Different
2010 · Touring children's play — special performance at Trinity (Nov 28, 2010), then ~17 area elementary schools across west-central Illinois (Nov 30 – Dec 8, 2010).
Different is Ken Bradbury's original touring children's play — titled Oh, That's Different! on his script (dated Aug 19, 2010) and billed as Now That's Different! in the Lincoln Land Community College program. Three new kids with tails arrive at school, hiding under their coats, only to find the other students are visibly "different" too: kids with giant ears, big noses, and horns. At first every group insists it's the only "normal" one and trades prejudiced jabs, but through a string of comic re-tellings of history — Christopher Columb-ear discovering America by flapping his ears, Benjamin Franklin drawing lightning through his horns, and Lewis and Clark with their guide Sniff-a-jawea — and plenty of audience interaction, they learn that everyone is a little bit different and that what counts is what's inside. The new kids finally reveal their tails, are accepted, and the whole cast celebrates the differences that make us who we are.
Ken wrote the script and composed and produced the show's musical score; the surviving WAV music and effects tracks (dated Aug 13 – Sep 14, 2010) match the script's music cues exactly. He also ran the Lincoln Land Traveling Theatre tour — his cell phone was the contact listed on the performance schedule — and the actors were members of his Lincoln Land Community College theatre class.
Songs
- Everyone's a Little Bit Dif'rent / The Only Normal Person in the Whole Wide World — "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!"
- Columbus / Sailor cue (Christopher Columb-ear) — "Fourteen hundred and ninety two! Columb-ear sailed the ocean blue!" (Sailor Music cue) — "Flap like the wind, men!"
- Doodle cue (Benjamin Franklin) — "Like Benjamin Franklin!" (Doodle Music Cue)
- Franklin cue — "So Ben Franklin went out with his kite on a dark and stormy night!" (Franklin Music Cue)
- Shake / Roll — "His body began to shake!" (Shake Music Cue) "Shake, baby! Shake!" / "His eyes began to roll!" (Roll Music Cue) "Roll, baby! Roll!"
- Lightning Strike cue — "And hit his… Horns!" (Lightning Strike Cue)
- The Odd Ones — "Oh it's the odd ones… who make the world go 'round / They push it up and down… they lift it off the ground / And that's all right with me."
- Coat Music cue — "Don't touch my coat!" (Coat Music in)
- Finale: Celebrate the Differences — "Celebrate the differences that make us who we are / Don't be fooled by what you see… just get to know the one who's me."
Cast
Big Noses
- John Love — Nosetradamus
- Annie Schone — Nasala
- Ryan Harris — Beaker
Big Ears
- Brandon Smith — Lobey
- Billie Smith — Aural
- Anika Velie — Flapper
- Michael Baker — Pierce
Horns
- Wes Burton — Antley
- Tim Phillips — Pointdexter
- C.J. Beckwith — Buck
- Katie Taylor — Caribou
Tails
- Jessica Clinton — Buttley
- Phillip Whited — Reardon
- Erin Washington — Shontail
Production Notes
- Ken titled the script Oh, That's Different! (dated Aug 19, 2010); the 2011 LLCC program names the show Now That's Different! — same show. The program describes the actors' first-semester work as having "found them touring 17 area elementary schools with their children's play Now That's Different!"
- Performance schedule: a special performance at Trinity on Nov 28, 2010, then the Lincoln Land Traveling Theatre toured area elementary schools on Nov 30, Dec 1, Dec 7, and Dec 8, 2010 (depart 7:45 a.m.; cast had to be loaded and in makeup by departure). Stops included North Jacksonville Elementary, Franklin, Lincoln Elementary, Roodhouse, Murrayville, White Hall (Our Saviors), Chandlerville, Washington Elementary, Winchester, Triopia & Trinity Lutheran, Meredosia, South Jacksonville Elementary, Westfair, and Beardstown Brick.
- Tour logistics from the schedule: stage mamas Dana and Karol; drivers Jan and Maryjane; Bradbury's cell phone listed as the contact.
- The show's score survives as 15 WAV tracks dated Aug 13 – Sep 14, 2010: Opening, Different New, Columbus, fast horse, Horse Lope, Roll, Shake, Doodle, Dif. 2 Coat, Lightning Strike, The Odd Ones, Franklin, and Finale 1-2 / 2-2 — the cue names match the script's music cues exactly.
- Costume and staging concept: actors wore character "deformities" — giant ears, big noses, horns/antlers, and tails hidden under coats — performing for a seated elementary-school audience in front of pink/blue backdrop flats.
- The show is built around comic historical sketches: Christopher Columb-ear discovering America by flapping his ears, Benjamin Franklin discovering electricity through his horns, and Lewis & Clark guided by "Sniff-a-jawea."
- The thematic anthem "The Odd Ones" name-checks Harry Potter, Albert Pujols, Kobe Bryant, Spiderman, and Henry Ford: "it's the odd ones who make the world go 'round."
Photos