DAVID ABBINANTI David Abbinanti is Vice President of Music & Creative at Broadway Licensing as well as a national award-winning composer, songwriter and orchestrator. Credits include SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER THE MUSICAL (Orchestrations, Arrangements and Additional Music & Lyrics), BEAT BUGS: A MUSICAL ADVENTURE” (Book, Arrangements & Orchestrations)—both written with Sean Cercone, CLUE: A NEW COMEDY WITH MUSIC (Music), DISENCHANTED (Orchestrations and Arrangements), THE PERFECT DOG (Music and Lyrics), GHOST THE MUSICAL; (Orchestrations), GHOST THE MUSICAL CHAMBER VERSION (Orchestrations and Arrangements), BEEHIVE (Orchestrations and Arrangements), RING OF FIRE 5-THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH; (Additional Arrangements) and Molly Shannon’s TILLY THE TRICKSTER (Orchestrations); Tour, Stock & Amateur editions. Before joining Broadway Licensing, David was a Vice President at Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW), where he oversaw all curation of scores, scripts, recordings, arrangements and orchestrations for TRW’s catalog of shows. Ranging from children’s musicals to major Broadway blockbusters, shows included were JERSEY BOYS, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, GREASE, MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT, BIG FISH, ALL SHOOK UP and many more. He was the fi rst recipient of the Songwriters Guild of America’s National Award for Best Pop Song for “Back to Las Vegas”–part of his debut CD-Local Train to Babylon. David has worked as a music engraver and editor for many of the major publishers in New York City including G. Schirmer, Peer Music and Boosey & Hawkes. He is also a member of the adjunct faculty at Nassau Community College, where he teaches songwriting, music theory, and the history of rock and roll. David is a proud member of ASCAP, The Dramatists Guild of America and the American Federation of Musicians (Local 802). Page 6 www.broadwaylicensing.com Director’s Edition BEAT JV Dramaturgy Our musical is based on the animated series by the same name. Beat Bugs (the animated series on NETFLIX) revolves around the lives and adventures of fi ve charming and funny child-like bugs who live in an American-style backyard. First released in 2016, Beat Bugs charmed families with young children with its storytelling, fun characters, and the music of The Beatles. The characters (the Beat Bugs) live in an overgrown backyard fi lled with fun, music, and adventure. Together with their friends from around the backyard, they explore, invent, have fun, and sing. While they often get into mischief, they always get by with courage, creativity, and a little help from their friends. Director’s Edition BEAT JV www.broadwaylicensing.com Page 7 JV Edition Adapted by Marc Tumminelli JV Edition Conceived and Workshopped at Broadway Workshop - New York City, Summer 2018 Page 8 www.broadwaylicensing.com Director’s Edition BEAT JV There are a lot of pop culture references related to the humor in Beat Bugs. Make sure your cast understands these jokes. Take some time during the rehearsal process to show them or explain to them the references to A CHORUS LINE, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, LES MISÉRABLES, WEST SIDE STORY, The Yardbirds, Joe Cocker, and the 1960’s in general. Beat Bugs is really about sharing this amazing music with a new generation of young people. It’s so incredibly fun for the audience to hear kids sing these songs. It’s unexpected and very heart warming. It’s important that while learning these songs for your show, your cast should be listening to the actual recordings of all these songs. Hearing the original recordings will help your cast get a better understanding of the feel and style of these songs. Students might fi nd the style of music in this show challenging because of its complex rhythms. Plan a little extra time for music rehearsals, if possible. Keep drilling the rhythms and melodies so your cast can have fun on stage when it’s show time. Beat Bugs can work with a small cast or a very large one. There are so many features and lots of opportunities for everyone to have a featured moment or two. If you have a large cast, I would suggest separating them out into groups. Not everyone has to be in every musical number or scene. You can split your ensemble into a few smaller groups – Miner Birds, Band Members, and General Insects. There are lots of opportunities for your full cast to be on stage together but having some smaller groups will make your scenes work better as well as allow for fast transitions. You are