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RIX AND HIS FRIENDS IN OZ An original script by Ann Seeger
"A Boy and His Genie" and "Marooned" by 3tch |
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RIX AND HIS FRIENDS IN OZ An original script by Ann Seeger
"A Boy and His Genie" and "Marooned" by 3tch |
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RIX AND HIS FRIENDS IN OZ An original script by Ann Seeger
MAIN CHARACTERS
RIX----------------------------- a boy JIMSY------------------------- a somewhat emotional Djinn DOROTHY-------------------- a girl SAWHORSE------------------ a living, wooden animal PARBELO--------------------- proprietor of a small circus CHLOE------------------------ a Stare-e-oxican (a primitive animal resembling a buffalo)
MINOR CHARACTERS
AB------------------------------ a heel, proprietor of rival circus
ROUSTABOUTS STARE-E-OXICAN ---------- a member of Chloe’s herd WHITE OWL’S FEATHER-- one of the Little People SMIDGINS-------------------- another of the Little People UNCLE------------------------ Rix’s cruel Guardian
-I-
NARRATOR: The brown bottle had been bobbing along just out of reach for some time before Rix finally snared it in his battered net. Most of the things Rix fished out of the river weren’t worth a second look, but the bottle was very unusual. It had been so carelessly blown; it was a mere blob of glass, and it was tightly sealed with a knobby glass stopper. Besides, something stirred inside it. In order to see what it was Rix held the bottle up in the bright sunlight but the glass was too dark to permit a clear view. The boy held the bottle to his ear, half expecting to hear a buzzing sound. He was astonished to hear, instead, a tiny, but distinct little voice:
JIMSY: Let me out! Let me out! Let me out! RIX: What! What? Was that you? Are you in this bottle?
JIMSY: You heard me! You heard me! I’m in this bottle and I
want out! JIMSY: A bug! Don’t be insulting. I am an imp... a Djinn, to be exact. Surely you have heard before of Djinns being trapped in bottles. RIX: Why, yes I have. And I’ve always heard it’s dangerous to let them out, too. JIMSY: Dangerous! That depends on yourself, I should think. All I do is grant three wishes to the person who liberates me. If your wishes aren’t dangerous, what would you have to worry about? RIX: I don’t know, but I’m still not sure I should let you out. JIMSY: Don’t tell me I’ve been fished out of the river by somebody who is so completely satisfied with his lot that he doesn’t wish for a thing in this world! RIX: Oh, no! It isn’t that. But, I wish for so much... JIMSY: Three wishes is all I grant. It’s a rule. RIX: I have this lame leg. How could you cure that? JIMSY: Simple. It would be extremely simple for me to fix that up for you... if you mention it after you let me out of this bottle. RIX: And, and… I live on my Uncle’s canal-boat. He doesn’t want me, but he doesn’t know how to get rid of me, and I don’t know how to get away... JIMSY: Absolutely no reason for you to stay where you’re not wanted. RIX: You don’t understand. There’s no place for me to go, or Uncle would have sent me there a long time ago. JIMSY: And you don’t seem to understand. Until you pull out that stopper and release me, I can be of no assistance to you at all. I’m no help to you, or myself, or anybody at all cooped up like this. UNCLE: (OFFSTAGE) Rix! You lazy swab! Where are you? RIX: Oh no! Here comes Uncle now. JIMSY: Are you going to sit there until he comes along and takes me away from you? If he lets me out of the bottle, I’ll have to grant him the three wishes instead of you. UNCLE: (FADE ONSTAGE) So! That’s what you’re up to. Blast if I don’t throw that net away if you... Whatcha got there? Give it to me. RIX: No! It’s just an old bottle I fished out of the river. UNCLE: Hand it here, I say. RIX: No! No! Not until I pull out this... SOUND: POP! SWISH! UNCLE: Avast! Where’s all that smoke coming from? RIX: Wow! Oh, oh my! UNCLE: Who is that lubber? Where’d he come from? RIX: You’re so big! Bigger’n Uncle... UNCLE: Big? Fat! Just fat. JIMSY: (BIG DEEP VOICE) Thank you, Master. Command me and I obey. UNCLE: What in blue blazes is going on around here? Why are you bowing to Rix? I’m master of this boat and I can lick a tub of lard like you in two minutes. Then I’ll larrup some ambition into you, Rix my boy... REX: No, Uncle... don’t! Please... I wish to be far, far away... in the pleasantest, happiest country in the whole world!
-II-
SOUND: SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! JIMSY: Your first wish has been granted, Master. RIX: Where... where are we? JIMSY: Right where you wished to be. In the Land of Oz!
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
JIMSY: What troubles you, Master? Are you not satisfied with the cure I performed on your leg? RIX: Of course I am. It’s wonderful. This leg is as good and strong as anybody’s in the world. You can do anything... anything.
JIMSY: Well... for one more time I can. You’ve used up two of your wishes, you know.
The cure for your leg and your transportation to this
wonderful Land of Oz. RIX: I guess that’s what bothers me. It’s a very pretty country, but we haven’t seen anybody here yet.
