Our Saviors Show
2014 · Our Saviors School
The Our Saviors Show is an original comic revue written for the students and staff of Our Saviors School (OSS). Built around the school's own band, improv team, and a roster of "several good boys who can't sing" and "many awesome girls who can sing," the show wraps a goofy mystery plot around the kids' musical and comedic talents.
The story opens at a school concert in the gym, where bandleader Mr. Shaffer is interrupted with terrible news: every Our Saviors teacher has been kidnapped. The famous Morgan County lawman Sheriff Sandy Duvendale — heralded each time by a dramatic chord from the band — arrives with his hyper, fast-talking sidekick Barney to crack the case. Meanwhile, in the OSS basement, the gagged faculty squirm in their chairs under the watch of the mad scientist Eric Von Bonjean, his wormy assistant Smeegor, and the gum-chewing Carrie Oakey. Von Bonjean reveals his motive: revenge on the school that, years ago, made him study, stand in line for lunch, tuck in his shirttail, eat his green beans, and never named him Student of the Month.
The script is studded with running gags — the band's "Duvendale chord," the drummer's ill-timed rimshots, and the perpetual line "I mean the real teachers" — and is written to fold in real OSS students, staff, and audience members by name, making it a thoroughly local and affectionate production. After the students' improv antics, the captured speech teacher Mrs. Worrell turns the tables, the sheriff breaks in, and Von Bonjean finally confesses his lifelong failure to be the best at anything — only to learn from Duvendale that Our Saviors has a special place for everyone. The villain re-enrolls as a brand new student, and the show ends on a rousing closing number.
Cast
- Mr. Shaffer — the band/music teacher, who runs the concert
- Sheriff Sandy Duvendale — the Morgan County Sheriff (and the "Duvendale chord" gag)
- Barney — Duvendale's hyper, excitable deputy
- Eric Von Bonjean — the mad scientist and kidnapper, in lab coat and wild white wig
- Smeegor — Von Bonjean's wormy assistant who drags one leg, "a cross between Smeagol and Igor"
- Carrie Oakey — the ditzy, gum-chewing, heavily made-up henchwoman
- Mrs. Worrell — head of the speech team; the bound teacher who turns the tables
- Taylor, Bailey, Shannon, Morgan, Quinn, Chandler, Alex
- Mrs. Carney — faculty
Cast names are the character/role names exactly as written in the script; no actor names appear in the surviving sources.
Production Notes
- Venue / organization: Our Saviors School (OSS), Jacksonville — an original comedy written for OSS and set during an OSS band concert in the school gym.
- Staging: Six scenes alternate between the OSS gym and the OSS basement, staged with movable partitions that open to reveal the basement scenes. A live band/orchestra plays throughout — the Duvendale chord, the evil chords, and the schmaltzy piano under Von Bonjean's flashback and the closing inspirational number.
- Improv team: Built around the OSS Speech/Improv Team, who perform live audience-participation bits — the "freeze" picture game and the "World's Smartest Brain," a group brain that answers audience questions one word at a time, ending on "Period!"
- Audience interaction: Heavy throughout — actors solicit place names, weather, and questions from the crowd and address audience members by name.
- Running gags: The dramatic "Duvendale chord" whenever the sheriff's name is spoken; the recurring "I mean the real teachers" joke (about Mr. Shaffer) punctuated by drummer rimshots. The crime is classified as a "10-19-27-point-five: Premeditated Pilfering of Parochial School Teachers" (with a gag "12-14-point-three: Carrying an oversized purse in a parochial school").
- Von Bonjean's motive: As an OSS student he was made to study, stand in line for lunch, tuck in his shirttail, and eat green beans, was never chosen Student of the Month, and could never be the best at anything — basketball, baseball, or singing. His flashback is acted out by a young Von Bonjean (in knee-pants) on the gym-floor level.
- Local color: Numerous Jacksonville-area references are woven in — Triopia, Passavant, Routt (football), Casey's, Goodwill, the K.C. Hall, Mulligans, Lonzerotti's, Murrayville, and Mark Whalen at the radio station.
- Ending: Closes with Duvendale's "OSS is a mighty special place" speech, an inspirational hummed number, Von Bonjean re-enrolling, and a rousing closing song (the school song was suggested).
- The script file is dated January 6, 2014, matching the 2014 production year.
- Dave's working notes for the show read in full: "Several good boys who can't sing. Many awesome girls who can sing."