 ANNABELLE BROOM, THE UNHAPPY WITCH
Book by: Eleanor Harder and Ray Harder
Lyrics by: Eleanor Harder and Ray Harder
Music by: Eleanor Harder
A musical especially designed for children which blends
charm and wit with clever catchy songs.
Annabelle Broom is a non-conformist witch who would
rather help than hinder. Her good deeds bring her into dispute with
her superior witches and she nearly loses her union card through
helping two lost children. But Annabelle and virtue triumph over
the forces of darkness proving that chicanery doesn't pay.
STORY
ACT ONE - Forest, early evening.
There is an air of sadness about this spot.
A circle of ghostly trees wail and bend under their leafy burdens.
It is here that Annabelle, the unhappy witch, has come to brood.
She enters, weeping, dressed head to toe in her old, black, ill-fitting
witch's uniform. Under her arm she carries a gaily-coloured fashion
magazine and a flowing pink handkerchief. Looking at the magazine,
she cries that she is "last year's cobweb." She has
nothing new and fashionable to wear. She is delighted when she
sees the audience and tells them all about herself. She discloses
that she is really a very nice witch who is forced to wear a terrible
black outfit all the time. She wishes more than anything that she
could wear a nice new pink outfit designed in the latest fashion.
Suddenly, thunder is heard and Mabel, president of the witches’ union,
appears. Annabelle knows that Mabel won't be happy with her since
she is supposed to be home practising her evil eye. Mable is a
large woman dressed in an impressive steel-grey witch's uniform.
She loves practising her favourite stunt - yelling, "silence" and
listening appreciatively to the thunder that follows. She sees
Annabelle and reprimands her. Mabel presents a list of Annabelle's
faults and demerits for the week: she slept all night in a barn
which she was told to burn down; she asked Mrs. Jones the place
where she bought her shoes instead of putting a hex and evil eye
on her, and so on. She finally pulls Annabelle's report card out
of her pocket and gives it to the troubled witch. It appears that
Annabelle has failed virtually all of her witch classes - everything
from spell making to general meanness. The only A+ she got was
in Toadstool Turning. Before Mabel leaves, she gives Annabelle
a list of work for the evening.
No sooner is Mabel gone, than another witch, Lydia, enters dressed
in a dark green uniform. She is elated at finding Annabelle with
her long instruction list. Lydia is the assigned treasurer for
the witches' union and has come to collect the full moon dues -
thirteen dragon's teeth. Annabelle gives her the dues and then
looks at her assignment list. Her evening assignment is to frighten
two lost children. She thinks about it for a moment and then realises
that this assignment could be fun.
In another part of the forest, a much happier and brighter part,
Peter and Judy enter, singing and playing follow-the-leader. Peter
is about nine years old and his sister, Judy, is about eight. They
are well-scrubbed, happy, delightful children. They hop through
the forest having a delightful time and dissolve into a fit of
laughter. When they recover, they realise that they are lost. Peter
can't quite figure out the way home because bramble bushes cover
the path that should lead them home. He tells Judy that he once
heard that witches put bramble bushes in the path of anyone lost
in the forest. Judy gets scared, but Peter calms her down, telling
her that they must be brave. They try calling to someone for help,
but no one answers them. They go over to a large
tree, lie down beneath it, and fall asleep.
Annabelle enters reading her instruction sheet and finds the children.
Judy and Peter wake up, but stay very still, pretending to sleep.
Annabelle's first job is to sprinkle them with some enchanted powder,
which will fill their dreams with monstrous nightmares; however,
before she is able to do this, she notices what a fresh and lovely
complexion Judy has. She wonders just how Judy keeps her skin so
soft and fresh. Seeing a jug of milk in the children's basket,
Annabelle takes the milk and rubs it on her skin hoping that this
is what Judy also does. Maybe now her wrinkles will go away, and
she'll look as fresh as Judy. Seeing this, the children laugh,
and Annabelle is embarrassed and a bit angry at being caught. The
children stop laughing, but they are no longer afraid of Annabelle.
In fact, she reminds them of their grandmother who plays games
with them all the time. Annabelle tries to conjure up some spells,
but nothing seems to scare the children. Even showing them her
witches' union card only makes them laugh.
In fact, Annabelle isn't like any other witch they know. She's
not really old and ugly. She wears flowers in her hair. Most witches
only come out after midnight, and here it is just a little after
the children's bedtime. Lastly, her hair isn't grey and everyone
knows that all real witches have grey hair. She tells the children
that by using a squeeze of loganberry here and a squirt of boysenberry
there, she is able to tint her hair and keep herself younger looking.
Her clothes, however, are another
story and she cannot change them. She asks Judy if she'll tell
her how she keeps her skin so soft and smooth, and the children
agree to tell her in exchange for her showing them the way out
of the forest. At first, Annabelle hesitates since it goes against
all the orders that have been handed down to her, but after reconsidering
it a bit, she realises that she should take the children home in
exchange for some beauty secrets. Before they depart, however,
Annabelle must fly off on her broom and get her maps and tooth
brush. She tells the children to wait for her until she returns.
