Youth Group - Past Productions

June 2008

"Annie Junior"

By Thomas Meehan
Music by Charles Strouse
Lyrics by Martin Charnin

Base on the Tribune Media Service Comic Strip, :Little Orphan Annie

It is 3 A.M. on a chilly morning in early December, 1933. Six orphans are asleep in the dormitory of the Girls' Annex of The New York City Municipal Orphanage. The orphans are Molly, the littlest, who is six; Kate, the next-to-littlest, who is seven; Tessie, the crybaby, who is ten; Pepper, the toughest, who is twelve; July, the quietest, who is thirteen; and Duffy, the biggest, who is also thirteen. Molly is just waking up from a dream and crying out for her mother. The other orphans wake up and begin arguing. Annie, who is eleven and has been up cleaning, runs in. Annie comforts Molly, who begs her to read the note that Annie's parents left when they abandoned her. Pepper reminds the group that they also left Annie one-half of a silver locket and kept the other half with a promise to reclaim her one day. Annie then pulls Molly close to her and sings about the parents she imagines, but has never known. The other orphans join her ("Maybe"). Thinking about her parents inspires Annie to run away from the orphanage to search for them. She packs a bag and is ready to leave when she is discovered by Miss Hannigan, the villainous director of the orphanage. Miss Hannigan makes all the orphans get up to scrub floors and strip the beds to "pay" for Annie's misbehavior. Their complaints that it is four o'clock in the morning fall on deaf ears. As they clean, the orphans complain about their difficult circumstances ("Hard-Knock Life").

June 2007

"The Nifty Fifties"

by Tim Kelly,
Music and Lyrics by Bill Francoeur

Gracie Stanley has gotten herself in hot water by promising to deliver her distant cousin, rock star Ziggy Springer, for the high school Hippity Hop, at Louise's Luncheonette. Ziggy's manager doesn't want his client performing anywhere without pay, so Gracie and her friends have to produce a double—and fast! They use a singing soda jerk and plan to have him perform in the dark! It won't be easy for Gracie to get away with this one with her rival, snooty Muffin Mansfield, waiting for her to flop. Meanwhile, Louise has her own problems. The building's owner forbids the dance and plans to turn the eatery into a dry cleaner. With all of this happening, Gracie's brother is living in terror because he's smashed up a Harley belonging to Sinbad Gallucci, a bad dude. There are fun roles to play, with everything from students to beatniks. This is a one set, easy to stage musical comedy that will have your audiences cheering. Included in the sensational Francoeur fifties score: "Bop-A-Lu-Bop Dance Party," "Teen Queen," "It's Tough To Be a Teenager In Love," the hilarious "It Was The Blob," and, of course, the toe-tapping title tune.

June 2006

"Guys & Dolls Junior"

Based on a story and characters by Damon Runyon
Book by Abe Burrows & Jo Swerling
Music & Lyrics by Frank Loesser

One of Broadway’s most hilarious shows, Guys and Dolls has been described as the perfect musical comedy. The show is based on Damon Runyon’s short story, “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown,” which describes the unlikely romance between a pure at heart urban missionary and a slick Broadway gambler. The show’s second romantic storyline involves Nathan Detroit and Miss Adelaide, who have been engaged for fourteen years. Nathan organizes the ‘oldest established, permanent floating crap game in New York”, and Adelaide is the main attraction at the Hot Box nightclub. Accompanied by a cast of saints and sinners, Guys and Dolls Junior was a smash hit!

June 2005

“Beanie and the Bamboozling Book Machine”

Written by: Bob May, Roy C. Booth and Christopher Tibbetts
Directed by: Kelly Graff and Genevieve Hebert

As Beanie attempts to find an easier way to read books, he is tormented by the likes of Snow White, Hansel and Gretel and The Wizard of Oz who have managed to release themselves from their respective stories. Beanie must get them back into the books with help from the "good guys" in the same stories. A story that will certainly delight the younger theatre-goer.

June 2004

“Masquers: A Renaissance Frolic”

Written & Directed by: Douglas Craven