JIMSY: Not likely to see anybody so far out in the country, I suppose. RIX: Why didn’t you transport us to a town while you were at it? JIMSY: Why didn’t you ask me to? RIX: It happened too fast. I didn’t have time to think it out. Maybe I’d better do something about it. JIMSY: Uh… I’m not supposed to warn you, but you have only one more wish coming, you know. People have been known to forget to be careful and to make an idle wish they afterward regret. RIX: Thank you for warning me... er... do you have a name? JIMSY: My name is Jimsy. Don’t ask me why, I’ve forgotten how it happened. RIX: Well, I’m going to make my last wish right now, Jimsy, before I accidentally wish for something foolish. JIMSY: No rush about it. It’ll keep good as new forevermore until it’s used up. RIX: I’m not going to take any chances. I know what I wish for. JIMSY: You can’t be sure. You might think of something more important if you give it more thought. RIX: Nothing could be more important than friends. I’ve never had a chance to have any friends. JIMSY: Friends! Why, nice lad like you can step out and make friends any time you’ve a mind to. No need to squander a wish on that. RIX: But I’ve never had any friends, Jimsy. The wish wouldn’t be squandered. JIMSY: Have you considered all the angles, Master? Are you sure about this? Wouldn’t it be wise to hang onto that wish for a rainy day or something? Aren’t you being a mite hasty? Shouldn’t you sleep on the idea? Why don’t you.... RIX: Jimsy! You said you’d grant me three wishes and I’ve only had two. Are you trying to back out of your promise? JIMSY: Allah forbid! You make a wish—I—grant it. I’m merely cautioning you to take more time about... What’s your great hurry, anyway? Once you make that wish, it’s gone. No taking it back and exchanging it for something else. When it’s gone, it’s gone, and... RIX: It’s no use, Jimsy. I wish I had some friends. Good, true, loyal friends... SOUND: CLATTER OF RED WAGON APPROACHING RIX: Here comes a red wagon down the road. Are these my new friends, Jimsy? There’s a little girl in the wagon and—what a strange animal pulling it. Looks like an ordinary sawhorse, only it’s alive... SOUND: WAGON FULLS UP AND STOPS DOROTHY: Pardon me. Can you tell us where we are? RIX: Us? Aren’t you alone in that wagon? DOROTHY: I mean the Sawhorse and me. My name is Dorothy and I live in the Emerald City. The Sawhorse is a friend of mine, although he sometimes gets me into jams because he doesn’t always think. SAWHORSE: If I were meant to be a Thinking creature, I’d probably be riding in this wagon instead of pulling it. RIX: You’re in the Land of Oz... I think. SAWHORSE: Ha! Now there’s a boy who says he thinks, and he tells us we’re in the Land of Oz. We’d need wings to carry us across the Deadly Desert to be anywhere else. DOROTHY: Hush, Sawhorse. Don’t be rude. I mean, can you tell us where in the Land of Oz we are? RIX: No... I seem to be lost. DOROTHY: It looks like we are, too. We started out to visit the Tin Woodman, and the Sawhorse took a shortcut he’d heard about. SAWHORSE: That’s what comes of trying to think when one isn’t equipped for it.
And maybe we’ve found a new friend. RIX: I would like very much to be your friend. I’m a stranger here with no family or home. DOROTHY: Then you may as well get into the wagon with me. We’ll take you back to the Emerald City if you like, where you can meet lots of interesting people. RIX: Thank you! Thank you very much. DOROTHY: Does your—er... friend want to come along? RIX: Who? Oh... Jimsy! I forgot all about him. SAWHORSE: How could you forget anybody as big and outlandish-looking as that? Has he got a headache? RIX: No, that’s a turban he wears around his head. DOROTHY: Do you care to join us, Jimsy? JIMSY: SNIFF! DOROTHY: What’s wrong with him? Is he bashful? RIX: Bashful? I don’t think so, Jimsy, what is the matter with you? JIMSY: (On the verge of tears) You… have friends now, Rix... and you no longer need me! RIX: What on earth are you talking about? Do you want to come with us... or don’t you? I have no wish to be a millstone around your neck. I can grant you no more ....................... wishes. So, go along with your new friends and be happy. Don’t worry about me. I… I’ll get along (sniff) Somehow... DOROTHY: I do believe he’s going to cry! RIX: I don’t understand, Jimsy. You’re free now. I thought you’d want to vanish or something and go home the minute you granted my last wish. JIMSY: Home? I have no home. My place is by my Master’s side and right now I have no Master since you finished with me, Rix. I (sniff) am of no more use to you... but I will not be a (sniff) burden... DOROTHY: The poor thing! Come on, Jimsy! Get into the wagon with us. You’ll freeze if you stay out all night dressed like that. JIMSY: Do you mind, Rix, if I tag along? RIX: Mind? I should say not! I’d be happy to have you, Jimsy! SOUND: WAGON SPRINGS CREAK JIMSY: I hope I don’t crowd you too much. I seem to have put on a little weight. Lack of exercise, I suppose.
