The Birth of Rock n’ Roll! ! ! CAST:! ! CAST:! CAST:! Lead1*! ! Duke Ellington Buddy Holly! Lead2! ! Robert Johnson! The Big Bopper! Friend 1! ! Ray Charles! Ritchie Valens! Friend 2! ! Beatles:! (Hippies)! (Teacher/ Class)! ! John, Paul, Hippie #1! Elvis Presley*! ! George, Ringo! Hippie #2! (Prisoners)! ! Chuck Berry! Joey Ramone! Lead Prisoner ! ! Little Richard! Tommy Ramone! Lead Belly! ! Wanda Jackson! ! Jimmie Rodgers! ! Bill Haley! Stage Manager! Trixie Smith! ! The Coasters (4)! Curtain Engineer Robert Palmer*! ! Fats Domino ! ! ! ! ! SET:! • 2-4 Pedestals for statues! • Standing Arch with big sign [ROCK n’ ROLL MUSEUM] with working door/ OPEN/CLOSED sign.! !• Risers! ! ! ACT ONE - SCENE ONE - INTRO! Class and teacher are at the last exhibit of the ROCK AND ROLL MUSEUM. As the teacher is lining !the kids up to leave she takes a head count. After she counts the last student! [CURTAIN]! Music starts and curtain opens: Kiss’s I WANT TO ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT! Students roam around the stage chatting and looking at an Elvis statue on a pedestal. ! TEACHER: ! [The second the music stops -shouting] C’mon class! We need to shake a leg or we will miss the bus!! Teacher leads the class towards the exit.! TEACHER: !Alright students, partner up -PARTNER-UP!! Students start lining up and joining their partners, teacher assists. Students and teacher’s backs are to the statue! ELVIS !! [statue sings and thrusts his pelvis] [Sung] Well it’s one for the money! No one notices but LEAD 1! LEAD 1:! [nudges his/her friend] Hey! Did you see that?! LEAD 2: ! See what? You’re so weird, just listen to the teacher will you?!! ELVIS: ! [Sung and moves to the beat] Two for the show!! Still, no one notices. The LEAD walks over to ELVIS,! LEAD: !SEE! Did you see it then? Did you hear it? Elvis just moved!! FRIEND: ! Seriously? you’re losing it. ! [Teacher and class exit the museum, LEAD 1, LEAD 2, FRIEND, stay behind]! LEAD 2: !! Yea, you didn’t even pay attention to anything on this trip, I’m surprised you even ! know his name!! FRIEND: ! See you on the bus [runs out of the museum]! !ELVIS: ! [Sung] Three to get ready now GO CAT GO!! LEAD 1 grabs LEAD 2 and runs over to ELVIS as his/her class exits the museum. ! LEAD 1: ! [Shouts at Elvis] Hey, YOU!! ELVIS: ! … [stays frozen]! LEAD 1: !I heard you sing. I saw you dance! Are you alive?! LEAD 2:! [turns to LEAD 1] Are you crazy?! LEAD 1:! [Pokes Elvis’s shoulder] C’mon man, say it again! [Turns to LEAD 2] I’m NOT crazy!! !Stage Manager- turns the OPEN sign to CLOSED and slams the door.! !After the door closes LEAD 2 notices and runs over to open the door and it’s locked.! ELVIS:!! Hey Mama! I noticed your ride left ya.! LEAD 2:! [turns toward the door] OH NO! The bus?! … [Runs for the door then stops, pauses, take a long curious look at Elvis]! LEAD 1:! [Excitedly!] You CAN talk!? ! ELVIS:!Listen partner, I know you’re all shook up! I can talk, and you can walk… and there is only ONE way out of this museum. You’ve got to go back to the beginning and learn about Rock and Roll. ! LEAD 1: !I already know all about Rock and Roll!! LEAD 2:! [shoves LEAD 1] NO YOU DON’T - You were talking and fooling around all day.! LEAD 1:!Noooooo - I am an expert on Rock n’ Roll!! ELVIS:!! Oh yea?! Then who’s THE KING?! HI - YA![kicks a high karate kick and strikes a karate pose]! LEAD 1:!Uh? What? I don’t get it.! LEAD 2:! [bows head and shakes it in disappointment] ! ELVIS: ! [Disappointingly] Oh boy. The Exit is closed [points to the door] You have to go back to the entrance - that way! [points to the door] Don’t be lonesome tonight, my friends will keep you company. ! LEAD 2: !Thanks Elvis!! ELVIS: ! I should mention, that my friends are a little that you weren’t paying attention to! day. They will probably want to educate you on 100 years of Rock n’ Roll History before they let you leave!! LEAD 2:!Oh brother…! !ELVIS: !Thank you, Thank you very much! ![CURTAIN] REMOVE ALL SCENERY - 4th Grade Prisoners take the stage! [In front of curtain -LEAD 1/LEAD 2 at STAGE RIGHT walking across to STAGE LEFT]! LEAD 1:! [walking] I wonder who we’ll meet first! This is exciting.! LEAD 2:!You’re ridiculous - First off, you should know who we’ll meet first! It was the first exhibit?! LEAD 1:! [Shrugs]! LEAD 2: ! Uh, the early blues - call and response sung by prisoners on the chain gang? I can’t believe I am stuck here with you. My mom is probably worried sick! [Drags ! LEAD 1 off stage]! ! SCENE TWO - BLUES! !SONGS: I’ve Been Working On the Railroad, Rock Island Line, In the Jailhouse Now, Jailhouse Rock! [CURTAIN]! 