Fortie Family Flyer: 2010

We had our family picture taken a while ago and I copied it to show family, Here is a small one to let you all see it.

They asked me to write and direct the road show this year. Each ward does a 6 minutes show based on a common theme. They gave us a week to write it and a week to practice. The topics were nursery rhymes. We drew Eency, Weency Spider. I was busy so I put it off until Friday. I was thinking about it through the week though and Friday afternoon I sat down and wrote it up in about 2 hours. I handed it in on Saturday, the deadline, and went around during priesthood and Relief Society on Sunday asking people to help out. I didn't have too many takers. Finally someone volunteered to make the costumes and I convinced some of the youth to come out for a few practices. Since I did it last time I knew what to expect. About the only person willing to really put some time into it (besides the person making the spider costumes) was an inactive artist who lives around the corner. He put a lot into making the rain spout and I was very grateful. I wrote it so it would be easy since people don't put much into things these days. I made it so most of the parts could be read, as if reading the story from the book, and then some kids would just act out what was being read. I also wrote it that way since the microphones don’t really do a good job of picking things up from across the stage so the microphone could just be in hand as they read the story. It was a good thing I made it easy, two of the kids who came to practice didn't even come the night of the show. Some of the parts called for heavy accents, since we do that around our house all the time I didn't think it would be hard but Jennifer and Michelle were the only ones who could do the accents. Well, I pieced it together and got a few people from the choir to help out with the singing parts. After reassigning parts, to replace the no shows, and giving myself a part we went on stage when our turn came. I had someone throw paper shreds on the stage for the rainstorm and shouldn't have, it was harder to clean up than I thought. All in all, based on the time spent in practice, it went very well. Each ward performs and they give us a few minutes between to take down and clean up. At the end of the night they gave out several awards and we won best script. That was a strange since I spent so little time on it. I was so busy that I didn’t think to have someone videotape the show or even take pictures so I don’t have much of a record of it. Well, that’s it for this week.

The night of the roadshow Sister Hutchings finally agreed to play the mom since I couldn't get anyone else.
Michelle did the southern accent lines and Jennifer was the roadshow policeman.
Here is the script:

Eensy Weensy Spider the Musical

OPENING SCENE:

A big chair is in front of the curtain and off to one side. Ward choir is sitting in chairs just in front of, and below the stage, facing the audience. Little sister wants mommy to read a story but mommy is on the phone and can’t do it right now. They are in front of the curtain on the other side from the chair.

Sarah (little sister): (Tugging on mommy’s skirt)

Mommy, mommy read me a story.

Mom:

Just a minute dear, (continues talking on phone) Yes, it’s been a little crazy around here with all the cousins visiting from Alabama.

Rachel (big sister): (Enters)

Come here Sarah, mom’s busy, Billy Bob and I will read you a story. (They go sit in the big chair with a book and Rachel reads the cover.)

The Big Book of Little Nursery Rhymes. (They then open the book and big sister reads the title)

Eensy Weensy Spider. Oh, this is an easy one. (She now reads the rhyme fairly fast.)

The eensy weensy spider went up the water spout.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.

Now eensy weensy spider went up the spout again.

The end.

Sarah:

The end, THE END?… wait a minute, you just started.

Rachel:

Well, that is the end of that nursery rhyme.

Sarah:

(Pause, asks questions trying to keep them there to read more stories.) I don’t get it…(pause) what’s a water spout? What’s eensy mean? Spiders are yucky. Why would you want to climb a water spout anyway?

Rachel:

Okay, okay, I’ll tell it again, this time I’ll read between the lines. This is a story about a nice little spider, and when I say little I mean really little.

Billy Bob (with a southern accent):

Ya see, Sarah, Eensy is his first name and Weensy’s his middle name, and Eensy ain’t no bigger than the tail of a gnat.

(Curtains open up to a spider family standing near a waterspout with the little spider towards the front. They act out everything the kids read.)

Choir: (to the tune of Itsy Bitsy, Tiny Weenie, Yellow Polka dot Bikini)

It was an Itsy Bitsy, Eensy Weensy, little teeny, hardly see me,

Climbing spider in that rain spout today.

Sarah:

Wow, that was cool, I like reading between the lines.

Rachel: (looking surprised at the choirs help, then just shrugs)

Yah, umm, so, since the cute little spider was sooo little he decided to climb up the water spout to see what he could see. Oh, by the way, a water spout is like the rain gutter on the side of our house.

Choir: (To the tune of “Bear Went Over the Mountain”)

Oh, the spider went climbing the rain spout, the spider went climbing the rain spout, the spider went climbing the rain spout, to see what he could see. And all that he could see, and all that he could see, was the very top of the rain spout, the very top of the rain spout, the very top of the rain spout was all that he could see.

Sarah:

Wow, mom never tells stories like this.

Rachel:

Yah, I usually don’t either, (mumbles) this is, like, so weird. (Clears throat.) Anyway, he didn’t actually know what he was going to see but he wanted to find out. So he said goodbye to his mommy and daddy and set off on his journey up the rainspout.

Billy Bob: (Interrupts, Rachel looks at him real weird – like she is frustrated with his strange interruptions.)

I think that little speck is one fry short of a happy meal. But anyways, this here is where the scary part of the story commences to happenin’. While that there little spider was a climbin’ up yonder rainspout, a gynormous rain cloud comes a blowing in from the bad part of town.