JIMSY: (Plaintively) I’m hungry, Rix. RIX: We’re all hungry, Jimsy, but I don’t know what we can do about it right now. Nobody was home at any of the farmhouses where we stopped. JIMSY: But look at all that fruit hanging around on the trees, and look at those gardens, so full of... RIX: I told you, Jimsy! It’s wrong to take things that don’t belong to you without permission. JIMSY: Oh fiddle-cum-fee! How can we ask permission if nobody’s home? Where is everybody, anyway? Why aren’t these farmers home tending their crops, and their wives home baking bread and cookies, and their children home eating between meals. DOROTHY: There’s your reason, Jimsy. Look over there in that field. RIX: It’s a carnival! Everybody’s gone to the carnival! DOROTHY: There must be something to eat over there. Trot on over, Sawhorse. This ought to be fun! JIMSY: What’s a carnival? SAWHORSE: You don’t know? And all the time I thought that was where you escaped from. JIMSY: Rix! Make the Sawhorse cut that out! I think he’s teasing me.
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
DOROTHY: Stop, Sawhorse! Mmmmmm! Doesn’t that food smell good?
DOROTHY: We can try... Hurry! I think the show’s already started.
SAWHORSE: I don’t think they heard you, Jimsy. You’ll have to run to catch up with them. JIMSY: Run! I can’t even get out of this cursed wagon. I’m stuck SAWHORSE: Stuck! (Sawhorse laughs) Aren’t you the one who gets in and out of bottles at will? JIMSY: Laugh, you wooden beast! I was tricked into entering that bottle and adjusted myself to it. I didn’t know the wagon was too small for me so I didn’t adjust. PARBELO: (FADE ONSCREEN) There you are, there you are, at last! Thank goodness you came in costume! JIMSY: Costume? Are you speaking to me? PARBELO: Yes-yes. Certainly. I was beginning to think my message didn’t reach the Supply Center in time. Now hurry! Hurry, will you? The show’s already begun. JIMSY: Hurry? Where? Why? PARBELO: Thunderation! Did they send me a nincompoop or a clown! The entrance is over yonder. There! SAWHORSE: Clown? Why did you send for a clown? PARBELO: Two nincompoops! I send for one clown and they send me two nincompoops. I tell you the show has begun; get in there and do your turn around the ring! SAWHORSE: (Sawhorse laughs) Around the ring? Hang tight, Jimsy! Here we go! SOUND: RATTLE OF WAGON JIMSY: Stop it, Sawhorse! Now you cut that out! I’m no clown... Rix! Rix!
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
DOROTHY: Wasn’t it nice of Mr. Parbelo to let us in to see his show? RIX: Yes, but I keep wondering what happened to Jimsy. He said he was so hungry, but he didn’t come with us. DOROTHY: Rix! Look! Look who’s entering the ring! RIX: Why, it’s the Sawhorse and the red wagon, and Jimsy! What are they doing? DOROTHY: They seem to be part of the show... SOUND: CROWD LAUGHING DOROTHY: They’re funny! Listen to the crowd laugh. RIX: Look at the expression on Jimsy’s face, and the way he hangs on to his turban with both hands. I wonder how he keeps from falling out of the wagon. SOUND: APPLAUSE DOROTHY: They’re sure to be the hit of the show. I wish they’d ride around the ring again. I’ll never forget how funny Jimsy looked like he was about to cry. RIX: And that red sash flying in the breeze, and he did look like he was going to cry, didn’t he? He was yelling something, too. I wonder what. DOROTHY: I don’t know. The crowd was so noisy I couldn’t hear what he was shouting. Say, you don’t s’pose something’s wrong? RIX: Come on, Dorothy, let’s go find him.
