The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: a New Musical

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A New Musical

Overview

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a family musical adapted from Mark Twain’s beloved classic novel. It received its world premiere production in June 2008 with the Random Farms Kids’ Theater, which also commissioned the piece. The premiere production included several casts of 22 children, with ages ranging from 2nd-8th grade. An abridged version is also available for children aged K-2nd grade. In this adaptation, Tom meets and falls in love with Becky Thatcher. However, Becky’s father, Judge Thatcher, does not approve of Becky fraternizing with a mischievous boy like Tom. Tom prevails when he secretly takes Becky’s punishment for her after she spills ink on the schoolmaster’s prized book of verses. Then, he returns home from a pirate adventure unwittingly returning the stolen treasure to its rightful owner. Memorable scenes from the beloved novel appear in this musical: Tom incurring Aunt Polly’s wrath, whitewashing the fence, pirating on Pirate Island, getting engaged to Becky Thatcher, and dedicating himself to adventures with Huck Finn.

Plot Synopsis

It is the last day of summer vacation in 1848 in the small village of St. Petersburg, Missouri. The curtain opens to reveal a tableau of “The People of St. Pete,” as they get ready for the big town meeting. We meet Aunt Polly as she desperately tries to get Tom under control and ready for the meeting without much success; he tricks her and runs off to play with Huck Finn. At the end of the number, everyone heads into the town meeting. Only Tom and Huck manage to hide out and slip away from the crowd. In “The Life for Me,” Tom and Huck imagine the adventurous lives they could lead if they just got out of St. Pete. Suddenly, we hear Aunt Polly yelling “Tom!,” and she emerges from the meeting with Tom’s sympathetic cousin Mary and scolding half-sister Sid. Huck makes himself scarce with a swift exit. Aunt Polly decides she must use more discipline with Tom, and thus his last day of summer vacation will be spent on punishment, whitewashing the family’s sizable fence. As they set off again into the meeting, everyone else is coming out. They’ve missed it. But, as the crowd files out, Tom gets his first glimpse of Becky Thatcher. They exchange a smile before her father, Judge Thatcher, whisks her away.

Later that afternoon, Tom sits at the fence amongst his paint supplies, procrastinating, when the Widow Douglas passes by. She advises him to use his imagination and pretend he is a great artist to make the work more fun. She believes every kid in town would trade the last day of summer vacation to be a famous artist, and Tom develops a plan. He tricks the unsuspecting children passing by into doing his work for him, as well as trading their treasures for the lucky chance to be a great artist. (“Look What I Got”) Now free from his chores, Tom is enjoying the lovely afternoon when he comes upon Becky Thatcher reading a book in preparation for the first day of school tomorrow. He begins showing off and doing tricks in a failed attempt to get her attention. He finally succeeds when he trips and falls over in front of her. After a bit of getting to know each other, Becky accepts Tom’s invitation to take a private tour of the more unusual sights of St. Pete: the graveyard and underground caves. Things are going along swimmingly until Amy Lawrence happens upon the scene with her friends. Amy is Tom’s soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, as he has now fallen head over heels for Becky Thatcher. When the jealous Amy informs Becky that she and Tom are still together, Becky is upset. Just then, Alfred

Create PDF with GO2PDF for free, if you wish to remove this line, click here to buy Virtual PDF Printer Temple arrives on the scene well dressed and well mannered—the opposite of Tom—and introduces himself to Becky. He too offers to show her around town; Alfred’s tour includes his mother’s gardens and the candy shop. Becky accepts Alfred’s offer and bids Tom a cold farewell. Amy tries to convince Tom to join her and the girls for a picnic now that Becky is gone, but Tom rebukes her. Tom tells Amy that they must get “un-engaged,” because “his heart belongs to another girl.”

It is now the first day of school, and we find Becky crying alone. Tom enters and tells her there is no need to cry over him. He forgives her for choosing Alfred over himself and is willing to give her a second chance. Becky informs him that she is crying because she’s just knocked an inkpot over on the schoolteacher’s book of verses. Tom consoles her and advises her just to keep her mouth shut. But, when Becky cracks under the pressure of questioning by the schoolteacher and her father, Tom comes to her rescue by announcing that he did the crime rather than Becky. Judge Thatcher, Dobbins, and all the kids agree that Tom is a “Good Example” of how not to behave.

Afterschool, Becky runs up to Tom after he is released from his punishment of cleaning all the blackboards. Tom is now a hero in her eyes, and she doesn’t know how she can ever thank him. Tom says, “Let’s Get Engaged.” So, they do. However, their romantic scene is interrupted when Judge Thatcher and Alfred Temple arrive on scene. Judge Thatcher forbids Becky to fraternize with Tom and suggests that she spend more time with a nice boy like Alfred instead. Becky, unable to disobey her father, reluctantly agrees and leaves with Alfred. Judge Thatcher stays behind and warns Tom to stay far away from his daughter…or else. After all, he is a man of the law and there can be dire consequences for those that disobey him.

Disappointed, Tom commiserates with his friends Huck, Joe, and Eugene. Tom is fed up with village life. He decides they should all run away to be pirates on Jackson Island, heretofore known as Pirate Island. (“The Life Fer Me Reprise”) They swim across the river that night. Back in St. Pete, the whole town is worried sick about the missing boys. Judge Thatcher brings the bad news that the search has been called off, and the boys are presumed drowned. Meanwhile on Jackson Island, the boys encounter a pair of bumbling bandits. (“Bandit Blues”) This is their chance to be real pirates, so in a musical chase scene, they capture the bandits and steal their treasure chest. Now that they have a buried treasure, the boys head back to the mainland where they can spend it!

The boys arrive back in St. Pete to witness their own funeral (“Days We Dread”), and everyone is shocked to see the boys alive. Becky comes clean to her father about how she is the true culprit in the case of the spilled ink, and tells him that the hero Tom saved her from harm. So, with Judge Thatcher’s blessing, Tom gets his girl. He doesn’t get to keep the treasure, though. In a twist, it seems the treasure actually belongs to the Widow Douglas; it was burgled from her house last month. She proclaims the boys are heroes, and even offers to adopt Huck Finn as her very own. The promise of three square meals, a nice soft bed, and a new suit to wear to school sends Huck running for the door. However, Tom convinces him to stay and be his second-in- command for a new armed force he is assembling to protect St. Pete from those bandits when they come back for revenge. With the hopes of new adventures, Huck decides to give civilized life a try. (“The Life Fer Me Finale”)

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