Mr Humbug Sees The Light

Sample Songs

Listen below to the songs from Mr Humbug Sees The Light

Plot Summary

With Christmas approaching we share the excitement felt by the adults and children at St Ebenezer’s School (song – Going Crackers). However, it soon becomes clear that someone isn’t happy. Headteacher, Mr Humbug, hates Christmas at school because it gets in the way of doing ‘proper’ work, wastes time and costs money! And so he bans it (song – Christmas Is Banned), much to the distress of everyone, in particular Miss Palette the Art teacher, the school cooks, and a little girl who wants to do nothing more than offer him the season’s best wishes! Whilst pouring over paperwork at his desk that evening he is visited by the ghost of his old deputy headteacher, Miss Penny Pincher, who met a sticky end whilst telling children off for having fun (song – Old Miss Pincher)! She warns him that if he doesn’t change his ways and embrace the true spirit of a school Christmas, he will, like her, spend eternity suffering. She warns him that three more spirits will be visiting him to really ‘ram this message home’.

Dismissing this weird encounter as the result of a dodgy school lunch, Mr Humbug returns to his paperwork, only to be scared witless by the arrival in his office of the Spirit of School-Christmas-Past. The two take a journey back to Mr Humbug’s own school days, when Christmas was celebrated in style. We see children filled with festive mirth, and enjoying the prospect of roast turkey, the infant nativity, making hats and decorating the classroom (song – This Time Of Year). Any warm feelings this brought back to Mr Humbug soon disappear as he returns to his desk in his cold office.

Next up is the rather ‘jolly’ Spirit of School-Christmas-Present, who shows the headteacher just how miserable the children and adults at St Ebenezer’s really are, now that Christmas has been banned. It’s wet playtime and the children discuss how to smuggle out Christmas cards from school, while in the staffroom everyone considers resigning (song – We’ve Had A Belly-full). Mr Humbug is shocked at the bad feelings towards him, and we see signs that maybe changes are afoot.

The sinister Spirit of School-Christmas-Yet-To-Come finally arrives and transports Mr Humbug to a time where teachers are on the scrap heap, and their classrooms are now run by robots. They enslave children at computers for fifteen hours a day, and any child who steps out of line is taken to the ‘lab’! Art, PE and Music are no more, and Christmas is very much a thing of the past. Mr Humbug is horrified to discover that this terrible situation is all his fault (song – Why Did Everything Go So Horribly Wrong). We are told that he had become an MP, and soon after Prime Minister! He had introduced harsh measures that resulted in the sad state of affairs we now witness. He begs the spirit to change this future, but is told that any changes must begin with him.

Mr Humbug wakes next morning at his desk, just in time for assembly. He is a new man. Having seen the error of his ways he addresses the school in an unusually pleasant tone. He expresses sorrow and apologises for his behaviour, then stuns everyone by declaring that no expense will be spared, and this will be the best Christmas St Ebenezer’s has ever seen! (song – He’s Seen The Light)

Characters

35 Speaking parts in order of appearance
*Click on the Line count/Costumes tab for more details

3 Narrators – our Yuletide tale-tellers.
Mr Humbug – headteacher of St Ebenezer’s. Move over Scrooge, there’s a new boy in town.
Miss Palette – flamboyant art teacher who enjoys a good ‘spend’.
5 Cooks – kind-hearted culinary queens.
Little girl – a real Christmas angel.
Miss Penny Pincher – the ghost of Mr Humbug’s vile partner in crime.
Spirit of School-Christmas-Past – a ghoulish guide to how things used to be.
Teacher from School-Christmas-Past – lovely and cuddly.
Young Humbug, Cathy, Tommy and Sally – carefree kiddies from a bygone age.
Spirit of School-Christmas-Present – on a very ‘merry’ mission to right some wrongs.
5 Children of School-Christmas-Present – are these really the best days of your life?
3 Teachers of School-Christmas-Present – not exactly filled with festive mirth.
Spirit of School-Christmas-Yet-To-Come – sinister messenger of what the future holds.
Robot Teacher – Swift and efficient and takes no nonsense – just like the real thing.
4 Children of School-Christmas-Yet-To-Come – 15 hours at school each day’s the norm.
Security-Bots – it’s off to the ‘lab’ with any child who doesn’t sit in silence.

Ensemble characters for featured songs and scenes
Staff and Children of St Ebenezer’s School – present day
The Class of School-Christmas-Past
More Cooks and Nativity Infants
The Class of School-Christmas-Yet-To-Come
Future Down-and-out Teachers

What do you get?

This musical production is available to buy in 3 different formats. When ordering, simply choose the option (details below) which best suits your requirements.

• Option 1 – Book & Audio CD.
  A wire-bound book containing the full script with detailed stage directions, character information, tips and suggestions for costumes, props and scenery, and a piano score for all songs. An audio CD of all songs (backing tracks & vocal tracks) plus continuity/incidental music and sound effects where required.
• Option 2 – CD-ROM & Audio CD.
  A CD-ROM containing both a PDF and an editable MS Word document of the full script, with detailed stage directions, character information, tips and suggestions for costumes, props and scenery, and a PDF of the piano score for all songs. An audio CD of all songs (backing tracks & vocal tracks) plus continuity/incidental music and sound effects where required.
• Option 3 – Digital download.
  All the PDF and MS Word files from Option 2 above, all audio tracks as MP3 files, plus JPEG files of cover artwork for use in making posters or other promotional material. Upon completion of your order, a link will be automatically sent to the email address you provided, from which all the files can be downloaded.

Any order containing a digital download option must be paid for online at the point of ordering. Any order containing a digital download which is not accompanied by payment will not be processed.

UK schools can order Book & Audio CD and CD-ROM & Audio CD options with an invoice to be paid within 30 days. Non-UK schools and private individuals (not ordering on behalf of a school) are required to pay for these at the point of ordering.