Performance
rights for this musical comedy
may be obtained by writing to kije@smcgregor.com
KIJE!
A MUSICAL FAIRY TALE
by Scott L. McGregor
Lyrics by Arthur
Benjamin
Music by Arthur
Darrell Turner
Script: HTML
PDF
MS-Word
Download Videos from Original
1980 production: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Select and Download Music
About Kije!
Magical Special Effects
Perfect for Large
Ensemble Cast
Inexpensive Staging
Show for all Ages
Updated Script Awaits New World Premiere
Characterizations
and Cast of Characters
Synopsis
The Birth of Kije!
About the Authors
Set Description
Contact
About Kije!
Kije! is a musical fairy tale. It was originally written for an annual
competition for new musical comedies sponsored at Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, PA. Kije! was the 1980 competition
winner and first premiered in the spring of 1980 at Carnegie Mellon University
as the University’s Spring Musical.
Magical Special
Effects
Kije! not
only features music and dance (as you would expect from a musical) but also a little bit of magic. Most of the
magic effects in the show are simple to master parlor tricks, with a few flash
pots, a dancing cane, an on-stage disappearance and a magical costume
transformation for special effects.
Perfect for
Large Ensemble Cast
Kije! is
particularly well suited for production by college, school, community theatre
groups and any other theatre troupe that has a large ensemble company and
wishes to give meaningful role to as many actors as possible. There are 13 major roles in total,
consisting of 7 major male roles (Murphy, the Wizard; Robin, the Minstrel; Sonny - A
Courtier, Larsen;
the Villain; The Count; a Noble Courtier; Sir Render, the Knight Courtier; and Dom, the
King), plus 5 major female roles (Ms. Wiz, the Wizard’s wife; Charity, a
lady-in-waiting; Merrilee, a lady-in-waiting; Faith, a
lady-in-waiting; and Hope, the Princess) and one role of either gender (Punch-the
Jester). Additionally the role of
the Wizard’s wife can be played in drag for comedic effect if desired. In addition to the major roles there
are unlimited chorus roles for soldiers, guards, servants, townspeople and
revolting peasants.
Inexpensive
Staging
Kije! is
also well suited to performance companies with limited budgets. The initial production was staged
with a single set consisting of 3 levels:
The main stage is used as “the Great Hall”. Castle walls upon which there are 3 balconies that
open off the royal apartments surround the main stage. Below the main stage in
the pit are the dungeon and the wizard’s lab. Scene changes require only a change in
lighting -- dimming one area,
bringing up lights in another. Any
other set dressing items desired for a scene can be easily carried in or out by
actors at exit or entrance. This
allows the show to move continuously at a fast pace – something that
today’s TV and Movie watching audiences have come to expect. See the notes on Set Design of the premiere performance, for more on the
stage set.
Show for all
ages
Kije! was
written with humor and meaning at many different levels from sophisticated
literary references, to groaners, puns, physical gags and pratfalls, making it
suitable for audiences of all ages and levels of sophistication. Young children instantly recognize the
archetypes of the King, Wizard, Princess, Villain and Hero and are amazed by
the magical effects, making it a fine choice for children’s theatre or family
fare. But with more
burlesque or adventurous directorial choices in staging dressing room and
seduction scenes the show can be geared for purely adult entertainment if
desired.
Updated
Script awaits New World Premiere
While the basic story line and character
archetypes are timeless, the show has undergone substantial changes and
updating since its initial premiere production at Carnegie Mellon
University. The authors are also
ready to work with a theatre company that wishes to produce the show to make
any changes necessary for production.
Downloads for Music (MP4s) and
Scores (PDF):
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Complete
Download |
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Overture |
Score |
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A Little Bit of Magic |
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A Simple Story |
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A Vision A Heart and a Feeling |
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Death of Kije |
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Finale |
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Gentle |
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I
Have Dreamed |
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I love Sin |
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I want a Man |
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Let Yourself Go |
Music |
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Love At Last |
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Love Letter |
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Punch's
Dream |
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Singing
Telegram |
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The Grand and Glorious Kije |
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The Letter |
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We Are Divided |
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Why Should I Cry? |
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Theme for Wednesday Night dance |
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Music Notes and Cues |
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CHARACTERIZATIONS AND CAST OF CHARACTERS (In Order of Appearance)
WUZ, the land
WUZ is a
kingdom under a curse. Things in
the kingdom are pretty confused.
One of the effects is that most everyone in the kingdom feels lost and
without a sense of direction. They
think that they want something but they already have it and don't realize it.
Murphy, the Wizard
An absent-minded but somewhat clever old man. Kind and likable. A bit of a wise acre,
with fairly bad jokes.
