Oh My, Nellie Bly
- Full Length Musical, Biography, Comedy, 19th Century
- 8M, 16F
- ISBN: 9780573116360
The musical tells the story of Nellie Bly, America's first female journalist. In a profession dominated by men, in the late-19th century, Nellie was determined not only to join the profession but to become one of its brightest lights.
More information
Description
- Full Length Musical
- Biography, Comedy
- Time Period: 19th Century
- Target Audience: Teen (Age 14 - 18), Adult
The musical tells the story of Nellie Bly, America's first female journalist. In a profession dominated by men, in the late-19th century, Nellie was determined not only to join the profession but to become one of its brightest lights.
To get herself noticed, Nellie undertook a series of daring and outrageous stunts, including committing herself to New York's infamous insane asylum on Blackwell's Island. The subsequent articles and book she wrote about her experiences forced the authorities to radically reform the asylum system.
In 1889 Nellie undertook her most famous and seemingly impossible stunt -- a solo journey around the world to try to beat the eighty days taken in Jules Verne's famous novel. After many exotic adventures she returned triumphant to New York in just seventy-two days.
By turns comic and tragic this is the story of a woman who opened a door previously closed to all women: the story of a brave pioneer who sacrificed love and happiness to achieve her ambition.
To get herself noticed, Nellie undertook a series of daring and outrageous stunts, including committing herself to New York's infamous insane asylum on Blackwell's Island. The subsequent articles and book she wrote about her experiences forced the authorities to radically reform the asylum system.
In 1889 Nellie undertook her most famous and seemingly impossible stunt -- a solo journey around the world to try to beat the eighty days taken in Jules Verne's famous novel. After many exotic adventures she returned triumphant to New York in just seventy-two days.
By turns comic and tragic this is the story of a woman who opened a door previously closed to all women: the story of a brave pioneer who sacrificed love and happiness to achieve her ambition.
Premiere Production:
Oh My, Nellie Bly was commissioned by The MTA. It's first production was on 12 September 2018 at the Bridewell Theatre, London. The original cast were all first years on The MTA's two-year Musical Theatre Diploma.
Characters
- Casting: 8M, 16F
- Casting Attributes: Reduced casting (Doubling Possible), Flexible casting
NELLIE BLY - Tomboyish, confident, perky and highly ambitious young woman. Underlying deep-rooted fear of failure.
THE GIBSON GIRL - A popular cartoon character by Charles Dana Gibson from Scribner's Magazine. The epitome of the modern American young woman of the late nineteenth century. Great self-belief and in charge of her own destiny.
CATHERINE COCHRAN - Nellie's younger sister. Tomboyish and happy-go-lucky but lacks Nellie's driving ambition.
MRS COCHRAN - Nellie and Catherine's widowed mother. Conservative and old-fashioned.
HONORINE VERNE - The French wife of the novelist Jules Verne. Lives in her husband's shadow. Elegant, sensitive and intelligent.
INTERPRETER - Cold and haughty. Doing her job.
MRS ANSTRUTHER - Wife of an official in British Hong Kong.
MISS FORDHAM-BULLER - Wife of an official in British Hong Kong.
MRS McURRAY-McMURRAY - Wife of an official in British Hong Kong.
MRS BLOWER-BLOWER-FITZROY - Wife of official in British Hong Kong.
MRS PONSONBY-BREEDLOVE-GODALMING - Wife of a General in British Hong Kong.
MISS WHICKERTON-SNICKERTON - Wife of an official in British Hong Kong.
MISS FELICITY SELHURST-WINNER - Wife on an official in British Hong Kong.
ELIZABETH BISLAND - Nellie's rival in the great race around the world. A young journalist. More conservative than Nellie. Not enjoying her solo trip around the world.
MISS GRUPE - Cruel, crude and violent nurse in the insane asylum.
TILLIE MAYNARD - An inmate at the insane asylum. Lost, confused and frightened.
MARY HUGHES - An inmate in the insane asylum. Pines for her children.
MISS McCARTEN - A flirtatious and uncaring nurse in the insane asylum.
SARAH - A violent inmate in the insane asylum.
ANNA - An inmate in the insane asylum. Convinced her mother is coming to rescue her.
CLARA - An inmate in the insane asylum who believes she is damned for all eternity.
AILEEN - A violent and self-harming inmate in the insane asylum. Obsessed with the Devil.
MISS ADELE NEEDHAM - A confident and flirtatious young American woman travelling on the RMS Oceanic. Her sights set on the handsome Captain Smith.
JULES VERNE - World-renowned French novelist. Writer of Around the World in Eighty Days. Older man.
HON. WYDHAM CURZON - A young English aristocrat and complete cad. Suave, calculating, arrogant.
THOMAS KETTLE - An Englishman from Birmingham looking for a wife. Defeated by life. Has a permanent cold.
GIOVANNI APOLLONI - The personification of the Italian lover. Outrageous, romantic, full of grand gestures.
RAILWAY PORTER - On New York station.
SAILOR - Takes boat to Blackwell's Island.
DR KINIER - A doctor in the insane asylum. Lacks courage and integrity.
CAPTAIN SMITH - The handsome and upright captain of the RMS Oceanic. Falls in love with Nellie.
CHORUS OF AMERICAN WOMEN - Great supporters of Nellie Bly, who love Nellie's pioneering spirit.
WOMEN PASSENGERS ON MV VICTORIA - A collection of British, French and Italian women. Most of them are young women desperately in search of a husband. Some maiden aunts and widowed mothers.
BRITISH WOMEN IN HONG KONG - The women of the Britsih Empire. Compulsive tea drinkers. Overwhelmingly pleasant, kind, charming and deeply snobbish. Including...
MRS BLATCHFORD-BLAND
MISS DORKING-SNEEZBY
MRS DREADNOUGHT-CUMMING
MISS JONES
A SERVING GIRL
ONLOOKERS AT THE DOCKSIDE - Vicarious thrill seekers.
FEMALE INMATES IN THE INSANE ASYLUM - Some are insane, some are not. Life's casualties. Some see visions, some are dangerous and some are pitiful.
LEPERS - Chinese lepers banished from their homes and communities.
