American Tales
by Jan Powell, Ken Stone

Name: American Tales
Brand: Jan Powell
SKU: 9780573696190
Rating: 4 (2 reviews)

American Tales Book Cover — American Tales Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

90 mins 19th Century Ensemble Cast Bare Stage/Simple Set Period Costumes

Synopsis

American Tales features two classic American stories by Mark Twain and Herman Mellville.

Set to "skillful and unusally thoughtful" ( Variety ) music, this musical played to sold out crowds in Los Angeles and was awarded the Kleban Award for excellence.

Act I, The Loves of Alonzo Fitz Clarence and Rosannah Ethelton , is from Mark Twain's story of two people falling in love at a great distance with the aid of that brand-new invention, the telephone.

Alonzo in Maine and Rosannah in California meet by the accident of crossed wires and each falls in love with an imagined ideal of the other.

So complete is their self-deception that even when brought face to face they cannot recognize each other.

Love is found, lost, and found again.

Played as period melodrama, but the relevance to 21st century dating habits is clear.

Act II, Bartleby, the Scrivener , is dramatized from Herman Melville's slyly funny but ultimately tragic story.

Building on the theme of human connections made and missed, this act takes a darker turn, looking at people who occupy the closest of quarters and yet don't really communicate at all.

Bartleby, employed as a copyist in a law office of the 1840s, inexplicably begins to refuse to work, forcing his colleagues to ask themselves the transforming question that ends the play: What do we owe to the people who come into our lives?

Press Reviews

"CRITIC'S CHOICE! Excellent new musical."
— The Los Angeles Times

"Extraordinary...skillful and unusually thoughtful...succeeds brilliantly."
— Variety

"CRITIC'S PICK! Marvelous adaptations...stylish and enthralling...haunting score...brilliant."
— Backstage

"Striking...absolutely first rate work."
— EDGE Los Angeles

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
ACT I THE LOVES OF ALONZO FITZ CLARENCE AND ROSANNAH ETHELTON	—	—	THE LOVES OF ALONZO FITZ CLARENCE AND ROSANNAH ETHELTON
ALONZO FITZ CLARENCE a poetic soul, an idle young man transformed by true love into a tireless, steadfast lover	male	—	a poetic soul, an idle young man transformed by true love into a tireless, steadfast lover
ROSANNAH ETHELTON a lovely young woman of high spirits and high ideals	female	—	a lovely young woman of high spirits and high ideals
SIDNEY ALGERNON BURLEY an unwelcome suitor to Rosannah, a born villain	—	—	an unwelcome suitor to Rosannah, a born villain
DOCTOR a compassionate man of middle age, owner of a private madhouse in New York	male	—	a compassionate man of middle age, owner of a private madhouse in New York
UNCLE CHARLES uncle of Rosannah, middle-aged, missionary in Honolulu	male	—	uncle of Rosannah, middle-aged, missionary in Honolulu
MAID (doubled by “Uncle Charles”) an old and sour retainer at Rosannah’s house	—	—	(doubled by “Uncle Charles”) an old and sour retainer at Rosannah’s house
ACT II BARTELBY, THE SCRIVENER	—	—	BARTELBY, THE SCRIVENER
THE LAWYER 55, affluent and self-satisfied	—	—	55, affluent and self-satisfied
BARTELBY a fairly young man, enigmatic, turned almost entirely in upon himself	male	—	a fairly young man, enigmatic, turned almost entirely in upon himself
TURKEY clerk, an Englishman near 60, something of a drinker	—	60	clerk, an Englishman near 60, something of a drinker
NIPPERS clerk about 25, high-strung and restless	—	—	clerk about 25, high-strung and restless
GINGER NUT 12, law student, errand boy, sweeper, most often a brat	male	—	12, law student, errand boy, sweeper, most often a brat