MUSIC: BRIEF PASSAGE OF TIME
JIMSY: Rix! Rix! Help! DOROTHY: I hear him. He’s over there. RIX: He must have been stuck in the wagon. That skinny man with the mustache is pulling him out. He’s trying to pull him out anyway. It looks like Jimsy is fighting him off. I’m coming, Jimsy. I’m coming! JIMSY: Rix! Help! Get your hands off me, you! Hurry, Rix... before this man liberates me! SOUND: POP! AB: There you are, my man. You’re free. JIMSY: Nobody asked you to pull me out of that wagon! AB: Asked me to? Glad to do it for you. Your act was great! Simply great! Whatever Parbelo is offering you, I’ll double it if you’ll come with my show. PARBELO: (COMING ONSCREEN) Hold on there! Hold on there! What are you doing, Ab? AB: Why, I just happened to be in the neighborhood and dropped in to catch the performance. PARBELO: Strange how often you happen to be in my neighborhood, and how my best talent is always gone when you leave. AB: Tut! Tut! Is it my fault you under-appreciate your artists? RIX: Who is this man, Mr. Parbelo? PARBELO: He is my former partner. I taught him everything he knows about show business and he repaid me by skipping out with my best acts and setting up a rival extravaganza of his own. AB: Please! Let’s not be bitter, Parbelo. The fact that my show has prospered and yours has gone to seed proves which of us is the better showman. PARBELO: The only thing it proves is that you are an underhanded sneak-thief; but it won’t work this time, Ab. This clown was sent to me by the Supply Center and he’s under contract to me. AB: Is this true, my man? Are you under contract to this small-time operator? When does this contract expire? JIMSY: Under what? To who? (Wail) Rix! Where were you? Why didn’t you come when I called? RIX: I came as fast as I could, Jimsy, as soon as I knew you wanted me. JIMSY: These men think I’m a clown, and you didn’t get here in time to stop the skinny one from freeing me. PARBELO: I’m warning you, Ab. Get out of here! AB: Now there you go losing your temper again. Anger befogs the wits, you know. PARBELO: You left this carnival of your own free will, and now I’ll thank you to stay away. Clear away. I wish you and your thieving circus were in the furthermost outpost of the Land of Oz. RIX: So do I. You leave Jimsy alone. SAWHORSE: So do I. DOROTHY: My goodness! So do I! AB: Aren’t you the sweet ones! Leave my circus out of it! And I wish the same for the lot of you, including your precious new clown and your seedy circus! SOUND: SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! PARBELO: Great thundering hoptoads! What hit us? AB: Was it an earthquake? I mast be dizzy... everything looks different. DOROTHY: I should say it does look different. We’re in a different place than we were three seconds ago. PARBELO: What kind of trick is this, Ab? AB: Trick? Me? You flatter me, Parbelo. If I could perform a trick like that I wouldn’t waste my energy luring second-rate talent away from you. ROUSTABOUT (1): Parbelo! Parbelo! Hey boss! What happened? Where are we, boss? ROUSTABOUT (2): Where is the crowd? Where are the houses? PARBELO: I don’t know where we are. Nobody knows where we are, if there is anybody besides ourselves in this desolate looking place. ROUST: (1) What’ll we do, boss? PARBELO: What can we do? Tell everybody to start loading. ROUST: (1) Are we going to move on? PARBELO: As fast as we can. I don’t like the looks of this place. Just scrubby bushes and rocks. That steep cliff all around makes me feel like I’m at the bottom of a giant mixing bowl. ROUST: (1) Hear that, men? Get to work! We’re going to roll! ROUST: (2) We can’t start rolling soon enough to suit me. PARBELO: Everybody will have to pitch in and help, including you, Ab. Unless you prefer being left behind. AB: Me? Work? PARBELO: Work or stay here. I don’t know why I even give you a choice, come to think of it. DOROTHY: Well, we don’t want to be stranded here, either, so come on, Rix, let’s see what we can do to help load up.
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
JIMSY: Don’t look at me like that, Rix. I called you as loud as I could. I called and called and called, but you let that Ab free me from the wagon. I couldn’t stop him. RIX: I know it, Jimsy. It isn’t your fault, but this is an awful place you brought us to. DOROTHY: Jimsy brought us here? JIMSY: I couldn’t help it, Dorothy. Ab freed me from the wagon so I must grant him three wishes. It’s a rule we Djinns have. RIX: Ab wished us all in the furthermost outpost of the Land of Oz, so here we are. It was an accident that included himself in the wish. DOROTHY: Three wishes? Then he has two more coming. Why can’t he wish us all back again? RIX: Ab doesn’t know about Jimsy, Dorothy, or that he has two more wishes coming. I don’t think we ought to tell him, either. He’d probably wish only himself back if he knew, and leave the rest of us here. I don’t trust him. JIMSY: I don’t trust him either, but I have to stick with him until he uses up his wishes. Rix! Don’t let me lose you! RIX: I won’t if I can help it, Jimsy. You’d better get to work now, though, or Parbelo won’t let you travel with the circus. JIMSY: Do I have to, Rix? It’s awfully hard work for me to work. I’m not used to it. RIX: You’ll have to get used to it, Jimsy. Even Ab is working. See? Here he is, now. JIMSY: Where are you going with that box, Ab? Can I help you carry it? AB: You can carry the whole thing, for all I care. Look! Blisters on my hands, already! JIMSY: (SLYLY) Tsk, tsk, tsk! And we aren’t half loaded. Too bad this entire carnival had to come along when we were transported here. I wish it had been left behind. AB: So do I! JIMSY: What? What did you say, Ab? AB: I said I wish the circus had been left behind when we were transported here.
