MisFits: The Musical
2012 · Jacksonville Theatre Guild
MisFits: The Musical began, by Ken Bradbury's own account, on a winter drive home from a rehearsal in 2010, when a friend got to talking about the ins and outs of running a pet shop. The Jacksonville Theatre Guild had asked Ken for an original show for 2012, and the seed took: a pet shop, puppet pets, fun. Over the next two years the idea grew on the road to Beardstown and back — "my God road," Ken called it, where the ideas always seemed to come — and the working title shifted from Pet Shop…The Musical to the one that stuck.
The story belongs to Monique, the limping granddaughter of Papa Gianni, whose pet shop is broke and one morning away from the wrecking ball. Gianni's shelves are full of animals nobody wants — a wild bird, a crocodile, a gnu, a penguin, an ape, a cat, and a creature of "indeterminate specie" — the strays and oddballs that get adopted and always brought back. Monique can hear them talk, and to her their odd bits are exactly what make them precious. Against them stands Furlese LeBeau, "the richest woman in the city," a bombastic, fur-and-jewels real estate developer bent on bulldozing the shop, abetted by her clone of a daughter Kitty and her civic-improvement committee of Gallible, Kredulous, and Nave.
Ken set out to write the show fast and funny, but somewhere along the way he reached for something more. Watching the Kennedy Center Honors in 2012, a phrase came to him unbidden — "I insist on miracles every day" — and he carried it home on a pink notecard and worked it into the heart of the show. "Act I was funny… interesting… but didn't have a heart," he wrote. "Now… now the heart is in place." The finished musical closes the circle with the whole cast singing "A Miracle Every Day."
Musical Numbers
Act I
- "Searching in the Dark" (Prelude) — The Pet Owners
- "Misfits!" — The Animals
- "Get Outta My Way!" — Furlese, Kitty, and the Ladies
- "I Wish I Could Give You More" — Papa Gianni
- "Cattin' Around" — El Gato & the Animals
- "Mama, Here I Am" — Monique
- "The Gospel According to Me" — Furlese
- "It Ain't Much, But It's Home" — Screech, Crocker & the Animals
- "Get On Out!" — The Cast
Act II
- "Bring It On!" — The Animals
- "May You Be a Miracle" — Papa Gianni & Cipriana
- "You Gotta Ride On Up!" — Furlese & the Kids
- "The Perfect Pet" — The Pet Owners
- "Here I Am!" — Richmond
- "Mean Queen of Green" — Furlese and Kitty
- "A Miracle Every Day" — The Cast
Cast
- Papa Gianni — Brad Barnes
- Monique — Ellie Smith
- Richmond — Matt Hall
- Cipriana — Christine Smith
- Kitty LeBeau — Megan Heitbrink
- Furlese LeBeau — Jodi Heitbrink
- Gallible — Carrie Carls
- Kredulous — Cathy Doyle
- Nave — Becky Lawson
- Carlson — John Love
The children: Bailey — Joey Lawson, Harper — Chloe Burrus, Reese — Abby Thomas, Skylar — Claire VanAken
The animals (puppets): Screech — Brandon Smith, Crocker — Cathy Colburn, Gnuman — Parker Carls, Clucker — Emma Bible, Chico — Camille Blanford, Loblolly — Madelyn Albers, El Gato — Tyler Maul
Production Notes
MisFits: The Musical was an original commission from the Jacksonville Theatre Guild, written and directed by Ken Bradbury with music by Roger Wainwright. Ken's journal traces the writing from a sketchy plot outline in early 2011 through the first draft of Act I that summer and the final scene in early 2012, premiering that year.
The production team included Roger Wainwright (orchestra), Lynda Locke (vocals), Sissy Brown (producer), Janet Long (costumes), Stephanie Sharp and Kim Shaffer (stage managers), Ed Smith (set builder), Steve Varble (set decoration), Julie Maul (lights), Neil Maul (sound), and Steve Tankersley (technical director). Steve Varble also designed the show's logo well before the script existed — prompting Ken to quip, "Okay, now all we need is a show to go with the logo." The misfit animals were realized as oversized, "over the top" puppets, with puppet design considered from the project's earliest days.