Treasure Island
Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel becomes a swashbuckling musical adventure
Book and Lyrics by Joshua H. Cohen, Music by David Mallamud
DEMOS
LIBRETTO
SYNOPSIS
Jim Hawkins longs for a life at sea. But when the drunken old pirate staying at Jim’s mother’s inn is mysteriously murdered, Jim gets more than his wish: he inherits the pirate’s map to Captain Flint’s famous treasure. Jim’s surrogate father Dr. Livesey takes Jim to sea, with a crew largely assembled by Long John Silver, the affable ship’s cook with one leg.
Jim learns that Silver and most of the crew are Flint’s old pirates, who plan to mutiny and take the treasure for themselves. When they arrive at the island, Jim stows away with the pirates to try to stop them.
On the island, he meets Ben Gunn, a mysterious, half-mad maroon, who leads Jim to the stockade where his friends have taken up defenses. Jim is captured by the pirates during the battle for the stockade. With Jim a prisoner and Silver deposed by his own crew, they promise to save each others’ lives if they can. Livesey turns up to offer the pirates the treasure map – but why?
In an emotional confrontation with his two opposing father figures, Jim decides to see through the path he has chosen for himself. But when the pirates get to the treasure, they find it gone. Livesey, Gunn and the others surprise the pirates before they can attack Silver and Jim, retaking the ship and the treasure. Once they’re at sea, Jim allows Silver to escape, and heads off on his own next adventure.
SONG LIST
ACT I
1. Captain Hawkins – Pirates
2. Maybe Finally Me – Jim
3. The Admiral Benbow Inn/Yo Ho Ho – Company, Billy Bones
4. The Bird – Dr. Livesey
5. What I Need – Pew, Bones, Pirates
6. Let Us In – Molly, Jim, Pew, Pirates
7. The Great Wide World – Molly
8. In Bristol – Jim, Silver, Company
9. Heave Ho/Sailing – Arrow, Silver, Jim, Pirates
10. Gentlemen – Silver, Dick, Anderson, Morgan
11. All I Wanted – Jim, Pirates
12. Before Your Own Eyes – Silver, Smollett, Jim, Company
ACT II
13. The King of All the Ocean – Silver, Arrow, Pirates
14. Let Me Get Me Back Upon the Sea – Ben Gunn
15. Trelawney’s Story – Trelawney, Smollett, Livesey, Double Trelawney, Double Smollett, Double Livesey
16. How Can I Know – Company
17. The Battle – Instrumental
18. Be a Man – Jim
19. The Spot – Silver, Merry, Anderson, Morgan, Dick
20. Parlay – Livesey, Jim, Silver
21. The Treasure Hunt – Silver, Merry, Dick, Morgan, Ben Gunn
22. Finale – Livesey, Silver, Jim, Company
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
Treasure Island has principal characters of 13 men and 1 woman, plus a chorus. With doubling, the show needs a minimum of 10 men and 3 women.
JIM HAWKINS, a teenage boy
MOLLY, Jim’s mother
BILLY BONES, a drunken retired pirate
LIVESEY, a country doctor
PEW, a blind beggar who used to be a pirate
TRELAWNEY, a squire
LONG JOHN SILVER, a pirate turned innkeeper turned ship’s cook turned pirate (may also play FLINT in the opening)
TOM MORGAN, deck hand, an old pirate
GEORGE MERRY, gunner, a pirate (may double with PEW)
ABRAHAM SMOLLETT, ship’s captain
SAMUEL ARROW, first mate
DICK JOHNSON, carpenter’s mate, turned pirate
JOB ANDERSON, boatswain, a pirate (may double with ARROW)
BEN GUNN, a marooned former pirate (may double with BILLY BONES)
CHORUS, plays inn patrons; vendors; townspeople; doubles of Trelawney, Smollett and Livesey; and, of course, pirates
Running time - approximately 2 hours plus intermission
CREATIVE TEAM
Joshua H. Cohen (Book & Lyrics)
Honors include a Jonathan Larson Grant, the Anna Zornio Children’s Theatre Playwriting Award (lyrics, Keep On Walkin’), and a MAC Award nomination for his cult cabaret hit “The Sacrifice of Love” (a.k.a. the waxing song). Productions include play The Thirteenth Commandment (Libra Theater, 7 NY Innovative Theater Award nominations, 2 wins; publication, Next Stage Press), musical Tamar of the River (Prospect Theatre, 2 Drama Desk nominations, world premiere recording from Yellow Sound Label), and children’s musical Flight School (Vital Theatre, OCR, national/international tour). Most recently, he contributed music and lyrics for two episodes of So Proudly We Hailed, a series of short one-person musicals created with and based on the stories of U.S. armed forces veterans, available to stream from New Musicals Inc. Many other productions, readings, and workshops across the country; for more details: www.JoshuaHCohen.com.
David Mallamud (Music)
David recently collaborated with Playwright Philip Dawkins on Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches: The Musical, which premiered in February at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis. His musical Flight School, (written with Joshua Cohen and Cara Lustik) was produced this past spring in NYC (Vital Theatre) and is currently touring China and the US. His CD, The Wild & Whimsical Worlds of David Mallamud (Broadway Records) received a Broadway World Album Award for Best New Compilation. David also recently worked with Mike Mills (of R.E.M. fame), arranging and composing additional music for his Concerto for Rock Band and Violin (Orange Mountain Music). His current projects include a new adaptation of Treasure Island with Joshua Cohen, a new musical with Emmy-nominated Librettist Alisa Hauser, and Dangerous: The Pentagon Papers with librettist Len Schiff. His orchestral music has been performed by the New World, Harrisburg, and Albany symphonies, among others.
David was a 2016/17 Dramatist Guild Fellow, a MacDowell Fellow, recipient of two ASCAP Young Composer Awards, a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts And Letter,
CONTACT
For perusal material please contact David Mallamud