Inside him there is great magic, but he has yet to find it; instead he
blunders about with poorly executed "tricks". Like Schmendrick
in Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn, he wants to find the true magic within
himself, but he has confused magic with prestidigitation. His true magic is in his psychology,
his ability to see into people's characters and thus predict and manipulate
their actions.
Ms. Wiz, the Wizard’s wife
A real sexpot. This woman is a sort of Mae West figure whose mind is always on
one thing: sex. Ironically, she is
married to the cerebral Wizard who encourages her to fulfill her desires
through her houseboys and slaves.
She married the wizard out of an urge for power and domination, but
found that his wizardly powers don't seem to run in that direction. Frustrated, she seeks to dominate in
other ways. The wizard's reason
for marrying her: alas, another case of Murphy's Law, he drank his own love
potion.
Punch, the Jester
A fairly
morose character whose grief comes from being a de facto failed comic. Still, a true friend
who tries to cheer up the minstrel when he is glum. Punch wants to touch people, but he
thinks he can't do this because he can't be heard. In fact, his tragedy touches everyone deeply. Since he doesn't realize this, he has
turned to drink.
Dom, the King
A tired old man. His only joy is in
his daughter. Short-tempered, he
frequently wields the power of his office harshly and has intimidated many
members of his court. He wants loyal subjects. He sees everyone as lying to him
and is thus disappointed with them. He doesn't see
that it is their fear of disappointing him and their loyalty to him that makes
them try to deceive him, to tell him what they think he wants to hear, in the
first place.
Robin, the Minstrel
A bit of
Quixote, the minstrel is a romantic young man who lives too much in dreams and
is the victim of reality. He is
idealistic and struggles to be good and true and comes off as a bit of a
"goody-good". He is a
Dudley Do-right type. Since he is
an outsider, he is even more confused than the others, because he doesn't
really comprehend what is going on. In the end he is truly afraid, for while it
is fun to dream, when dreams become reality, as his story of Kije does, other people are really affected, and sometimes
the effects are not desirable.
Moreover, as his story becomes real, he loses control over what goes on
in it, and this loss of control is terrifying to him. He wants to be worthy of the princess, but he thinks that
his class prevents him. Yet he
really is worthy of her on the spiritual plane.
Charity Less, a
lady-in-waiting
A status climber. She lusts after
power and wealth. She's the type
who wants to marry a doctor and drive a Cadillac. She thinks that she wants material wealth, but needs
spiritual wealth, a friend to share things with.
Merrilee Ouigaux-Alon, a lady-in-waiting
A simple-minded sort. The
dumb-blond-type who just fawns upon any strong or masculine-type man. She thinks she needs physical strength
in her man, but really needs a spiritual strength and confidence.
Faith Holsom,
a lady-in-waiting
The sensitive type. She is the type who
always wants to be mothering someone or something, whether it is a child, a
pet, or her husband. She thinks
that she needs someone she can mother, but she really needs someone who she can
work with as a partner.
Hope, the Princess
A levelheaded but strong-willed young lady with much of the fire
of Kate from The Taming of the Shrew but with much better manners. She wants love and affection. She wants to be in love with someone worthwhile, a real
class act, but she limits herself from finding him by not looking beyond her
social class.
Sonny Dey,
a courtier
A sort of a puppy-dog-type character. A perpetual boy who never grows up. Perhaps a little vain about his boyish
good looks. A
bit more insecure than the rest.
He wants to grow up and to be loved, but he thinks he must appear to be
a lady-killer (which he is not) instead of just cute and vulnerable (which he
is).
Larsen E. Quivocator,
a villainous courtier
Sort of a Snidely Whiplash character, who does evil not simply
because it benefits him, but because he's in love with the idea of evil for its
own sake. However, he does not really enjoy real
evil as he discovers when he gets his just desserts in the end.
The Count Ur-Monet, a noble
courtier
A real windbag. Loves to talk just
to hear himself speak. Very conceited.
Aristocratic and snobby. Sort of a Charles
Emerson Winchester-III-type from M*A*S*H. He has power and money but thinks he has no friends.
Sir Render, a knight courtier
The type who
has a good deal of bravado but in reality is afraid of his
own shadow. The cowardly-lion-type from the Wizard of Oz. He thinks himself a coward (as do those
around him) but he is just confused about the difference between being brave
and not being afraid. When he
learns that it is okay to be afraid, he turns out to be brave indeed.
THE CHORUS ROLES:
The Soldiers of Wuz
These guys
are not really cowards, they are just tired, lost and lack leadership. They have been running away from
battles for ten years, only to be gathered together to fight and run away, once
again. It's not so much that they aren't strong, but rather they have no hope
of winning. They lack leadership
and a reason to fight.
The Palace Guards and Royal
Servants
The guards
and the servants aren’t
the brightest people.
They are dedicated but bumbling. The guards would fit right into a Keystone cops movie
scene, with pratfalls and more. Their motto would probably be "I never get
my man".