They sing and dance for joy at the thought of going home. Unfortunately,
Lydia has been listening and watching Annabella and the children
all along. As the children celebrate, she emerges and sneaks off
in the opposite direction from Annabelle.
Deep in the forest, the other witches - Mabel, Esther and Maud
- are dancing and chanting around a steaming cauldron. Lydia enters
breathlessly and informs the other witches that she caught Annabelle
promising to lead the children safely home. They are horrified
at the thought of this - especially Mabel who strictly ordered
Annabelle to terrorise the children. What is even worse is that
if Annabelle isn't stopped, her good deeds could actually make
it so all the witches' powers are destroyed. The only way to stop
it is to bring Annabelle back and boil her in oil. Annabelle must
be destroyed to insure the other witches' powers live on. Mabel
orders the other witches to bring Annabelle to her. They depart.
ACT TWO
Half-an-hour later Annabelle and the children appear to be
very happy as they make their journey out of the forest. Annabelle
grows tired and stops for a moment, telling the children they should
take a short nap before moving on. At first, the children resist,
but Judy admits she is tired and would like a short nap. Peter
fears that the other witches will find them, but Annabelle assures
him that as long as they have the magic book she is carrying, they
can outsmart them at every turn. Annabelle reads from her book
and shows the children several magic tricks, which are quite entertaining.
The one trick she can't seem to master is the getting the thunder
to clap after she yells "silence." However, after a bit
of practice, and a little help from Judy who reads the book, Annabelle
is able to make thunder sound ever so faintly, and she is delighted
with herself.
The children are now very tired and want to go to sleep. They
ask Annabelle to sing them a lullaby, but she doesn't know how
to do it. The children lay Annabelle down, say a prayer with her
and sing Annabelle (and themselves) to sleep.
A few minutes later, after Annabelle and the children are fast
asleep, Mabel, Lydia, Esther, and Maud enter and find them. Lydia
rushes to capture them, but Mabel stops her, saying that they must
first cast a spell over them. Mabel has the other witches stand
guard over the sleeping bodies while she conjures a spell to prepare
them for boiling in a pot for eighteen months. If one gets away
from them before the spell is put into place, the entire sisterhood
of witches could be destroyed. Mabel conjures the spell and one
of the witches prepares to throw Annabelle and the children into
a boiling pot.
The witches shriek with laughter and this wakes up Annabelle and
the children. Annabelle confronts the other witches and they tell
her that it is all over for her. They explain that for a long time
she has gone against the rules of the sisterhood of witches, but
that by "being kind to children" she has gone too far!
For that alone, she will be boiled in oil for a year. The children
are terribly frightened, but Annabelle assures them that the other
witches would never do anything to harm a fellow sister. She shows
them her witches' union card, but Mabel doesn't care. She takes
the card and boils it in the cauldron, ending Annabelle's term
as a witch for good. Annabelle is then dragged off by Maud and
Esther. But as she struggles, she tells the children to get her
book and look on the last page. Peter grabs the book and frantically
leafs through it, but the witches chase after the children as the
book is tossed back and forth. Peter finally gets the book back
and is able to read it. As the witches pounce on him, he starts
to laugh hysterically. The witches try to put a curse on him, but
he informs them what he just learned from the book; witches don't
exist unless you believe in them. Mabel is horrified that the children
know the secret and orders the rest of her sisters to run for their
lives.
The witches are gone, and Peter and Judy celebrate. They look
for Annabelle but only find a pink book on the ground with the
same words as the last black book. They wonder why this is the
case. No sooner has this happened then a groan is heard and a dazed
Annabelle enters dressed head to toe in a beautiful pink outfit
which is elaborately sprinkled with bows, lace, ribbons, flowers,
etc. The children are awestruck by her appearance: Annabelle is
oblivious to the change in her attire. After a bit, she looks down
and sees that a transformation that has occurred. It must have
been because of what was in her witches' book: "Evil witches
are like spooks and nightmares. Anyone who stands up and laughs
at them, destroys their evil powers." Also
printed in there is "Good deeds return upon the one who gives
ten times and more." Annabelle's good deed has brought about
her transformation. Annabelle offers an arm to each of the children
and they skip off together to return to their home.
Principals:
1 Male, 6 Female
- Annabelle
- Esther
- Judy
- Lydia
- Mabel
- Maud
- Peter
MUSICAL NUMBERS
- Pink Is My Color - Annabelle
- Hop 'Round The Trees - Judy,
Peter
- Yoo Hoo, You Hoo! - Judy,
Peter
- I Tint My Hair - Annabelle, Judy, Peter
- Home, Home - Judy, Peter
- Windershin - Mabel, Esther, Maud
- We'll Boil Her In Oil - Mabel, Esther, Maud, Lydia
- Think One Happy Thought - Judy, Peter, Annabelle
- The Prayer - Judy, Peter
- Lullaby - Judy, Peter
- Witch Chant - Mabel, Witches
- Laugh And Dance And Sing - Judy, Peter
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