Hilltowns Players is proud to present our fall musical: Deck the Halls! An original and heart warming Christmas tale with new music and well-known carols about the true meaning of the holiday.
Book, lyrics and music written and arranged by
PENNY SHAW
--Copyright@2015--
It's just two days before Christmas and scroogy Ms. Halls has told her young assistant Ms. Jones to lay off the long-time employees and cut the rest of the staff's pay by fifteen percent in order to make more money for the company. Jones refuses and Halls fires here. Jones complains to her homeless friend Annie. Annie urges Jones to “walk a mile” in Halls shoes and persuades Jones to try to find a way to help Halls have a change of heart. Jones returns to Halls and offers to work for free for a year thus allowing the employees to keep their jobs and their pay rate. In trade, Jones says Halls must agree to spend the next 24 hours following her around and doing every thing she says to do. Always willing to make a buck, Halls agrees. They first buy a new pair of shoes then head to the nearby park where they meet a homeless man named Bobby who lovingly refers to his bench as his “home”. Jones instructs Halls to give Bobby the new shoes in trade for Bobby's worn-out workboots, which Halls has to wear for the remainder of their time together. Throughout the Act One scenes, Halls begrudingly meets a variety of characters and slowly learns valuable lessons from them: charity bell-ringers who themselves are down on their luck but want to help others; shoppers who willingly give to charity; homeless people who are grateful for a warm meal and a place to sleep at the rescue mission; children in a Kids Club who volunteer their time performing at a soup kitchen and a nursing home. The act ends with Jones telling Halls that they are going to spend the night sleeping on cots at the rescue mission, much to Halls' dismay.
Act Two opens with an angel choir singing and it is revealed that Bobby and Annie are angels in disguise . They've been given Halls as a heavenly assignment in order to help Jones with this hard task. They appear to Halls in a dream and take her to the local jail where they see two young cell mates—Smitty, and Jones' younger sister-- which reminds Halls of when she spent time in jail during her youth. The angel duo next take Halls to a nursing home where they listen to a conversation between Jones and her Aunt Sophie who is a resident. Though Sophie is a bit of a crusty character, she advises Jones to try to treat Halls with love. Sophie is a lot like Halls' grandmother who dearly loved and cared for her. Halls remembers her grandmother telling people to not have a funeral for her but rather a celebration of life, as we hear the Church Choir sing “Glory Hallelujah”. The choir fades away (along with Bobby and Annie) and a young angel appears, having a heart to heart talk with Halls about the need to have faith as a child. As they finish singing their duet, the lights come up and Halls has indeed changed. She wakes Jones, apologizes for lacking compassion and vows to give her job back at full pay, along with all the other employees—and promises to give jobs and find homes for the homeless people she has met. As the finale is sung, Jones “decks” Halls with x-mas tree icicles!
HALLS (male or female, early 40's to late 50's)
(229 lines; one solo; in some chorus numbers)
…..a calloused, hard-nosed, money-hungry millionaire who is about to get a major over-haul of the heart and spirit.
JONES (male or female, late 20's to mid-30's)
(148 lines; one solo; in some chorus numbers)
…..has a heart of gold; risks her job to help the boss (Halls) learn how to have compassion for others...not an easy task, but has just enough strong-headedness to attempt the impossible.
ANNIE (female...late 50's to late 60's)
(58 lines; short solos; in some chorus numbers)
…..a matronly, lovable angel disguised as a homeless person.
BOBBY (male...late 50's to early 70's)
(88 lines; one solo; in some chorus numbers)
…..lovable angel disguised as a homeless person; fatherly
RINGER #1 (male or female...late teens to early twenties)
(27 lines; one duet; also sings in chorus scenes)
…..a good-hearted young person who works all day yet makes time to ring the bell at a charity-donation bucket.
RINGER #2 (male or female...late teens to early twenties)
(25 lines; one duet; also sings in chorus scenes)
…..a good-hearted young person
PASTOR (male or female...late forties to late sixties)
(22 lines; also sings in chorus scenes)
…..another one of those good-hearted souls
PAT (male or female...early 30's to mid-fifties)
(28 lines; also sings in chorus scenes)
...yet another good-hearted soul.
JIMMY/JANIE (...7-9 years old;)
(18 lines; also sings in chorus scenes)
...very innocent yet head-strong
SMITTY (male or female; early twenties)
(7 lines; one solo; also sings in chorus scenes)
...a calloused inmate who has given up
JONESY (male or female; late teens)
(5 lines; sings in chorus scenes)
...a new inmate whose hope is starting to fade
WARDEN (male or female...early 30's to early fifties)
(1 line; sings in chorus scenes)
...on guard, of course!
SOPHIE (female...early 70's to late 80's)
(16 lines; sings in chorus scenes)
...one feisty old lady who has a heart of gold but doesn't pull any punches!
FAITH (a young female...age ten to young teen)
(35 lines; sings a duet with Halls)
...a sweet, innocent child sent from heaven.
*SHOPPERS/HOMELESS PEOPLE/ANGELS/GOSPEL CHOIR of all ages!
*ACT ONE*
PROLOGUE: In the park. (*The entire show takes place within a 24-hour period.)
“Deck the Halls”.....Full Cast
SCENE ONE: Halls' Office
“All Fired Up!”.....Jones
SCENE TWO: In the park
“On This Silent Night”...Annie; and the Cast as Homeless Citizens
“It's Home!”...................Bobby; and the Cast as Homeless Citizens
SCENE THREE: A busy sidewalk nearby
“Good King Wenceslas”...The Ringers; and the Cast as Shoppers
SCENE FOUR: A pathway through the park
SCENE FIVE: A soup-kitchen at the Rescue Mission
“Here We Come a Wassailing”...Bobby, Annie, and Cast
“Angels We Have Heard on High”.....Full Cast
*ACT TWO*
OVERTURE: Heavens Gates
“Angels Watching Over Me”.....the Cast as Angels
SCENE ONE: The sleeping quarters at the Rescue Mission
SCENE TWO: The county jail
“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”...Smitty, Bobby, and Annie
SCENE THREE: Outside the assisted living nursing home
SCENE FOUR: The assisted living nursing home
“Jingle Bells” adaptation...Full Cast
SCENE FIVE: Somewhere in a dream
“Glory Hallelujah!”...the Cast as a Church Choir
“Faith as a Child”.....Halls and Faith
SCENE SIX: Back at the Rescue Mission
“Deck the Halls” Finale.....Halls, Jones, and Cast
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.