The Peasants and Townspeople
The
Peasants are revolting! That is,
they are stupid and dirty and all-around ignorant. Picture the peasants in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Townspeople might be a bit less
dirty, and certainly think themselves above the peasants, but they are not any
less ignorant. They are easily swayed, or led astray, by men of confidence (or
confidence men) such as Larsen.
SYNOPSIS
The play
consists of three acts. Each Act covers one day in length, beginning with
Wednesday morning (Act I) and running through Friday night (Act III).
ACT I
In Act I,
the Wizard and the rest of the people of the kingdom welcome the Princess back
to Wuz.
She has returned to Wuz to select a suitor and
get married. The King puts the Wizard
in charge of the evening’s festivities, and the Wizard complies with a little
magic, which fails badly. When this fails, the Wizard introduces the minstrel
who sings a beautiful ballad, during which the Minstrel falls hopelessly in
love with the Princess. The Princess
dances with each of the courtiers but is interested in none of them. After the dance, the ladies and Ms. Wiz
discuss who they think the princess will marry. She surprises them by telling them that
she is interested in none of the Courtiers, but shares with them her idea of a
dream lover. When the King hears
that the Princess is not interested in any of the Courtiers, he calls the Wizard
and asks for advice. The Wizard
suggests a competition, and when the King suggests that the most desirable
quality is honesty, the Wizard suggests telling a lie and seeing who corrects
the King first. The suggested lie
is about an imaginary hero, “Kije”. Unfortunately, none of the Courtiers
exposes the lie, but rather they all play along inventing fabulous tales of Kije's exploits.
The Princess hears this and falls in love with Kije. She sings of her love of Kije, as the Minstrel sings of his love of the
princess. Larson overhears the
princess and concludes that she has fallen in love with him.
ACT II
As Act II
begins, Ms. Wiz is pestering her husband for a new slave. We then find the minstrel discussing
the futility of his love for the princess with the jester, Punch. Meanwhile the king is worrying about
what to do about the princess being in love with the imaginary hero. The wizard suggests that they turn on
the heat a little more to see which courtier comes forth first. He suggests that the courtiers be asked
to produce Kije. The courtiers are worried that the King will want to hear
more, so they contract the minstrel to make up a further story. When the King calls them all together,
the Minstrel sings his ballad.
Then the princess asks the king to send for Kije,
which he was planning to do. The Courtiers
split up to figure out what to do.
Larsen's plan is to disguise himself as Kije
and seduce the love struck Princess.
As the seduction is being tried, the Minstrel worries about what to do
now that he is caught up in the lie.
He concludes that he must announce that Kije
has died. The guards announce this
just as the seduction begins to get serious, and Larsen is exposed. The Princess decides to become a nun
since she has lost the only man that she loved.
ACT III
As Act III
begins, Larsen is in the stocks, and the minstrel is ashamed of his own
involvement. When he finds out how
hurt the princess was, he is becomes bitterly unhappy. The King is also disturbed as he finds
out how the princess is taking it.
Hoping again to expose the lie he asks for more news of Kije, but the minstrel sings of the hero's fateful
demise. The Princess is particularly
touched, and suggests that Kije be brought home for a
hero's funeral. This suits the
King just fine, since he is sure that this will finally expose the lie. The courtiers are worried now, since they
must solve this problem without help from Larsen. They go to the ladies and retrieve a wooden box, some stones
to weight it with, and a coat of arms to drape it with to pretend it is the
remains of Kije. When the Minstrel sees the coffin, he decides that the only
suiting punishment for his own involvement is to be buried alive. He writes a final letter to the
princess purportedly from Kije and climbs in. As things seem to have reached their
absolute lowest point, the Wizard finally discovers the key to magic that has
eluded him. Instead of searching for
magic in his books, he turns to his intuition and just guesses. Suddenly his magic is working! Finally it is time for the funeral. The King insists that the Courtiers
open the coffin, but the Courtiers protest. Suddenly the soldiers march up. After having lost battle after battle for 10 years, they
have suddenly won the war, inspired by the noble exploits of Kije! The
soldiers open the coffin to give Kije the sword of
the commander of the enemy. The Courtiers
are astonished to see a body! The Princess
reaches over to pin a medal on him, and stabs him with the fastener. The Minstrel (transformed by magic into
the fancy dress uniform of an officer) cries out in pain revealing that he is
still alive. A celebration ensues
until it is discovered that he is the Minstrel, which he readily admits, thus
finally ending the lie of Kije. The Princess is hurt until she finds
out that it was the minstrel who wrote the final letter. The King is furious, but is guided by
the Wizard into seeing that the contest has finally produced the most noble person after all. The show ends as the planned wedding is announced and the
wedding and victory are celebrated.
PERFORMANCE NOTES: THE BIRTH OF KIJE!