- III -
SOUND: SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! PARBELO: (OFFSTAGE) Hey! Hey there! Hey, hey! JIMSY: (In a whisper) How was that, Rix? I got rid of one more wish, and the circus, too! RIX: Pretty clever, but I don’t know if you should have done it, Jimsy. Look at Ab. He’s standing there like he was hit over the head. I think he’s beginning to suspect. PARBELO: It was no earthquake that time! I didn’t feel a thing. Just all of a sudden, the whole circus disappeared! Including the very wagon I was standing in. SOUND: DISTANT THUNDER APPROACHING DOROTHY: What’s that? Do you hear that? SAWHORSE: I hear it, but I can’t tell you what it is. DOROTHY: It sounds like thunder, but there isn’t a cloud in the sky. RIX: That must be it. See? It looks like a huge cloud of dust moving toward us across the prairie. PARBELO: Animals! It’s a herd of animals coming this way at full gallop. RIX: Ooh! And here we are alone with nothing to hide behind but the red wagon and nobody to help us. SOUND: THUNDER SWELLS TO CRESCENDO
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
PARBELO: Bless my eyes! I thought these beasts were extinct! DOROTHY: They don’t seem vicious... Most animals in Oz aren’t, but they make me nervous just standing there, staring at us. RIX: There must be hundreds of them! We’re penned in here in the middle of this herd until they decide to move on. PARBELO: What I wouldn’t give to have a specimen for my circus. DOROTHY: Specimen?! Do you imagine Ozma would allow such a thing? PARBELO: I don’t mean it like that; I meant an individual to travel with us. Sorry, sometimes old terminology is hard to lose. DOROTHY: That’s true. Do you know what kind of species they are? I’ve never seen anything like them. At first I thought they were buffalo, but they have necks like a giraffe... and those eyes! SAWHORSE: They better not pop their eyes at me! PARBELO: They’re harmless, Sawhorse. These beasts are Stare-e-oxicans. They are very inquisitive by nature, but also very timid. If you startle them they might stampede right over us and flatten us out like pancakes. RIX: What do we do? Stand here until we starve to death? AB: (Suddenly) Ha! Aha! I don’t know what the rest of you are going to do, but I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to the Emerald City to live a life of ease and luxury! PARBELO: What do you mean, Ab? Have you taken leave of your senses? AB: I have just come to my senses! Do you realize that I merely wished you, and accidentally myself, in the furthermost outpost of the Land of Oz, and we were immediately here? Then I wished that the circus had been left behind, and it immediately disappeared? PARBELO: You wished that? AB: Indeed I did. Obviously something has happened, I don’t know what, but my every wish seems to come true. So! I wish to be in the Emerald City right now. SOUND: SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! PARBELO: He’s gone! Ab has disappeared! JIMSY: Oh yes. He’s in the Emerald City, where he wished to be, and good riddance, I say. PARBELO: Then it’s true? All his wishes are granted? JIMSY: Not any more they aren’t. He just used up his last wish. While I was at it, I placed him in the Royal Palace, in Princess Ozma’s boudoir. Let him explain how he got there if he can! SOUND: (EVERYBODY LAUGHS) STARE-E-OXICANS: Boo! Boo! Boo! Bah! Bah! DOROTHY: Oh my! We almost startled the Stare-e-oxicans! Maybe Ab is no worse off than we are, at that.
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
JIMSY: Rix! I’m tired! RIX: We all are, Jimsy. I wonder how long it will take these beasts to look us over enough to go away. PARBELO: According to the books on animal lore I’ve read, it depends on whether something else attracts their attention, or when they last ate. They can store up enough food to last them ten days. JIMSY: Personally, I’ll die of starvation in ten hours. SAWHORSE: You? You can live on your fat for ten months at least. DOROTHY: Sawhorse! Don’t be mean! JIMSY: Rix! Do I have to let that wooden beast talk to me that way? RIX: I don’t know how you can stop him, Jimsy, but this is no time to bicker. What else do you know about these beasts, Mr. Parbelo? PARBELO: Well, they’re extinct, of course. DOROTHY: Apparently, no one told them that! PARBELO: They are sympathetic and affectionate by nature if you can overcome their timidity. DOROTHY: For goodness sake, overcome their timidity then! Maybe they’ll quit looking so wall-eyed and show us a little sympathy. PARBELO: How can I do that? DOROTHY: Talk to them! All animals in the Land of Oz can talk if they want to, silly. PARBELO: Easy for you to say. I’m not a very good talker. Ab was always better at that than I am. But, I suppose I can try. RIX: I’m sure you’ll do fine. PARBELO: Harruraph! Hey! You there! STARE: Boo! Bah! Boo! RIX: I think you’d better speak more gently, Mr. Parbelo. They seem disturbed. PARBELO: Yes, yes, yes. Uh... you there! CHLOE: Bah? PARBELO: Yes...you. CHLOE: You speakum to me? PARBELO: Yes. Ahem! Can you take us to your leader? CHLOE: Me don’t savvy. PARBELO: You don’t? Ok, well, can you quit popping your eyes and stand back so we can get out of here? CHLOE: Hokay! Why you not say so? Bah! Bah! Bah! DOROTHY: They’re moving back! They’re opening up a lane wide enough for the red wagon to get through. SAWHORSE: