Yo Ho!
2003 · Elementary schools across central Illinois (Triopia Traveling Theatre road tour)
Yo Ho! was Ken Bradbury's original show for the 2003 Triopia Traveling Theatre, a company of two dozen Triopia High School students who packed up a pirate ship and took to the road each winter to perform for elementary children. As Ken explained in his letter to host principals, he wrote a new show each year "for elementary children, teaching some moral lesson." This year's story dealt with why we should tell the truth.
The action unfolds on the main deck of the Jolly Wally, a pirate ship crewed by a gleefully wicked band led by Captain Jeffrey Sniffle. They open by boasting of their badness in "Oh how good it is to be a bloody pirate," but the show is built around audience participation: at each school, a teacher or administrator steps in as "The Local Hero," winning a quick wooden-sword skirmish to protect the host students, while a group of local children don pirate hats to join the crew onstage. By the end, the pirates discover that honesty beats plundering, sending the young audiences home with a lesson wrapped in laughter, swordplay, and song.
The cast's gloriously grubby character names — Scabby, Nosehair, Earwax, Boogerbait, Slimewrinkle, Gumclapper — were half the fun, perfectly pitched to delight a gym full of grade-schoolers.
Musical Numbers
- Bloody Pirate
- Letter to Mumsy
- All Go Down
- Short Sword Fight
- Lovely Day
- Lovely Day (reprise)
- Captain's Dream
- Truth Rag
- Rainbow
- Truth Rock
- Letter to Mumsy (2)
- Kids Drum Entrance
- Kid Captain's Walk
- Honest to Goodness
- Curtain Call
Cast
- Captain Jeffrey Sniffle — Drew Snodgrass
- Scabby — Granger Snodgrass
- Grovel — Melissa Beard
- Sanddog — David Meyer
- Guttersnipe — Jodi Schone
- Nosehair — Nick Jackson
- Bellylint — Katie McGinnis
- Frogbottom — Brandon Beck
- Earwax — Andrew Waters
- Boarbreath — Matt Meyer
- Unibrow — Lincoln Hill
- Prickleneck — Andrew Hill
- Mushy — James Slocum
- Slimewrinkle — Matt Johnston
- Gumclapper — Katie McDannald
- Spinaltap — Jenna Post
- Rootcanal — Stephanie Nobis
- Boogerbait — Kayla Stock
- Harvey — Nick Stephens
- Penelope — Carly Joehl
- Oglethorpe — Joe Cates
The script also called for participants drawn from each host school: a Young Captain, a Young Captain's Crew, and a Local Hero played by a teacher or principal. Stage management duties were handled by Ryan Bradney.
Production Notes
Yo Ho! was written and directed by Ken Bradbury for the Triopia Traveling Theatre, made up of 24 Triopia High School students. The Triopia administration and board considered the tour a worthwhile part of the regular curriculum, so performances were offered to host schools free of charge.
The 2003 road tour ran the last week of January and first week of February, with the company traveling to elementary and middle schools throughout central Illinois — among them North, Jefferson, Washington, Our Saviors, Lincoln, Porta Central (Petersburg), Greenview, Cantrall, Winchester, Pittsfield, Jacksonville South, Triopia, Roodhouse, Franklin, and Westfair. A dress rehearsal was held at the Triopia Pre-School the day before the tour began.
Rehearsals stretched through the Christmas break, with the ship's set assembled over the holidays and Saturday-morning calls that, as Ken noted in his cast newsletters (The Blade), the students reliably showed up for on time and ready to work. Choreography came together with help from cast members James Slocum and Jodi Schone. Ken's between-show notes capture the affection behind the discipline — after the final performance he wrote, "I couldn't have asked for a better five-show run! Love you all! (really!)"