Kije! was
originally conceived in 1978 by author Scott McGregor while he was a senior at
Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania.
While
suffering in bed with a feverish flu, a friend gave Scott a recording and
introduced him to a favorite piece of classical music, the Lt. Kijé Suite by
Sergei Prokofiev. On the back of
the record jacket was a one-paragraph blurb that said the music was originally
developed as a film score for a Russian movie and then later rewritten as an
orchestral suite. According to the
blurb the movements tell the story of Kijé. The birth of Kijé occurs when the Tsar,
listening to military advisors reading reports from the field, mishears part of
a report and imagines that he has heard the a report of a heroic lieutenant
named “Kijé”. The Tsar wants to hear know more about him. Since it
is a serious offence to contradict the Tsar, the military advisors invent
stories about this mythical person. The plot (and suite) continues with 4
stories told by the advisors: Kijé’s romance, wedding, the
couple leaving the wedding in a three horse open sleigh, and finally Kijé
‘s death and burial – thus ending the Tsar’s interest in the mythical
lieutenant.
The
combination of the music, the blurb, the fever, and a collection of Wizard of Id
comic strips penned by artist Johnny Hart, resulted in a vivid dream that Scott
subsequently recorded as notes for a future full-length play named Kije!
In 1979, as
a 2nd year graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, Scott
became aware of a prestigious contest to select the university’s annual spring
musical. Years before, Stephen Schwarz’ Pippin won this same contest and subsequently
went on to Broadway, where it became a Tony winner.
Scott then
created a treatment for Kije! conceived as a
musical fairy tale that would be enjoyable to both adults and children,
mountable on a single set, with a modest ensemble cast of players, with a
considerable freedom of interpretation left to the director. Scott submitted his treatment for consideration
and it was selected as one of three potential candidates for the final
production. The final decision would be based upon a complete script and
music. At this point, Scott added
two fellow Carnegie Mellon University students: lyricist Arthur Benjamin and
composer Arthur Darrell Turner as collaborators. The three worked diligently
and speedily to complete there submission by the final deadline.
When the
finalist’s scripts were all submitted and reviewed, Kije! was the year’s selection and premiered in April 1980.
In the
years since 1980, the show has been considerably reworked, featuring many new
and revised lyrics and music, as well as substantial changes to the ordering
and contents of the scenes. Music
and lyrics by others, which had been in the original show, have been replaced
to achieve a higher level of artistic consistency.
Scott
McGregor, author of Kije!, received a Bachelor's degree from Haverford College in
1978, and a Master's degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 1980. In addition to Kije!, he is the author
of Eggs, and Subplots, which were produced at Haverford College, Bryn Mawr College and Carnegie-Mellon University. He is a software entrepreneur in
Silicon Valley.
Arthur
Benjamin, lyricist, received his Bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University
in 1983, and received a Ph.D from John Hopkins
University. As well as writing
lyrics, he is an accomplished magician and mentalist, and is the only American
born lightening calculator presently performing. He has appeared on national TV, at Hollywood’s Magic Castle
and in a number of magazines in regards to his accomplishments as a lightening
calculator. He is a Professor of
Math at Harvey Mudd College.
Arthur
Darrell Turner, composer, received his Bachelor's degree in composition from
Carnegie Mellon University in 1984.
He has been involved in a number of theatrical ventures in the
Pittsburgh area. In addition to composing the music for Kije!, he has composed
the music for several musicals including a few for which he also wrote the book
and lyrics.
SET DESCRIPTION
The play
utilizes a single set of the Castle of Wuz. The main stage is divided into three
main playing levels. The lowest
level, the downstage area, represents the bowels of the castle. Down right is the MINSTREL and PUNCH's dungeon room.
Down center is an open playing area, and down left is the WIZARD's lab.
The next level, the center and upstage floor areas are elevated from the
downstage areas by three or four foot tall platforms. This level contains five entrances and is joined to the
downstage area by four sets of stairs.
The entrances are up right, up center, up left, center right and center
left. The stairs are down left, down right, and a pair down center. This level comprises the great hall and
various rooms in the castle. The
final level consisting of three balconies, center right, up center and center
left are balconies adjoining the rooms of the royalty. Specifically, the center right balcony
is the KING's balcony, center left is the PRINCESS's balcony and up center is the center passageway.
The play consists of 3 acts, each act being one day in length, starting with Wednesday afternoon. The other acts begin with dawn and end at midnight. Act I begins on Wednesday. There are no breaks between scenes, as the play is designed to flow smoothly from scene to scene without blackouts, through the use of the unified stage areas. All props may be carried on and off stage by the principals who use them. The WIZARD remains on stage at all times. When not otherwise occupied, he spends his time in his lab staring into his crystal ball, lit only by dim green light diffused upon him from below the crystal ball.