Pile in everybody; I’ll make a dash for it. PARBELO: No! Don’t do that, Sawhorse. If you dash, you might startle the Stare-e- oxicans. Just move slowly and calmly. SAWHORSE: There isn’t room in the wagon for all of you. Jimsy takes up enough room for two, and anyway, he’d only get stuck again. DOROTHY: We should have thought of that. RIX: I have an idea. If Jimsy gets into the wagon he’ll be stuck again, then one of us can pull him out, and will have three wishes coming, and wish us all out of here! JIMSY: No, Rix, that wouldn’t work. That would be collusion. It’s against the rules. The rest of you get into the wagon and I’ll walk if the Stare-e-oxicans don’t close in and hold me back. Go ahead, Rix, if you aren’t willing to pull me out of the wagon without reward, I’ll… I’ll walk, or stay here, as the case (sniff) may be. RIX: Stop that, Jimsy! You know I’ll pull you out of the wagon without a reward. CHLOE: Bah. You come? PARBELO: We’d better get going. Get into the wagon, Jimsy. I’ll walk. CHLOE: Walk? You no walk. You get stepped on. PARBELO: Stepped on! CHLOE: You my friend. You talk to me. Me no want you stepped on. You ride. PARBELO: Ride! How can I? The wagon is full without me. RIX: If Parbelo is your friend, will you carry him on your back? CHLOE: Carry him? Bah! Hokay. Me carry. PARBELO: Well, this is very kind of you. DOROTHY: Oh, get on his back, Parbelo, we’ve wasted enough time as it is. The Stare-e- oxicans are getting restless again. STARE: Booo! What you do, Chloe? Where you go? Boo! CHLOE: Me take these fella to Mountain Pass. They go home now. STARE: You crazy, Chloe. Mountain Pass... that big secret! CHLOE: This cute fella. He no tell secret. Stand back, Boys. Bah! DOROTHY: Oh my! I hope they’ll stand back for Chloe. CHLOE: You want these fella stay here always? Always watch us? Always look? Always peek? STARE: That right. Nothing else to do here. Let-um go. Boo! DOROTHY: Giddy-ap, Sawhorse. Let’s get out of here before these Stare-e-oxicans change their minds.
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
JIMSY: Who invited these critters to tag along, anyhow? If that one in the lead follows any closer, he’ll be resting his eyeballs on my shoulder. RIX: Cheer up, Jimsy. We must be almost to the Pass by now. We certainly can’t go much further until we do find a pass. SAWHORSE: I don’t think that Chloe beast has any notion where she’s taking us. She keeps her head twisted around to talk to Parbelo instead of watching where she’s going. DOROTHY: I don’t see how she prevents herself from stumbling over these rocks. Now, where did she vanish? SAWHORSE: A good thing you aren’t pulling this wagon. They went between those two big rocks up there, and turned to the right. DOROTHY: Oooh! The wagon can just barely squeeze through. STARE: Boo! JIMSY: Zounds! If you’re going to do that, please turn your head. STARE: This is entrance to Pass. Chloe come home now. DOROTHY: Why, there’s a tunnel wide enough for the wagon and not very long either. I can see daylight at the other end. STARE: Chlooooooeeeee! JIMSY: Now you cut that out! STARE: Chloe! Boooo! CHLOE: Bah! You go home. Me go with this fella. STARE: You come home, Chloe! Boo! CHLOE: Me go! Bah! JIMSY: Oh go on home, Chloe, while my eardrum is still in one quivering piece. CHLOE: No. Me go! See Emerald City! See world! See carnival! SCARE: Boo! CHLOE: Bah! JIMSY: Rix! Make them cut that out, Rix!
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
DOROTHY: Look! We came out on the side of a mountain. This tunnel is almost at the top. PARBELO: Your valley must be like a crater in the top of this mountain, Chloe. CHLOE: Bah! Yes. Valley big secret. We never stick nose out since we find it. No- body ever find us but you. RIX: It doesn’t seem like a very exciting home for beasts as curious as Stare-e- oxicans. CHLOE: Very dull valley. Big bore. Bah. DOROTHY: Why do the Stare-e-oxicans stay there, then? CHLOE: We too easy. Our ancestors lived out here. Always listen to talk-talk. Always lend muscle to people who need help. Always work—work—work for somebody. By-n-by, all Stare-e-oxicans just big slaves. What for? Search me. DOROTHY: I see. So when you found the secret valley, you all decided you’d rather live there and be bored than stay out here and be enslaved. CHLOE: That right. PARBELO: Rest assured, gentle beast, I will protect you from your over-sympathetic nature, and you will live in ease and comfort with my carnival. There will be hundreds of people for you to stare at every day. JIMSY: And to stare at you, of course. PARBELO: You have my promise before these witnesses: if you ever want to return to your valley, I will provide you with safe escort. CHLOE: Bah! Why me wanta go back to that stupid place? Me think-un country down there is much prettier. DOROTHY: It is a lovely view from up here, isn’t it? Isn’t that the Road of Yellow Bricks down yonder, Sawhorse? SAWHORSE: I think so. But it’s a long ways off. We’ll be on this rocky mountain for another hour at least. DOROTHY: Well anyway, we can’t get lost again now. The Road of Yellow Bricks leads directly to the Emerald City. CHLOE: Me see-um short-cut. Lookum like smooth path cut between cliffs. DOROTHY: Oh good! It’s wide enough for the wagon, too. Lead on, Chloe. We’ll be off the mountain in no time, after all.
