PREMIERE IN DORFGASTEIN, AUSTRIA - AUGUST 2008

The premiere performance (the script was "read" since a week is short) of the play and songs from "Racing to Chase Alice the Albatross" took place on 15 August 2008 in the beautiful alpine village of Dorfgastein, Austria.  The English-learning program was organised by the good people at the Amerika Institut in Vienna.  The Director Hermann Weissgärber (with his son, Vincent) took on the role of the "diabolical" Desmond Dippledoodle.  We also had a big helping hand from students attending Linfield College in Oregon who are spending a semester in Vienna.  And, of course, children (ages 6 to 15) from Dorfgastein played roles as the students, Plastic Pirates and singers.  There were a number of teachers who helped the students understand the challenging English of the dialog.  All in all it was a worthwhile experience for everyone involved.

Thank you so much!  Daniel Laubacher  

• Synopsis
• Character Roles
• Musical Numbers (listening, sheet music)
• Script
• Ordering the full version
• What did the Participants say about the musical?

 Prelude: Diving Bat Cavern (may be done in front of curtain with very soft light)

A tour guide takes a group of tourists down into Diving Bats Cavern to tell the history of The Darwin Group of Scientists at Sand Walk Island which is a small island between Hawaii and California discovered by Captain Clerke in 1779.   Clerke referred to the island as "a bit rock sticking out of the Pacific Ocean." (TRACK 1, TRACK 10 with a narrator voice for listening)

Scene 1: Dippledoodle’s Cavern in Underground Secret Passages

Desmond Dippledoodle (who insists that he is called Desmond "Diabolical") is down in the Underground Secret Passages of Sand Walk Island.  He is putting a GPS tag on an albatross and the Plastic Pirates are building large wooden crates.  Desmond tells the Plastic Pirates about the plan to unload the trash from cruise liners, cargo ships and fishing boats in the crates in order to save the vessels money on fuel.  But what will they do with the trash they "collect"?  Hint: Not good!  (TRACKS 2 and 3)

Scene 2: Wannaknow’s Classroom

Dr. William Wannaknow, a new environmental science teacher at the Sand Walk Island Earth Academy, talks to his students about the effects of plastics on the Earth.  He shows how much oil and water are needed to produce one plastic bottle of water. (You should know that it is very resource intensive!) They also talk about the many things we use each day which are made out of plastic.  (And how long do you think it takes to get rid of plastics?)

Scene 3: Director Peaderbody’s Office

Director Peaderbody is pacing back and forth in obvious "worry mode".  Dr. Wannaknow and Professor Curiosity come to Peaderbody's office to discuss the whereabouts of the teacher, Larry Gottfried, whom Dr. Wannaknow has just replaced.  It turns out that Larry Gottfried (who the students called "Godzilla")  was not at all who he claimed he was.  Dr. Wannknow discovered that Gottfried was his former roommate at the Sand Walk Island Earth Academy when he was a student and his real name is Desmond Dippledoodle.  Dippledoodle was also the son of former Director Maria Frances Edwards, who was the granddaughter of Sir James Phillip Edwards one of the orginal founders of the Academy.  But what is Dippledoodle up to and where is he now?  Peaderbody gives Dr. Wannknow and Professor Curiosity the task of leading the Darwin Group to find the solution of the trash coming in from the ocean and onto the shores of Sand Walk Island.  Before they head out to sea, Peaderbody takes them to the Marine Medical Facility to show them an albatross which was found nearly dead on the shores with the trash.  What did they find in the stomach of the albatross which the doctors nicknamed "Alice the Albatross". (TRACK 4)

Scene 4: Eclipse Boat in the Pacific Ocean (night time)

The students of The Darwin Group from the Academy are out at sea with Dr. Wannknow and Professor Curiosity.  Captain Stuart Moser is sailing the Eclipse, a solar-powered catamaran.  Why are they so far out in the Pacific Ocean in a place known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?  What concrete solutions could the Darwin Group offer to solve this problem of the trash on the beaches of their island?  Alice the Albatross landed on the Eclipse and Dr. Wannknow noticed there was an approaching boat on his navigator screen.  This eventually leads to Dr. Wannknow discovering what Desmond Dippledoodle and the Plastic Pirates were up to.   (TRACKS 5,6,7,8)

Scene 5: Sand Walk Island Earth Academy (a celebration)

The Darwin Group, Dr. Wannknow, Professor Curiosity and Captain Moser are given a hero's welcome.  The Darwin Group proposes that their new friends, the Plastic Pirates, should collect plastics from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and sell it to a company on a nearby island to make clothes and cheap laptop computers for people in poor countries.  But what what happened to Desmond Dippledoodle?  (Hint:  Unfortunately, Desmond will be back until we can solve enough problems on the planet which he can not profit from!).  And what last deed did Alice the Albatross do for the Sand Walk Island Earth Academy to save it from Dippledoodle's evil plans? (TRACK 9)

CHARACTER ROLES

Dr. William Wannaknow * (male or female as “Wilma” Wannaknow)
Professor Curiosity * - male or female
Director P. T. Peaderbody * - m or f
Desmond Dippledoodle * (aliases: Larry Gottfried, Captain Double D, “Diabolical”)(m)
Captain Stuart Moser: captain of the „Eclipse“ – m or f
Plastic Pirates: Pete, Bertha, Einstein, Fatty, Ratty, Sam
Six Students – m or f
Six or nine albatross chicks
Ms. Simpleton, personal assistant to Director Peaderbody (f)
Professors Humbugger and Bubbletree (m or f)
Alice the Albatross – voice only (best with a microphone from backstage) (m or f)
Narrator / Tour Guide (optional)

* These roles should be taken by actors / actresses with a good command of English

Ordering the dual-formatted CD

Racing to Chase Alice the Albatross

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