2010 Traveling Theatre
2010 · Touring production — 17 elementary schools across the Jacksonville, Illinois region (Nov 30 – Dec 8, 2010)
Ken Bradbury's 2010 traveling theatre production was Oh, That's Different! — an original children's play about prejudice and acceptance, written and directed by Ken (script title page dated August 19, 2010) and performed by his Lincoln Land Community College theatre class. Three frightened new kids with tails — Shontail, Buttley, and Reardon — arrive at a school and run into kids with big ears, kids with big noses, and kids with horns, each group convinced it alone is "normal." Through comic retellings of American history (Christopher "Columb-ear," Ben Franklin's horns and his discovery of electricity, and the "Sniff-a-jawea" Lewis & Clark trek) and a string of songs, the new kids reveal their hidden tails and everyone learns that what's on the outside doesn't matter — and to celebrate the differences that make each person who they are. An interactive, audience-participation show, the cast addresses the children directly — asking their names, fears, and favorite ice cream — to make the point that everyone is the same on the inside.
The spring 2011 LLCC program recaps the play as Now That's Different! — the same fall 2010 touring children's show.
Songs
Ken wrote an original score for the show; the music and effects tracks were recorded August–September 2010. In Ken's own running order:
- Opening
- Different — the title song ("Everyone's a little bit dif'rent… But me… / The only normal person in the whole wide world… / The only average person I can see!")
- Sailor — Columbus / "Columb-ear" ("Fourteen hundred and ninety two! Columb-ear sailed the ocean blue!")
- Doodle — Ben Franklin
- Franklin — "Ben Franklin went out with his kite on a dark and stormy night"
- Shake
- Roll
- Lightning — Lightning Strike ("Benjamin Franklin had discovered… Electricity!")
- Riding / Horse Lope — Lewis & Clark ("Merriweather Lewis and William Clark! 1804!")
- Fast Riding
- The Odd Ones — "Oh it's the odd ones… who make the world go 'round"
- Coat — Shontail's coat comes off and a tail drops down behind her
- Finale — "Celebrate the differences that make us who we are… Everyone's a star"
The title song Different survives as an archival audio recording dated August 12, 2010.
Cast
The company was organized by costume type:
- Big Noses — Nosetradamus (John Love), Nasala (Annie Schone), Beaker (Ryan Harris)
- Big Ears — Lobey (Brandon Smith), Aural (Billie Smith), Flapper (Anika Velie), Pierce (Michael Baker)
- Horns — Antley (Wes Burton), Pointdexter (Tim Phillips), Buck (C.J. Beckwith), Caribou (Katie Taylor)
- Tails — Buttley (Jessica Clinton), Reardon (Phillip Whited), Shontail (Erin Washington)
Production Notes
- Oh, That's Different! was written by Ken Bradbury; the script and its character breakdown are both dated August 19, 2010.
- Produced by the Lincoln Land Community College Theatre as the work of Ken Bradbury's Lincoln Land theatre class — their first semester's work.
- Toured 17 area elementary schools in fall 2010, running November 30 – December 8 across the Jacksonville, Illinois region: North Jacksonville, Franklin, Franklin Elementary, Lincoln, Roodhouse, Murrayville, White Hall, Our Saviors, Chandlerville, Washington, Winchester, Triopia & Trinity Lutheran, Meredosia, South Jacksonville, Westfair, and Beardstown (Brick School).
- The full score — Opening, Different, Columbus, Franklin, Horse Lope, The Odd Ones, Doodle, Lightning Strike, Shake, Roll, Coat, and Finale — was recorded under Ken in August–September 2010.
- Surviving archival audio: the title song Different, recorded August 12, 2010.