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
JIMSY: This Pass doesn’t seem so wide to me. RIX: No, it doesn’t any more, does it? Is it possible that the sides are closing in on us? DOROTHY: Closing in? Oh! They are, they are! Run, Sawhorse! Run! Let’s get out of here! SAWHORSE: Can’t you run any faster than that, Chloe? You’re blocking the traffic. CHLOE: Me run like wind! Bah! PARBELO: We made it, Chloe, we made it! We’re out of that granite trap. SOUND: WAGON SCRAPING AGAINST WALLS OF ROCK JIMSY: Rix! These rock walls are pinching me. RIX: We’re stuck! We’re stuck tight! The sides of this Pass have closed up on us and are holding the wagon like a bug in a pair of tweezers. PARBELO: (OFFSTAGE) Yoo hoo! Are you all right in there? DOROTHY: I guess so. If it’s all right to be clamped in the bottom of a narrow little chasm this way. RIX: I wonder how Chloe and Parbelo escaped. They were still in the Pass when it caught us. DOROTHY: I guess it’s because Chloe isn’t as wide as the wagon. She had room to keep moving after the wagon held the walls from closing in any further. PARBELO: (OFFSTAGE) The walls aren’t moving anymore; why don’t you climb out of the wagon and walk out? DOROTHY: Of course! Why didn’t we think of that? RIX: Climb out over the Sawhorse, Dorothy. I’ll follow and unhitch him. DOROTHY: I’ll have to apologize to Ozma for losing her wagon, but she can probably get it back with the Magic Belt. RIX: There you are, Sawhorse, you’re unhitched. Trot on out. Come on Jimsy. JIMSY: (Sniff) Good bye, Rix. I hope you think of me once in a (sniff) while. RIX: What? Oh, I forgot. You can’t pull yourself out of the wagon, can you? Here, I’ll climb back and give you a hand. JIMSY: It’s no use, Rix. Look at me. This Pass is as narrow as the wagon and about twelve feet to the top. Nobody can hoist me out of this ditch. DOROTHY: (OFFSTAGE) Come on, Rix! What’s keeping you? RIX: It’s Jimsy. He’s really stuck! JIMSY: Go with your friends, Rix. What good would it do for you to stay here? You should have left me long ago. I’ve been nothing but trouble to you (sniff)! If it hadn’t been for me, you’d be in the Emerald City right now with Dorothy and the Sawhorse. I (sniff), I don’t want to be, but I’m just a burden (sniff) to you. RIX: Don’t start that again, Jimsy. Maybe I can’t help you, but I’m certainly not going to go away and leave you in a spot like this. DOROTHY: (OFFSTAGE) Shall I go for help, Rix? I’ll ride the Sawhorse and get to Glinda’s Palace as fast as I can. RIX: Who’s Glinda? DOROTHY: She’s the most powerful Sorceress in the Land of Oz, and a very good friend of mine. If anybody can help Jimsy, Glinda can. RIX: Yes, do that, Dorothy. I’ll stay here with Jimsy. JIMSY: Go with her, Rix. The Sawhorse can carry two of you. This Magic Pass is probably a trap set by some evil Mountain Spirit, and you’d be in danger if you stayed here. RIX: Hush, Jimsy! I’m not going to leave you here alone, so quit talking about it. JIMSY: Oooooh Ri-i-ix! You’re so good to me!
MUSIC: UP AND OUT
JIMSY: Do you think Dorothy and the Sawhorse have reached Glinda’s palace yet? RIX: They must have. It’s almost morning, and the Sawhorse is the fastest creature on four legs. JIMSY: It was kind of Chloe and Parbelo to offer to stay here with us. RIX: Yes. I’m sure they meant it too. But like you said, what would be the use? I only hope they found the carnival before it disbanded or something. JIMSY: I’m thirsty, Rix. RIX: Well, if you don’t mind drinking out of the bottle I found you in, I’ll go on out and see if I can find a mountain stream.
MUSIC: BRIEF
RIX: (In a whisper) Jimsy! Jimsy! JIMSY: That was a quick trip! Was there a mountain stream right next to this place? RIX: I didn’t go all the way out. There are some little people out there sitting cross- legged on a big rock and smoking pipes. I could see them very clearly in the bright moonlight. JIMSY: What kind of little people? RIX: I don’t know how to describe them, exactly. They look like... leprechauns. Most of them have beards, and one of them is wearing a green jacket and a red cap with a white feather in it. JIMSY: White Owl’s Feather! RIX: I don’t know what kind of a feather it is. JIMSY: It must be! In this area, it couldn’t be anyone else. RIX: Who? JIMSY: White Owl’s Feather, of course. He’s sort of a relation of mine, second double cousin once removed, or maybe twice removed. I haven’t seen him for about a century. RIX: That little, bitty man is your cousin? Do you want me to fetch him here to you? JIMSY: He’s a wise little man; might know the answer to this trap I’m in. But you can’t just walk up to one of the Wee Folk. You’ve got to know the right limerick to chant. Then grab him by the beard while he’s still spellbound and count to ten. RIX: Oh my! Do you know what it is? The limerick, I mean? JIMSY: I know the right one for him, if that’s who it is. Now listen carefully and I’ll teach it to you.
