(A Musical of Innings and Winnings!)
By: John Jacobson & John Higgins
Link to Purchase: https://www.halleonard.com/product/156642/its-a-hit
Run Time: 25 minutes
Appropriate for:
___Kindergarten
✅ 1st Gr.
✅. 2nd Gr.
✅. 3rd Gr.
___4th Gr.
___5th Gr.
___6th Gr.
Number of songs: 5 with a Reprise of first song
Number of Solos: NONE, but “All Stars” can be adapted for solo opportunities.
✅ Unison
✅ 2 Part (Independent)
✅ 2 Part (Harmonizing)
___3 Part (Independent)
✅ 3 Part (Harmonizing)
___ 4 Part (Independent)
___ 4 Part (Harmonizing)
✅ Performance Track Available
✅ Accompaniment Track Available
___ Singer Scores Available
✅ Choreography Included
Script:
___ Rhyming Dialog
✅ Non-Rhyming Dialog (easy)
____Non-Rhyming Dialog (medium difficulty)
____Non-Rhyming Dialog (hard)
One of my colleagues warned me that TIMING would be the biggest hurdle for this FUN show. She did NOT lie! I did not want ONE ball to be thrown in the gym, so we “faked” every single one! One of my students told me his parents asked “was there a ball?” PERFECT! It worked! Can you imagine six and seven year olds trying to “hit” a ball?!?!?!
Don’t let the following information intimidate you into NOT doing this show! If I can get 105 students through it, so can YOU!
The timing of the ball throwing was the trick to making this show a little realistic. I positioned myself as close as possible to the “pitcher” and would count when he/she should THROW the ball each time! I’ll include the timings below for each song that will need a pitcher!
Timing the player’s slide for “In a Pickle” was the second obstacle! Many of my players were clueless about playing ball, in general! So we had a few class periods where a chunk of time was used to teach fundamentals!
Scenery: None required. My backdrop was made to reflect the “Green Monster” from Fenway park. You can purchase one already made at Murals Your Way.
Please excuse the wrinkles! This was “after the show” ….if it looks a little tired, it’s because we ALL were!
Props:
At least 2 baseball/softball gloves (students brought their own)
A plastic bat (thank you PE teacher!)
I added two bases (again…..thank you PE teacher!)
Costumes: None required. I had half the students wear red, the other half blue. Ball caps can be optional.n The Umpire can wear a black shirt and optional gray pants. The Announcer can dress up (boys…a suit or tie, girls a dress)
Individual Song Information/Suggestions:
Play Ball: Partner song opener with the traditional “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
- The dialogue ending Scene 1 has the Umpire saying “Batter Up!”. It’s printed again in the introduction for “You’re at Bat.” You’ll want to omit one of them. I’d suggest the one that occurs in the introduction.
You’re At Bat: Swing and Sass for this one that ends with optional three part HARMONY!! It has a couple of sequences where the Pitcher will need to pantomime throwing the ball. Timing: the first strike is 6 beats after the chorus begins singing “Are!”, second strike is the same, the third throw happens after the four beats of measure 71.
Strike Zone: The student’s favorite! Driving rock tune that includes a rap solo by Fiona! Alternate choreography: for the last “Huh!” I had students pull the bill of their hats down over their faces. If they didn’t have a hat, they just pretended!
- Halfway through Scene 3, you’ll have a player who’s caught between two bases/two players running back and forth on stage.
In A Pickle: Comical Vaudeville that ends with three part HARMONY again! It also has a VERY, VERY, VERY, quick timing sequence between two players, the chorus, the umpire, two MORE players (with baseball mitts) and the “pickle” player. Probably the MOST worked eight measures of the entire show! I held up fingers for each microphone and chorus line for it (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5).
All Stars! Gentle Ballad with a “message.” To make this song easier to learn. I assigned solos for the verses. The chorus then only had to learn the refrain. When it was said and done, I had four solos and two sets of duet opportunities for the little “Stars”……get it?!?! 🙂
Play Ball (Reprise) The score calls for performing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and then adding in the partner song for a second singing. I axed the partner song. I wanted the parents to JOIN us in singing the finale number. I convinced the students to go home and “teach” their parents the song WITHOUT telling the parents they were going to be a part of the show! NOTHING warms a music teacher’s heart MORE than an entire room filled with everyone singing the same tune. It was a nice bonding experience for the students and their parents as well!
Word of advice: SPREAD OUT the special song jobs (Fiona/Coach, umpire, pitchers, sliders, players running) to MANY, DIFFERENT classes. Most of mine were in ONE class, so lots of singing and choreography time was lost to working out all the timing aspects.
If you’ve directed this musical, PLEASE feel free to share any thoughts and adaptations you did. We’d all love to hear how you made it your own!
I’d also love to include YOUR CRITIQUE of any musical that you found to be successful or NOT successful! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNHxH3wAo98Hu4jFsKbBM2lUYgqnVXLRUo7HcgZTQz1U7-jQ/viewform
Sounds Like Fun 