Hickory's Trickery, A Halloween Story (by Daniel Laubacher)
A one-Act School Musical

• Synopsis
• Characters in the Musical
• Duration
• Musical numbers
• Prices of / Ordering "Hickory's Trickery, A Halloween Story"

Synopsis (track numbers correspond to audio tracks on the available CD-Rom)
Following the “Overture” (track 1) Mr. Hickory starts to read his elementary class a pleasant Halloween story called "Wendy, the friendly Witch." Bored with the same old story every year since they can remember, Emily interrupts Mr. Hickory's lesson with a request for the class to hear a "true story" her grandmother told her. It's about a dragon living in Dark Hole Cave at the foot of Old Fool's Hill. Apparently, the dragon had often been seen around Halloween time stealing pumpkins which he then took to his cave and ate during the rest of the year. For several years now pumpkins have not been grown in the area which is why, according to Emily, the dragon had not been seen in such a long time. But this year the farmers at Avila Ranch are indeed growing pumpkins. The children begin to worry and make up scenarios about what might happen. “Will the dragon return this year?”. William, a very outspoken student in the class, ridicules the whole story (“What else could it be if it’s not a dragon?” track 2).  

Despite the doubts shed upon things by William, they decide to go to the pumpkin patch at midnight that night and see the dragon for themselves. And indeed they see someone (or “something”) taking pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. But the full moon light is momentarily blocked by a large cloud and they are not able to see the “dragon” very clearly. When the “dragon” leaves, their imaginations take the better of them (“We’ve seen the Dragon stealing Pumpkins”, track 3). In the end, they plan a strategy for Halloween night. Dressed up in frightening Halloween costumes the students do their best to “Scare the Dragon out of the Cave” (track 4). The “dragon” responds by slowing coming out of the cave with its large head appearing as a silhouette (“The Dragon’s approaching”, track 5). Even William is frightened and is now fully convinced of the dragon’s existence. At the high point of fear, the children are relieved to discover that the “dragon” had all along been none other than Mr. Hickory himself (the “trick”). Mr. Hickory invites the class to a Halloween party (the “treat”). Together they sing “Trick or Treat, it’s Halloween today” (track 6).

Characters in the Musical:  There are three main characters used in this school musical: Mr. Hickory, Emily and William which are played by members of the class.  Mr. Hickory (or Mrs.) could optionally be played by the teacher.  The other characters are students who can either use their real or made up names which can written in the script (in the blank spaces).

Duration: approx. 30 minutes

Musical Numbers / Tracks (and approx. duration)	Score	Sample (mp3)
01   Overture to “Hickory’s Trickery” (2:20)
02  “What else could it be if it’s not a Dragon?” (2:20)
03  “We’ve seen the Dragon stealing Pumpkins” (2:40)
04  “Scare the Dragon out of the Cave” (1:40)
05  “The Dragon’s approaching” (0:35)
06  “Trick or Treat, it’s Halloween today” (2:25)
07  "What else could it be? (Vocal Demo) (2:20)
08  "We've seen the Dragon stealing (Vocal Demo) (2:40)
09  "Trick or Treat, it's Halloween today" (Vocal Demo) (2:25)
SCRIPT: To View (not print enabled) the full script click the link	HERE

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