TND Musicals' "Tom Sawyer" can now be licensed by professional, educational and community theatres!
NOW AVAILABLE FOR THEATRICAL PRODUCTION!
LICENSING INFORMATION for theatres everywhere at https://www.licenSINGMusicals.com
Originally produced at A Premiere Playhouse in Columbus, Ohio, this musical setting is based on Mark Twain’s tale of a boy growing up in 1840’s Missouri. Tom learns to deal with young love, responsibility and murder.
CASTING: 7 M (5 don’t sing); Men’s roles can be double cast: 4 M (2 don’t sing) 1 F;
2 leading teen boys; 3 featured teen girls; 1 featured teen boy; 1 featured boy; Child/Teen/Adult Ensemble
SYNOPSIS: “Tom Sawyer”, adapted from the book by Mark Twain, chronicles the life of an orphan boy growing up in 1840’s Missouri along the Mississippi River. Tom lives with his Aunt Polly and her children, Mary and Sid. When Tom is ordered to paint the fence as punishment for playing hooky, he tricks his friends into doing the work. Then he tries and fails to impress Becky Thatcher, the new girl in town. After he and his friend Huckleberry Finn witness a murder in the graveyard, they swear never to tell anyone, but when the wrong man is charged, Tom doesn’t know what to do. When Tom finally decides to testify in Muff Potter’s trial, he names Injun Joe as the real murderer. Injun Joe immediately runs away. Although concerned about the fugitive, everyone in town heads to MacDougal’s Cave to celebrate the end of the summer. Tom and Becky get lost in the cave and just as everyone learns of their disappearance, there is word that Injun Joe has been seen in the area. Tom and Becky narrowly avoid confronting him in the cave and escape. Huck and Tom celebrate by playing hooky on the first day of school.
REVIEWED by Michael Grossberg, The Columbus Dispatch theater critic: “…a faithful and
concise adaptation of Mark Twain’s familiar story. (Bojanowski’s) a talented
composer-lyricist with flashes of wit, and a competent playwright with a knack for clarity
and compression. The melodic score and old-fashioned lyrics reflect a simpler era.”
ORCHESTRATION CHOICES: 1) 10 piece orchestra OR 2) Two Keyboards OR 3) Digital Orchestra MP3 Performance Tracks
SONGS include “Tom, Tom”; “Paintin’ On The Fence”; “Scared”; “Muddy Mississippi Buccaneers”; “Poor Tom, Poor Huck, Poor Joe”; “Right or Wrong”; “Summertime Is Almost Gone”
PERFORMANCE TIME: approx. 60 minutes
THE WRITER’S PERSPECTIVE:
After I premiered “Tom Sawyer,” I visited Quincy, Illinois, just upriver from Hannibal, Missouri. Hannibal, of course, is where Mark Twain grew up, and is the model for Tom’s hometown of St. Petersburg. We drove over. Hannibal is still a small town, but its population swells each year by the tourists who flock there to see Twain’s boyhood home, the haunted house, Becky Thatcher’s house, the famous fence, Injun Joe’s hideout, the cave and other places mentioned in the book. While visiting, you can stay at the Mark Twain Motor Lodge, eat at the Mark Twain Diner, or camp at the Mark Twain Campground. You can go fishing or boating on Mark Twain Lake. Twain would probably be amused by the overuse of his name. He would undoubtedly laugh and call his lawyers regarding royalties.
Late in his life, Twain lost a fortune and, to avoid going bankrupt, set out on a worldwide speaking tour. People who had read his book now had the chance to see Mark Twain the entertainer and personality as well as author. He did not disappoint them. He made such an impact that today we still have a visual image of him – white hair, unruly moustache, white suit, cigar. Mention Mark Twain and that image springs to mind. Who remembers what John Steinbeck looked like? Or William Faulkner? Or James Fennimore Cooper?
Tom Sawyer is one of my personal favorites among the musicals I’ve written. It takes me back – not to 1850 – but to a time when summers were long, and you could still hear an occasional whip-poor-will. I hope this show’s nostalgia is contagious, and you take some along with you.
Darryl Bojanowski
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