p l a y w r i g h t s c o m p o s e r s l y r i c i s t s
"This "Sleepy Hollow" harkens to more innocent Halloween fare and lets kids enjoy an old-fashioned ghost story on their own terms." - Matthew Palm, Theatre Criitic, Orlando Sentinal
It's Washington Irving's classic Halloween Tale - but with a twist!
On Halloween night, three modern-day kids are magically and mysteriously transported back in time - straight into the middle of the classic story of Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, Katrina Van Tassel, and, of course, the infamous Headless Horseman!
Both spooky and hilarious moments fill this far-out musical, as the three trick-or-treaters - Amy, Charlie, and Irving - learn to cope with life in 1790, make new friends, and, most importantly, try to discover their way back home!
It's great family fun with just a little scary "Halloween" edge - but there are plenty of laughs to balance it all out!
PRODUCTION NOTES:
CAST SIZE: 15 - which can be easily expanded if needed
RUNNING TIME: 70 minutes, and can be played with or without an intermission
MUSIC ACCOMPANIMENT TRACKS: Beautifully orchestrated tracks for performance
COMPLETE DEMO / TEACHING CD
COMPLETE PIANO / VOCAL SCORE: Available for rehearsal or performance
Sleepy Hollow: A Musical Tale is licensed for production by THEATRICAL RIGHTS WORLDWIDE, New York.
Click on the box below for perusal scripts and CDs and booking information:
SLEEPY HOLLOW SHOW SYNOPSIS
The show begins with a candle-lit procession through a dark forest as a somber crowd of people sing What's Become of Ichabod Crane? As the song ends, we are in a current-day town where three kids Charlie, Irving, and Amy - are just finishing up their trick-or-treating.
When Charlie dares the youngest, Irving, to knock on the door of the old abandoned Crane house, they are surprised to find an old man who confesses he has no treat to give, but in the flash of a moment, the three find themselves in a place that they do not recognize. A kindly woman tells them they they shouldn't be out so late and to Come on Down to Sleepy Hollow!
The next day, the school teacher Ichabod Crane, is courting Katie Van Tassel Here on This Hillside who laments Ichabod's interest in telling his stories of goblins and in a life of leisure, rather than in being a succesful teacher. Hearing the school bell ring, Ichabod runs off to the schoolhouse, late for class - telling Katie he will see her at the party later that night.
At the tavern in town, Brom Bones and his buddies are talking about Ichabod Crane. Brom is jealous of his attentions to Katie and plots with his friends to scare the man out of Sleepy Hollow once and for all, as all in the tavern marvel at Brom's cleverness, singing He's Brom!
In the classroom, the three bewildred children meet their 1790 counterparts - who amaze one another with stories of life in both their times. It's the Same Right Now As It Was Back Then.
Later, Ichabod arrives followed soon by Brom and the two square off about to fight. Katie tells them to settle their disputes on the dance floor at the Hollows Eve Party and the two reluctantly agree. Left alone, Ichabod muses about a life of leisure with no more school bells, married to the well-off Katrina King Ichabod Crane.
Amid conversations and questions about what trick-or-treating in the 21st Century might be like, the three are desperate to make a plan to find a way back home. Charlie laments that they are stuck in some "crazy Halloween vortex" on an Endless Halloween.
That night, at the party at the Tavern, everyone in town is celebrating and doing the Dance on Hollows Eve with Ichabod and Brom both competing for Katie's attentions, while the crowd is astounded by Irving's modern dance steps.
When Irving's friend, Washington, arrives, dressed as King Arthur and walks up to an annoyed Brom Bones shouting "Trick or Treat!" Brom shoos him away but Amy remarks, "Who knows, maybe he started the hole tradition!"
Soon it is time for Brom and Ichabod to share their stories of ghosts and goblins and each one's story is more hair-raising than the other Ichabod's Story / Brom's Story - with Brom telling of his scary encounter with the Headless Horseman where he was saved only by his crossing the bridge which the Horseman cannot cross. Suddenly Irving realizes that right before they were transported back into 1790, the three were running from the Crane House and had crossed a bridge. They make a plan to follow Ichabod home, knowing that he will be crossing the fabled bridge that night.