(A dark rain cloud enters the stage – drooping.)

Choir: (To the tune of “The Addams Family Theme”).

It’s creepy and it’s spooky, that rain cloud is quite droopy.

It’s raining on our roofy, so dark we just can’t see.

Da, da, da, dum, click, click, da, da, da, dum, click, click

Da, da, da, dum… da, da, da, dum… da, da, da, dum, click, click.

Billy Bob:

Wow, that’s so scary it’d make the hair stand up on my Aunt Betty Lou’s hairless cat, anyways, it was the meanest rain cloud since Noah shut the door on his houseboat, and when it got over that there house it commenced to dumping its rain right down that spout like a busted beaver dam.

Choir: (To the tune of “I’ve been working on the Railroad”)

I’ve been raining down the rainspout, all the live long day.

I’ve been raining down the rainspout, just to wash that spider away.

Can’t you hear the wind a blowing. While you’re climbing up the spout.

Can’t you see the rain a falling, ready to flush you out.

Rachel:

Tyler! You’re going to scare her, that’s enough out of you. I’ll tell this story. So anyway, even though the rain was pouring down the spout, the little spider tried his hardest to hang on and keep going. He put all his strength into it but it was just too much and he was just too small so he got washed right down the spout.

Choir: (To the tune of Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho.)

Oh, Eency fought the battle with the rain cloud, rain cloud, rain cloud.

Oh, Eency fought the battle with the rain cloud, but he still came tumbling down.

Billy Bob:

So down he went, tumbling down that spout like a cat in a dryer, then he shot out into the mud slicker than a greased pig at the fair. SPLASH!!! Stuck in the mud and there ain’t no moving a muscle. Meanwhile back at the web, his ma and pa were getting’ worried on a count a that terrible storm, so they went to the water spout to see where little Eensy was. His ma was as frantic as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs, so she climbed on in ta that there spout to fetch her poor boy but soon came back out to tell his pa that he warnt nowhere to be found.

Choir (to the tune of “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?):

I don’t see our Eensy’s in the drain pipe.

The one who got caught in that gale.

I don’t think our Eensy’s in the drain pipe.

I hope he waren’t hurt by that hail.

Billy Bob:

So Eensy’s pa went ta lookin’ franticly through the mud for his little boy and finally found him in a heap, lookin like somethin the dog’s been keepin under the porch. They could hardly tell him from a tar baby. His ma asked if he was okay and his pa said the engine was a runnin’ but nobody was drivin’.

Poor Eensy, he was sooo sad.

Choir (to the tune of Do Your Ears Hang Low?):

Do your lips hang down, do they wobble as you frown?

Can you tie them in a knot, do they drag across the ground?

Do they droop from ear to ear do your friends run home in fear.

Does your frown hang down?

Rachel:

Oh Tyler you make this story so scary. Let me tell it. Eensy’s mommy got Eensy all cleaned up and fed him a nice warm dinner and made sure he got a good night sleep. The next day they all went outside to get some exercise. Eensy’s dad decided that it would be good for Eensy to try climbing the water spout again so he would get stronger.

Choir (to the tune of “Go On and Kiss the Girl”):

Now’s your moment, and you see the sky is blue.

There is not a lot to say, just believe you can do it.

And if some things go wrong, it’s gonna make you strong,

Go up and see the world.

Shanna nanna nanna don’t be scared You’ve got to climb that spout so you can see the world, Wo-wo

Tyler:

But Eensy just didn’t think he could do it any more.

Choir (To the tune of (I Won’t Grow Up):

(solo) I won’t go up, (echo) I won’t go up.

(solo) I don’t wanna see the world. (echo) I don’t wanna see the world.

(solo) I’ll get trapped in muddy water, (echo) I’ll get trapped in muddy water.

(solo) When that spout begins to hurl. (echo) When that spout begins to hurl.

Sarah:

Come on Eensy, you can do it, I believe in you, my daddy says you have to believe in yourself. I know that one of these times you will make it. Be of good cheer.

Choir: (to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”)

Climb, climb, climb the spout, steady as she goes.

Be of good cheer, be of good chear,

No matter how it blows.

Rachel:

Your right Sarah, Eensy has to believe in himself and keep on trying no matter how hard it gets.

Choir (to the tune of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”)

When Eensy goes marching up again hurrah, hurrah.

He’s going to make us proud of him hurrah, hurrah.

The clouds may come and the winds may blow

but Eensy keeps climbing the spout you know

And we all keep smiling out in the rain, and the sun boom, boom, boom

Road Show police: (New York accent)

All right, All right break it up this is supposed to be a six minute road show and you guys are already 1 minute over. Come on, get this junk off the stage we gotta get the next ward on here. Let’s go keep moving, everybody off the stage.

Person planted in the audience:

Wait a minute we want to know if Eensy goes up the water spout again.

2 other people planted in the audience stand up and say together:

Ya, we want to know.

Road Show Policeman:

He probl’y goes up the spout, sees the world, meets a pretty reporter and gets married and has lots of kids and lives happily every after. What ever, keep moving.

Director: (comes out)

Don’t tell them what happens. That is a secret. They will have to come back next year to the sequel, Eensy’s Meets Charlotte on the Web.

(Road show police keep telling everyone to get off the stage as the curtain closes.)

The End