In the early 1990’s I collaborated with a fellow faculty member who taught English. Our musicals tended, not surprisingly, to take on literature. I had used Aesop’s fables as the basis of a number of rather silly songs that I sang for the younger children. As the boys grew older, they retained a fondness for the stories. So, along with my co-worker, we devised a pretty flimsy plot around the real-life situation of the historic Aesop, a witty social commentator who got away with poking fun at the rich and powerful by using mostly animals and other natural elements in place of the targets of his commentaries.
In our little convoluted musical, we take on Aesop’s own situation as a valued story teller, and political adversary. Tell Me A Story is a child’s plea to Aesop for one more great tale, while Wanna Fly Away is Aesop’s own reaction to being imprisoned. Of particular interest to me is one additional song that for the life of me I cannot recall. I included it under the name Mystery Song. Hopefully someone from that group of students can provide some insight.
What I noticed in going through some old recordings is that the beats and sounds reflect the new consumer sound module products that were really starting to flood the home studio market, particularly the Roland MT-32, a device I overused for years. The original recordings were recorded in keys that were to match the voices of the student cast members. I recently re-did them with only piano accompaniment. For those who are interested, I do have digitized copies of the original demo tapes with their arrangements. Enjoy
No script at this time!
THE SONGS
Tell Me A Story: As noted above, there is no script and unfortunately, no video of the show. By the lyrics it is clear that Aesop has come to tell stories and each of the children has their favorite.
There’s A Man Who’s Coming: Occasionally, Aesop would be called on to testify on the behalf of a friend or colleague. Inevitably, Aesop would tell a fable that in some way demonstrated his friends innocence, or at least advocated for a more lenient sentence.
That’s What I Would Do: I think that this song has to do with Aesop deciding if he should recant his political views or stay behind bars.
Wanna Fly Away: Somehow this song fits into the plot. It is about a young person who simply wants to get out. Perhaps the story had a connection to some of the many Aesop fables that involve crows, a symbol of freedom.
Mystery Song: As I stated above, I have no idea how this song fits into the plot. I know that it is part of the show because I found it on a cassette with instrumental versions of the other songs. I posted it here in the original instrumentation.