4th grade prisoners (Teachers are police) with “pick axes” chopping at the ground in time ! [UP DOWN UP DOWN]! LEAD PRISONER: [Chanting] I’ve been working on the railroad.! 4th grade CHAIN GANG: [Respond] I’ve been working on the railroad.! LEAD PRISONER: [Chanting] All the live long day.! 4th grade CHAIN GANG: [Respond] All the live long day.! !GUARDs/TEACHER: I CAN’T HEAR YOU!! [A Capella] I’ve been workin' on the railroad, Just to pass the time away.! !!Don't you hear the whistle blowing? Rise up so early in the morn.! !!Don't you hear the captain shouting, "Dinah, blow your horn?”! Dinah won't you blow, Dinah won’t you blow, Dinah won’t you blow your horn,! Dinah won't you blow, Dinah won’t you blow, Dinah won’t you blow your horn!! Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah, someone’s in the kitchen I know,! ! Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah! Strummin’ on the ole banjo!! Chain Gang continues “working” without singing.! LEAD PRISONER: [Steps out to the front] In the 1800s, Americans could hear slave and prison work songs contained elements of spiritual music. Spirituals are an important relative of the blues; and the although we don’t know an exact date when the blues began, we do know that it is the earliest root of Rock and Roll!! Many of these blues elements, such as the call-and-response format, can be traced back to the music of Africa.! Leadbelly with acoustic guitar OR ukulele walks on the stage! LEAD BELLY:!Hello, I’m Huddie William Ledbetter but everybody calls me LEAD BELLY. I am a Blues and Folk songwriter and musician. My music covered a wide range of top- ics, including gospel; blues about women, liquor, prison life, and racism; and folk songs about cowboys, prison, work, sailors, cattle herding, and dancing.! In 1988 I was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence to Rock and Roll. My songs tell stories and mix blues with folk and country style music. I’ve influenced songwriters from John Lennon to Kurt Cobain.! !!Please join me in a song.! LEAD BELLY & CHAIN GANG (Sing): !! ! On the Rock Island Line, there's a mighty good road On the Rock Island Line, it's a road to ride On the Rock Island Line, there's a mighty good road If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you find it !Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line Yes, the A B C -W X Y Z !Cats in the cupboard but they can't see me On the Rock Island Line, it's a mighty good road On the Rock Island Line, it's a road to ride On the Rock Island Line, it's a mighty good road If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you find it !Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line I may be right and I may be wrong !You know you’re gonna miss me when I'm gone On the Rock Island Line, there's a mighty good road On the Rock Island Line, it's a road to ride On the Rock Island Line, there's a mighty good road If you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you find it ! Get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line Another “man” walks in with an acoustic guitar! JIMMIE RODGERS: Howdy Ya’ll Jailbirds and Little Kids, I’m the singing brakeman, Jimmy Rodgers. I’ve been called the FATHER OF COUNTRY MUSIC and my music has in- fluenced artists like U2, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, even ELVIS PRESLEY and THE ! BEATLES!! !Jimmie Rodgers, Lead Belly & CHAIN GANG (Sing): !! ! I had a friend named Ramblin' Bob Who used to steal gamble and rob He thought he was he was the smartest guy around But I found out last Monday That Bob got locked up Sunday They've got him in the jailhouse way down town He's in the jailhouse now - he’s in the jailhouse now I told him once or twice stop playin' cards and shootin' dice !He's in the jailhouse now Bob liked to play his Poker, Pinochle (pea-knuckle), Whist and Euchre (yoka) But shootin' dice was his favorite game Well, he got throwed in jail, with nobody to go his bail The judge done said that he refused a fine He's in the jailhouse now he's in the jailhouse now I told him once or twice quit playin' cards and shootin' dice He's in the jailhouse now ! ![CURTAIN] (prisoners stay onstage behind curtain) (leads stay in front) ELVIS runs on stage out of breath! ELVIS: ! Now that’s alright mama! I was just running all over the museum alerting my friends that you’ll be coming to see them.