MUSIC: “Wee folk, good folk, trooping all together, Green Jacket, red cap, White Owl’s Feather, Up the airy mountain, Past the fairy fountain...”
UP AND OUT
FEATHER: So that’s where you’ve been keep in’ yourself. Voyagin’ in a bottle, eh? JIMSY: It was no pleasure cruise. I got pretty tired sitting after a few years. FEATHER: You might be having a few more years of sitting to do, I’m thinkin’. Then again, the Old Man of the Mountain might chance this way within the hour. JIMSY: The Old Man of the Mountain? Is he the one who set this infernal trap? FEATHER: The same. He’s as tall as this canyon, and twice as mean. He’ll be after grindin’ your bones to make his bread if you’re still sittin’ here when he makes his rounds. JIMSY: What can I do about it, Cousin? Do you know how I can get out of here? FEATHER: Well now, I wouldn’t be knowin’ how you’d manage it, but if somethin’ wider than yourself should happen this way, the canyon walls would spread apart to admit it, and yourself would come unstuck. SMIDGINS: (COMING ONSTAGE) White Feather! White Feather! Come out of here with ye and be quick! FEATHER: What ails you, Smidgins? SMIDGINS: ‘Tis a strange caravan approaching by the dawn’s early light. Wagons and wagons with beasts all about, and leading the lot is a Stare-e-oxican if you’d believe it! RIX: Why, that’s Parbelo and Chloe and the carnival. They came back, Jimsy, and I know now how they can get you out of here, too! JIMSY: You do? How? RIX: Your cousin just told us. We’ll lash one of the circus tent-poles cross-wise to the front of one of the wagons. Then we’ll drive it into this Pass. When the walls move back to admit it, you’ll be free! FEATHER: You’re a brilliant lad! That should work, I’m thinkin’. DOROTHY: (OFFSTAGE) Rix! Jimsy! Are you still in there? RIX: Dorothy, is that you? DOROTHY: Yes, we met the carnival down at the foot of the mountain so we all came back together. I was hoping Glinda had freed you by now. RIX: Did you see her? DOROTHY: Yes, and she went right to work searching for a way to break this spell. She said it wouldn’t be easy, but... SOUND: AS OF DISTANT THUNDER. GIANT FOOTSTEPS DRAWING NEARER SMIDGINS: Hist! ‘Tis the Old Man comin’ round the mountain! FEATHER: Goodby, Cousin! Nice seeing you! RIX: The Old Man of the Mountain? FEATHER: Himself! Bye now! JIMSY: Too late to get me out of here, now Rix. Run, before it’s too late! RIX: Maybe Glinda’s magic will work before the Old Man gets here. JIMSY: Maybe, but don’t wait to find out. Hurry, get out there to your friends and... RIX: Why do you keep saying “my” friends? They’re your friends, too, you know, or they wouldn’t have risked coming back here. JIMSY: My friends? Mine? RIX: Of course they are. Why would any of us be here if we weren’t? JIMSY: You, too? RIX: Especially me. You’re my very first friend, and my very best, and I’ll never leave you when you’re in trouble! SOUND: SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! CHLOE: Bah! Me mixed up. Me dizzy. PARBELO: So am I, Chloe, and I’ve been through this before. Where are we this time? DOROTHY: Well, what do you know? That’s the Emerald City straight ahead. I guess Glinda’s magic worked just in the nick of time. JIMSY: It wasn’t Glinda’s magic, it was yours. DOROTHY: Mine? JIMSY: All of you. The Magic of Friendship. RIX: What do you mean, Jimsy? Did you bring us here? JIMSY: Well, it’s this way, Rix. You used your last wish for true, loyal friends. Now I’ve lived a few thousand years longer than you have and I’ve never had a real friend. Never before did anyone do anything (stars puddling up) for me without expecting a favor in return. (Sniff) And now… you (sniff), you stood by me at the risk of your own (sniff) life... and the others... came back (sniff) when they knew (sniff)! DOROTHY: Jimsy! Don’t you dare cry now! JIMSY: You’ve all made me sooo haa-aa-ppy! I just... I just... RIX: You just what? It was you who transported us here, wasn’t it? JIMSY: (Meekly) Sometimes I don’t know my own strength. DOROTHY: Oh Jimsy! You’re wonderful. We all do love you. PARBELO: Every-body! Par-ade form-ation! We’ll parade into the Emerald City and put on the show of our lives for Princess Ozma! DOROTHY: Good! Come on, Rix, you can ride on the Sawhorse with me! PARBELO: Rea-dy! March! Hip! Hip! Hip! SOUND: CIRCUS MUSIC JIMSY: Rix! Wait for me! DOROTHY: Isn’t this fun? Step lively, Chloe, or else get out of our way! JIMSY: Wait! Wait for me! I’m still stuck in this wagon, you know. Hey! Wait Rix! Ri-i-i-ix!!
***THE END ***
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For synopsis and continuity notes, go here
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