The People vs. Mona
by Jim Wann, Patricia Miller

The People vs. Mona is a love story, murder mystery, courtroom shenanigans, fate-of-a-small-town-hanging-on-the-verdict musical.

For professional companies: seven actor/singers play all the roles in a multicultural cast, accompanied by three onstage musicians.

For high schools, colleges and community theatres: the cast may be expanded by having one actor in each witness role and a chorus of townspeople in the larger numbers.

The music combines folk, blues, gospel, jazz, rock, musical comedy, school anthem, marching band and bossa nova with a theatrical sensibility.

Mona Mae Katt, a third-generation Latina American, owns the Frog Pad, the long-time musical heart of Tippo, GA, a town in need of a plan to revive itself.

She is accused of killing C.C.

Katt, recording studio operator and her husband of ten hours, by hitting him over the head with her Stratocaster guitar.

She is defended by Jim Summerford, a Southern gentleman who’s never won a case against prosecutor and Mayoral candidate Mavis Frye – his fiancé.

As Jim tries to prove Mona’s innocence, he becomes attracted to her, and Mavis ups the stakes: she wants to convict Mona, marry Jim, take office, tear down the Frog Pad, and put up a Casino – bringing in bucks, but taking away Tippo’s artistic and social traditions in the process.

And if Mona is found guilty, the odds are Mavis will get her way.

Several of the actors play multiple roles in a parade of witnesses on the way to a sequence of surprise endings.

Mona manages to combine a love triangle, courtroom drama, and character-driven comedy in an original book musical, with a light-hearted message about the importance of cultural heritage in America’s towns.

Keep the Frog Pad alive!

More artwork images for The People Vs.

Mona are available for groups licensed for this show!

Ask your Licensing rep for more information.