Bidding farewell to Katie - Here On This Hillside Reprise - and forced to walk home as his horse, Gunpowder, will not come out of the barn - and frightened by the tales of the Headless Horseman, Ichabod is scared by every noise and shadow. Charlie. Irving, and Amy follow at a distance when suddenly they see four ghostly apparitions with pumpkin heads emerge from the forest they call out Ichabods name - What's Become of Ichabod Crane Reprise - and he falls to the ground begging for mercy.
Irving, however, recognizes Brom Bones' boots under the cloaks the apparitions are wearing and calls out Master Crane. "It's just Brom Bones and his men!" Just then, the thunderous sound of horse hooves is heard as all encounter the dreaded Headless Horseman. Amid the frightened confusion and the thunder and lightning, they plead with Crane to run but he is too petrified to move and the three make it across the bridge to safety.
Not sure what happened, Charlie. Irving, and Amy are greeted by a policeman who tells them that Halloween is over and to go home. On the way they wonder if Ichabod made it across the bridge. Just as they decide it must have all been a dream, they meet a young girl who looks remarkably like one of their 1790 friends, Sofie. "No," she says, "My name is Emily but I did have a great-great-great-great grandmother named Sofie!"
As the lights go down, a window lights in the old Crane House - and the show ends.
Come on down to SLEEPY HOLLOW! See where it's played and where it's going:
November 16 - 18, 2012 St. Mary's Regional School Vineland, New Jersey
November 17 - 18, 2012 Nazareth Area High School Nazareth, PA
November 29, 2012 Lawrence High School Lawrenceville, New Yok
March 11 - 15, 2013 Seneca Ridge Middle School Sterling, VA
May 3 - 4, 2013 Oakland High School
Oakland, Illinois
May 3 - 4, 2013 Highland Middle School
Libertyville, Illinois
October 10 - 20, 2013 Sioux Empire Community Theatre Sioux Falls, SD
October 18 - 26, 2013 Alaska Theatre of Youth Anchorage, Alaska
October 18 - 26, 2013 Riverside Children's Theatre Vero Beach, Florida
October 29 - 31, 2013 Consett Phoenix Youth Consett, Durham, United KIngdom
November 1 - 9, 2013 B.E.T.A. Repertory Theatre Miramar Beach, Florida
March 4 - 7, 2014 Sir Winston Churchill High School Calgary, Alberta, Canada
March 20 - 29, 2014 West Jordan Youth Theatre West Jordan, Utah
May 8-10, 2014 Associantion of Roman Catholic Homeschoolers Emmitsburg, MD
October 17 - 26, 2014 Erie Playhouse
Erie, PA
April 11 - 18, 2015 Spokane Civic Theatre
Spokane, WA
July 17-August 1 Mac-Hayden Theatre Chatham, NY
October 9-26 Breakthrough Theatre
Orlando, Florida
October 23 - November 1, 2015 Grand Rapids Civic Theatre Grand Rapids, MMI
October 24-November 1, 2015 Go Fame Youth Theatre Company Log Beach, CA
November 13-14, 2015 First Presbyterian Church Fort Lauderdale
September 16-25, 2016 Downriver Actors GuildTaylor MI
October 20-November 6, 2016 Columbus Children’s Theatre Columbus OH
October 28-29, 2016 Henry Hudson Regional School Highlands NJ
May 12-13, 2017 Twelve Corners Middle School Rochester NY
October 27-29, 2017 Center Stage Theatre Kalamazoo, MI
October 20-29, 2017 Red Curtain Theatre LLC Conway AR
November 10-11, 2017 Odyssey Theatrical Productions Banbury, Oxford, United Kingdom
Kalamazoo Civic Theatre, Kalamazoo MI
Sioux Empire Theatre, Sioux Falls SD
Alaska Theatre of Youth, Anchorage AK