloat:
Now I train the alligators in the moat.
ALL THREE and CHORUS:
You are what you are
Well not quite true:
You get what you get
Then you have to DO!
We're born with different traits and talents, yes that's so
But anywhere you start there's always room to grow.
It's all about your mindset, don't you know.
(THEY exit. LEXI sits down and picks up the straw and tries
running it through the spinning wheel without success. Out
of nowhere the STUDENTS bust in and start looking around
for places to hide.)
STUDENT #1: Did she see us?
STUDENT #2: I don't think so.
STUDENT #3: Let's hide under the straw!
(THEY get down on the ground and start flinging straw on
top of themselves.)
LEXI: Hey! HEY! What is going on here? Who are you?
STUDENT #1: Oh hey, sorry. We're hiding from our teacher.
STUDENT #2: She's going to throw us in the dungeon!
LEXI: I think this IS the dungeon.
STUDENT #3 (screeches in terror): I want my mommy!
LEXI: Why, what did you do?
STUDENT #2: We haven't been investing in our health.
LEXI (confused): Is that like investing in the stock market?
STUDENT #1: No, no. It's taking care of your body.
STUDENT #3: So you'll be focused and ready to learn.
(This concludes the first one-third of the script.)
Tark (verified owner) –
I chose this musical last year because our school was beginning to implement the Growth Mind Set curriculum and I thought it would be a great way to reinforce the concepts. The entire 2nd grade cohort presented the musical for the school and community and it was amazing! The songs have some rigorous vocabulary and concepts for 2nd graders – I guess that is why it is labeled all the way up to 6th grade. But with a lot of work and high expectations, our students did an amazing job. Some things that I did to help the kids was: I made Lexi Miller into an entire Miller Family so one person didn't have to memorize all of the lines. I also assigned certain verses to certain classes so everyone wasn't responsible for memorizing every single part even though by the end they could sing every word. This musical is worth the work!
Drama teacher (verified owner) –
The songs are challenging to learn and sing. I teach a lot of EL learners and the many idioms have been especially challenging for them. That said the story is fun and the students are very engaged and enjoying practicing.
Eileen (verified owner) –
This play tied directly into my school's focus on growth mindset, so it was prefect for the start of the year (though would work for any time of year!). The students enjoyed the songs and learned them easily. Among the several BWP plays I have directed, this one was the most equitable in terms of the parts. It was prefect for my class of 23 third graders; everyone had a similar number of lines and nearly everyone had a song (Lexi doesn't have a song, but the 3 students who played this lead part each had the most lines, so it balanced out).
The parents, admin., and student body were all super impressed. The kids had a ton of fun, and we pulled it off in 2.5 weeks!
Susan Hart Smith (verified owner) –
We are in rehearsal mode for this at the moment. I rely on a Bad Wolf play every year s when it is our third graders' turn to put on an assembly. My colleagues, plus kids in older classes, always tell me they how much they look forward for my assembly. This is due to Bad Wolf! The musicals are super easy to put on, funny, and also fun for the kids. I encourage my students to generate prop and costume ideas for themselves, which gives them ownership. It's a wonderful bonding experience, and you notice a variety of kids rise to the top and take on roles (both literal and metaphorical) that build confidence and life skills. My only caveat: the songs so become earworms for several weeks!!!