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A WORLD PREMIERE KENNEDY CENTER COMMISSIONCuesheetP

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IDEELEPHANT

& PIGGIE’SELEPHANT

& PIGGIE’SELEPHANT

& PIGGIE’S

WEAREIN A PLAY!

WEAREIN A PLAY!

WEAREIN A PLAY!

Based on the Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems

Script and lyrics by Mo Willemsd Music by Deborah Wicks La Pumad Directed by Jerry Whiddon

Music direction by George Fulginiti-Shakard Choreographed by Jessica Hartman

Performances for Young Audiencesis made possible by

A Lucky Ducky PerformanceWelcome to a big event for our favorite pig andelephant! It’s a big deal because the showElephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play! is brandnew and being performed for the first timeanywhere. You should also know that Elephantand Piggie call the performance a “play.” That’sa story told on stage with actors, lights, andsome stuff like toys. But this is a play with a littlesomething extra—songs and music. And here’sa little secret—sometimes a play with music iscalled a “musical.” But no matter what you call it,let’s learn more about what you’ll see and hear.

What Happens in the ShowAn elephant named Gerald and a pig namedPiggie are best, best, “bestus” (a word Gerald andPiggie made up that means “very best”) friends.But Gerald worries that something could go wrongthat would end their friendship. Piggie is notworried at all. She’s even happier and more excitedthan usual. That’s because she and Gerald areinvited to a party hosted by the Squirrelles, threesinging squirrels who love to have a good time.

And so begins a day when anything is possible.Gerald and Piggie will solve problems together,sing and dance to music played by a band onstage, make each other laugh, share their favoritethings, get mad and sad with each other, and evendo a little goofing around with you, the audience.Wait until you see what they have in mind!

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Gerald is careful.Piggie is playful.And that’s just oneof many differences you’llsee in their personalities(how they behave).After the performance,think of other wordsto describe Gerald andPiggie’s personalities.Who are you more like?

All illustrations © by Mo Willems

The STORY ofTwo Best Friends

The STORY ofTwo Best Friends

The STORY ofTwo Best FriendsIt’s a typical day inthe life of best friendsGerald and Piggie.What possibly could

go wrong?

And Some Big FeelingsDuring the performance, Gerald andPiggie have strong emotions, or feelings—like joy, love, anger, worry, fear,sadness, and embarrassment (feelinguncomfortable with something you’vedone). Watch for ways these palscommunicate their feelings through whatthey say, sing, or do.

A Word Predicament?Unpossible!Well, here’s a predicament. There might be a fewwords in the performance that you don’t know.Like predicament! That means a difficult situation.But don’t worry, here’s some help:

d Unintended consequences—things thathappen that surprise you

d Pachyderm (PAK-i-durm)—a thick-skinnedanimal like an elephant or hippopotamus

d Swine—a short-haired animal with a curly tailand hooves, like a pig

d Unpossible—a made-up word Gerald useswhen he means not possible or impossible

d Contingency—something that might happen

d Sty (STEYE)—a fenced area, usually for pigs

d Manipulate—to change what people do orthe way something happens

A Big IdeaYou might not think that a serious elephant and aplayful pig could be best friends—but Gerald andPiggie are. And friendship is one big idea ineverything that these “besties” do together onstage. During the show, think about how twovery different animals can be such good friends.For ideas, watch how they:

After the performance, discuss with your familyor friends what you think makes a good friend,and why.

d share

d cooperate

d joke around

d help each other

d forgive each other

Bringing Gerald and Piggie’sStory to LifeAlthough you won’t see them on stage, a lotof people work very hard to create the worldof Gerald and Piggie, including the:

d composer, who writes the music

d director, who guides the whole team

d choreographer, who plans all thedance movements

d music director, who directs the musical partof the performance

d set designer, who decides how the stagewill look

d lighting designer, who plans how to uselights to help tell the story

d costume designer, who plans what theperformers wear

d stage manager, who runs the show frombehind the stage

Playing an Elephant and a PigIt might be fun to have a real elephant and pigon stage. But you know what? It’s way morefun to have people—actors—pretend to beGerald, Piggie, and singing squirrels. Unlikeanimals, actors can talk, dance, and sing. Tobecome their animal characters, the actors willchange their voices and movements, and theywill dress up, like in a gray suit for Gerald or apink outfit for Piggie. All you have to do isremember to bring your imagination!

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James

Kronzer,ScenicDesigner and

JeremyW. Foil,

Associate

ScenicDesigner

It Started with BooksElephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play! beganas a book—well, six books from the Elephant &Piggie series, to be exact. You might have readthem, but if not, that’s okay because you’ll getthe whole story and more at the performance.Mo Willems, the man who wrote the books anddrew the pictures (which you can see in thisCuesheet), believed those stories could be toldwith actors performing and singing on stage.So, he wrote the dialogue (words spoken by thecharacters) and added new parts and characters,

like the Squirrelles. He alsowrote the lyrics (words) tothe songs. The writtenplay is called the script.

Meet Mo WillemsMo Willems has written and drawn pictures for 20Elephant & Piggie books so far, and lots of otherbooks, too, like Knuffle Bunny and the Pigeon

series. Mo says “When I was a kid,I wanted to draw and be funny.”Today, Mo lives in Massachusettswith his family, and they like to drawtogether every night at dinnertime.

The story of the play comesfrom these Elephant & Piggie books:

I Am Invited to a Party!Listen to My Trumpet!I Am Going!Should I Share My Ice Cream?I Love My New Toy!We Are in a Book!

BUT…if you have read other Elephant &Piggie books, you just might see someideas from a few other books, too! Seewhether you can tell which ones.

