Schoolhouse Rock Live !!

book by Scott Feguson, George Keating and Kyle Hall

music and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Kathy Mandry, George Newall and Tom Yohe

July 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 2006

Sharon Lynn Wilson Center

Kuttemperoor Auditorium

In the dark we hear the sound of an alarm clock ringing and we are introduced to Tom, a young teacher preparing for his first day of school, standing in his bathrobe. As he rehearses what he will say, he hears the school bell and the sound of the children settling into their desks. One at a time we see Tom’s “other sides”, as they enter speaking his thoughts. We are introduced to George, the romantic side; Dori, the goofy side; Schulie, the sweet side; Joe, the cool side; and Dina, the mature side. They tell us his thoughts that range from “I love children” to “these monsters are going to eat me alive”. Tom decides to try and watch some television while he settles down and collects his thoughts. When he turns on the TV we hear the theme to Schoolhouse Rock. The characters begin to sing one of the familiar songs that Tom instantly recognizes.  Tom is swept up in the excitement and begins to sing and dance with the others. As it ends, he is startled to find himself standing with a group of strange people that he does not recognize. They explain to him that they represent all of the thoughts in his head. They represent everywhere he has been, everyone he has known, and every person that he has ever met. They explain that they are there to help Tom remember that teaching is as easy as 1,2,3.

Still thinking that all of this is a hallucination, he continues to try and get rid of the others. They explain to him that he needs them; and “necessity is the mother of invention”. Tom is asked to remember why he wanted to be a teacher in the first place. He remembers that his grandmother and her mother before that were teachers. Teaching was one of the few opportunities for women to work at that time. He also remembers working at his grandfather’s hardware store as a child and sneaking away on Saturday mornings to watch Schoolhouse Rock. Caught up in the moment, Tom remembers one very important thing; that learning should be fun.

When the gang becomes exhausted from all of the excitement, Tom encourages them to stay active and to keep their blood moving. Joe and Shulie enter in their leather jacket and poodle skirt and dance to George’s rock and roll physics lesson.

Tom goes over all of the parts of speech that they have covered (adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, nouns, and verbs) and wonders what they have left out. Conjunctions! – and where do they come together – at the junction!. Joe reminds Tom that English will not be the first language of many of his students. School will be a very important transition to America for many of his students, just as America went through an important transition as it struggled to expand and continues to expand. Hey! Wow! The thought of going to the moon has the whole group energized, and what kind of word bets expresses that energy – “Interjections”. Tom then thanks them all for helping him remember that learning can be fun.