going to have a blast with Beat Bugs. Our audiences loved watching their kids in this show and we know yours will too! Let your imagination run wild as you create this world with your cast. We know this music and that sense of wonder and imagination will stay with your cast long after the show is over! Marc Tumminelli, Broadway Workshop Page 10 www.broadwaylicensing.com Director’s Edition BEAT JV THE QUEEN-BEE: The Queen of our Bug Town. JOE COCKEROACH: A rockstar bug who comes to perform at the Beat Bugs shows. MINER BIRDS: Rough characters in yellow hard hats and neon vests who work for Mean Mr. Mustard. SGT. PEPPER’S BAND: A wild and fun Band that performs in the town square. ENSEMBLE: Throughout Beat Bugs the Ensemble will play various characters including insects, fi refl ies, assist-ants, strawberries, grass, birds, etc. If there are a large number of students in ensemble, the director may choose to divide the actors into the various groupings to allow more kids to be part of the show. Page 12 www.broadwaylicensing.com Director’s Edition BEAT JV WALTER JAY CRICK nœ nœ nœ & & & nœ nœ nœ KUMI BUZZ MEAN MR. MUSTARD nœ nœ & & & bœ nœ nœ nœ PRUDENCE & nœ nœ SCENE 1 THE BACKYARD BEGIN TRACK 1 (SFX of chirping birds…the sun is just starting to rise. Our ENSEMBLE enters. Throughout BEAT BUGS the ENSEMBLE will play various characters including insects, strawberries, grass, birds etc.) 1. OPENING: SUN KING Easy 78 q = INSECTS: 8 n f P #### 4 nn n w ˙ & 4 w ˙ Ó ˙. œ w Ah. Herew comes˙ theœ Sunw 14 GROUP 1 INSECTS: , & Ó w w# wn w# #King.˙ Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. GROUP 2 INSECTS: & ∑ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ŒÓ Œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ŒÓ Ev-- 'ry bod - y's laugh --ing. Ev 'ry- bod- y's hap - py. 19 # # . œ œ Ó # # & w ˙. œ w˙ œ ˙ Here comes the Sun King. (We see MR. SUN turn and come to life on stage as he oversees the backyard, the INSECTS have all gathered to hear what he has to say) MR. SUN: "HELLO, everyone out there." (beat) "I said, HELLO EVERYONE OUT THERE!...It’s so wonderful to see all of you. For those of you who have forgotten what I look like, or if you live in Seattle, I am Mr. BroadwaySun! They call me the King of the Backyard."Licensing Perusal LITTLEST INSECT: "Um...who calls you that?" MR. SUN: "Shh, sit down little one. (He laughs.) MR. SUN (CONT'D):NOT "I know many of FORyou have joined PRODUCTION us today to answer that age-old question; How did a simple field filled with strawberries get so famous? Now that is a very interesting story. “Imagine,” if you will, yourself as a tiny bug in a ginormous backyard and well…you’ll see." 23 Segue to #2 # # 11 U # # ∑ & END TRACK 1 Director’s Edition BEAT JV www.broadwaylicensing.com Page 17 (MR SUN exits and the INSECTS scatter.) BEGIN TRACK 2 2. GOOD DAY SUNSHINE/I’M SO TIRED Peppy = 135 q Swing! ŒÂ = Œ lj (Lights come up on CRICK, asleep in his bed. Music builds, then JAY bursts onto the stage with his skateboard.) ƒ JAY: ## 4 j & 4 ∑ œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ Ó Good day, sun - shine! 4 # j f # œ. j œ œ Ó œ. œ œ ‰. r Œ‰j & œ œ œ œ œ œ œn œ œn œ œ œœœn Good day, sun - shine! Good day, sun - shine!œ I need to laugh and when the 9 3 3 # # j‰Ó œ œ ‰ j ‰ Ó Œ j‰Ó & œ œ œ œn œ œn œ œ œ œ œ sunœ isœn out, œ I've got some-- thing I can laugh a bout.œn œ I feel good inœn a spe- cialœ way.œn œ JAY: (looking at CRICK…in a loud whisper) "Crick? Crick? Wake up! Come on, dude." (CRICK doesn’t budge) 14 4 ## j # & œ œ œ œ œn ‰ œn Œ I'm in love and it'sœ a sun- nyœ œn day! œ JAY (CONT'D): "LAWNMOWER!!!!!!!!!" Broadway Licensing(CRICK leaps up from his sleep screaming Perusal and running around) JAY (CONT'D): CRICK: (tiptoeing over to CRICK, "Where?! WHERE!?" (music back in… CRICK is bending down andNOT screaming (realizes…then FOR to JAY) PRODUCTIONnot amused and just wants into his ear---MUSIC OUT) "I hate it when you do that." [on to m. 22] to go back to sleep) 20 END TRACK 2 BEGIN TRACK 3 JAY: "I said--" # U # 4 & . ∑ . ∑ # 42 ∑ 4 Page 18 www.broadwaylicensing.com Director’s Edition BEAT JV (CRICK groans and puts 23 the pillow over his head) FCRICK: # 4 n & # 4 ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ Ó Œ n I'mœ ƒ JAY: # 4 j j j j n & # 4 œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ Ó œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ Ó œ. œ œ œ œ œn œ ‰Ó n Good day, sun - shine! Good day, sun - shine! Good day, sun - shine! L'istesso tempo, straight 8th's 29 (CRICK) & j‰Œ ŒŒ Œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ so tired,œ I have- n't slept a wink.