THE DRAWING BOARDTry drawing your own Gerald or Piggie

doing something new like meeting a

new friend or trying an activity.

Think of a short story and tell

it to friends and family.

Telling the Story onTelling the Story onTelling the Story on STAGESTAGESTAGE

Before they build anything, set designers drawtheir ideas on paper or on a computer. Here’s asneak peek at one of the Elephant & Piggie setdesigner’s drawings.

DRESS UPIf you were the show’scostume designer andhad to use ordinaryclothes for Gerald andPiggie, what itemswould you choose?Make a list or drawyour ideas and sharethem with your friendsand family.

THESQU IRR E L L ES

Here Comes the BandFour musicians called Dr. Cat and the Bear-a-toneswill play at least five instruments right on stageand be part of the fun. Let’s meet some ofthe instruments:

The piano is a keyboard instrument. Pianistsmake sound by pressing the keys, which causesmall hammers inside the instrument to strike thesteel strings and make them vibrate.

The bass is made of wood with metal strings. It islarge (usually about six feet tall!) and has a verylow sound. Musicians often stand or siton a tall stool and play the bassusing a bow (a wooden stickstrung with a tight ribbon ofhorsehair) or by plucking thestrings with their fingers.

The drums are percussioninstruments that make soundswhen hit, shaken, rubbed,scraped, or any action that makesall or parts of the instrumentvibrate. The set includes a snaredrum (a rat-a-tat sound); a bigger,bass drum (a deeper sound); andcymbals (brass plates that make acrashing sound).

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What’s in a Song?The songs in Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in aPlay! tell you a lot about the characters andwhat’s happening in the story. During theperformance, watch and listen for how theperformers communicate through their actionsand lyrics when they sing these songs:

“Lucky to See You!”“Swimy! Fancy!”“Don’t Go”“Ice Cream Hero”“Ode to Toy”“Toy Breaker”“Elephant in the Room”“We’re in a Play”“We’ll Be Friends”“We’ve Been Lucky”

After the performance, discuss (and sing!) themusic with family and friends—which songs

made you happy? Sad? Why? Whichsong was your favorite?

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The MUSIC in the PerformanceThe MUSIC in the PerformanceThe MUSIC in the PerformanceRHYME TIMEDuring the songs, listen for rhyming words,like “Piggie” and “biggie,” or “fear” and“dear,” or soft rhymes of words that don’texactly match, like “prince” and “audience”or “imagine” and “having.” To help you getwarmed up, see whether you can fillin words for these parts of the song“Ode to Toy”:

“It’s my new JOYThis wondrous .”

“So I will PLAYBoth night and .”

Know That Tune?Listen carefully whenPiggie sings about hernew toy—does the music seemfamiliar? It sounds like “Ode to Joy,”a popular piece of music written almost200 years ago by Ludwig van Beethoven(LOOD-vig VAHN BAY-toh-vin). You mighthave heard it in concerts, commercials,television shows, or movies. If you likePiggie’s song, ask a grownup to helpyou listen to Beethoven’s version afterthe performance.

The clarinet and saxophone are woodwindinstruments played by blowing air across a reed(a thin strip of woody grass). The sound changesas the player presses down on different keys tocreate different notes. You’ll see the musicianplay three types of saxophones—the alto(pictured above), tenor, and baritone—whichdiffer slightly in their shapes and sounds.

And keep an eye out for the trumpet, a brassinstrument that Piggie will try to play.

piano

drums

clarinet

alto saxophone

bass

Be Your“BESTUS”During the Performance

Be Your“BESTUS”During the Performance

Be Your“BESTUS”During the PerformanceWatch for…d a swimming poold how the Squirrelles sometimes play other characters in the story,

like a penguind props, or objects used on stage, like an ice cream cone and a toyd how the lights and music change to show slow motiond the Flippy Floppy Floory dance (hint: you’ll need it later in the show)

Listen for the…d sound of Piggie and Gerald’s trumpetingd different sounds of the musical instrumentsd special magic word Gerald and Piggie use for “please”

A special messagefor you, the audience …

You are invited to have the “bestus” time at the show.To do that, please be sure to be the “bestus” audience ever.

Here’s how:

Stay seated,

Stay quiet unless Gerald andPiggie need your help,

Don’t eat,Listen and watch so you don’tget into a predicament,Clap at the end,And have fun!

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Want to learn more about theElephant & Piggie performance?

Join us online at

http://goo.gl/cCQJnj

David M. RubensteinChairman

Michael M. KaiserPresident

Darrell M. AyersVice President, Education

Additional support forPerformances for YoungAudiences is provided by AdobeFoundation, The Clark CharitableFoundation; Mr. James V. Kimsey;The Macy’s Foundation; The Morrisand Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation;Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M.Angell Family Foundation; anendowment from the Ryna andMelvin Cohen Family Foundation;U.S. Department of Education;Washington Gas; and by generouscontributors to the Abe FortasMemorial Fund and by a major giftto the fund from the late CarolynE. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.

Major support for educationalprograms at the Kennedy Centeris provided byDavid and Alice Rubensteinthrough theRubenstein Arts Access Program.

Education and related artisticprograms are made possiblethrough the generosity of theNational Committee for thePerforming Arts and thePresident’s Advisory Committeeon the Arts.

www.kennedy-center.org/artsedge

Cuesheets are produced by

ARTSEDGE, an education program

of the Kennedy Center.

Learn more about education at

the Kennedy Center at

www.kennedy-center.org/education

The contents of this Cuesheet have been

developed under a grant from the U.S.

Department of Education and do not

necessarily represent the policy of the U.S.

Department of Education. You should not

assume endorsement by the Federal

Government.

© 2013 The John F. Kennedy Center for

the Performing Arts