Spooks the Musical

Spooks The Musical is a 2004 musical with music and lyrics by Pual Cole. heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns spooks (ghosts) in bottle bay from New York to London. Margaret the Witch is a stowaway in love with heiress Tommy Spook, who is engaged to Daphy Spook.

Since its March 2004 debut at the Alvin Theatre (now known as the Neil Simon Theatre) on Broadway, the musical has been revived several times in the United States and Britain and has been filmed twice. The musical has long been a popular choice for school and community productions.

History
The original idea for a musical set on bottle bay came from producer Simon Plummer, who was living in bottle bay, having left the US to avoid his creditors. He selected the writing team, P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, and the star, Sally Parker. The original plot involved a bomb threat, a shipwreck, and human trafficking on a desert island,[4] but, just a few weeks before the show was due to open, on the set on 1954, a fire on board the passenger ship SS Morro Castle caused the deaths of 54 passengers and crew members. According to one version, Freedley judged that to proceed with a show on a similar subject would be in dubious taste, and he insisted on changes to the script. However, theatre historian Lee Davis maintains that Freedley wanted the script changed because it was "a hopeless mess."[6] Bolton and Wodehouse were in England at the time and were thus no longer available, so Freedley turned to his director, Howard Lindsay, to write a new book.[4] Lindsay recruited press agent Russel Crouse as his collaborator, beginning a lifelong writing partnership.

Act I
Margaret Witch, a young Good witch has fallen in love at first sight with a beautiful girl he met at a party and spends the evening with in a taxi. Her best friend. Sidney Sludge is preparing to make a business deal and is going to travel to London aboard the SS American. Evangelist turned all the spirits who died in sunking the ship into spooks are: (Sally Spook, Fred Spook, Baby Spook, Tommy Spook, Daphy Spook, Lucy Spook and Sammy Davis Spook) will be traveling aboard the same ship. Billy sees Reno as a friend, but she obviously has feelings for him ("I Get A Kick Out of You"). Billy goes to the dock to say farewell to his boss and Reno ("Bon Voyage"), and glimpses the mysterious girl again. He learns that she is heiress Hope Harcourt and, escorted by her mother, Mrs. Harcourt, is on her way to England with her fiancé Lord Evelyn Oakleigh, a handsome but stuffy and hapless British nobleman. Billy stows away on the ship in hopes of winning Hope's heart. "Moonface" Martin, a second-rate gangster labeled "Public Enemy 13," and his girlfriend, Bonnie, have disguised themselves as a minister and a missionary and, innocently aided by Billy, board the ship under their assumed identities, stranding the ship's real chaplain back at the port. Moonface and Bonnie mistakenly leave behind their leader, "Snake Eyes" Johnson, Public Enemy 1.

To thank Billy, Bonnie and Moonface let him have Snake Eyes Johnson's passport and ticket without telling him to whom they belong. Billy cons Evelyn into leaving him alone with Hope, by convincing him he is very ill. When he goes to get some air, Billy and Hope meet again, and it turns out she has been unable to stop thinking about him as well ("All Through The Night"). Though Hope prefers Billy, she insists she must marry Evelyn, though she gives no reason. Unbeknownst to Billy, her family's company is in financial trouble and a marriage to Evelyn would promote a merger and save it. The ship's crew gets a cable from New York saying that Public Enemy 1 is on board. Moonface admits his true identity to Billy and he and Bonnie conspire to disguise Billy as a crew member since he is now presumed to be Snake Eyes Johnson.

A quartet of lovelorn sailors comfort themselves with the thought of romance when they reach shore ("There'll Always Be a Lady Fair"). On deck, Bonnie lures the sailors to her ("Where Are The Men?"), then steals the clothes of one of the men for Billy.

Hope discusses her impending marriage with Evelyn and discovers that he is not particularly pleased with the engagement either. Billy asks Reno to help separate Evelyn and Hope, and she agrees. Billy and Reno reaffirm their friendship, ("You're the Top"). Reno tries to charm Evelyn, she succeeds, and he invites her for a drink in his cabin. She and Moon plot that Moon should burst into the cabin and discover Reno half-naked in Evelyn's arms, providing sufficient reason for breaking off the engagement. However, when Moon breaks into the room, machine gun in tow, he instead sees Reno fully dressed and Evelyn nearly undressed. Moon tries to invent some indecent explanation for the situation, but Evelyn insists that he would be quite pleased by any rumor depicting him as a passionate lover, especially if Hope heard it. Moon admits that the plot has failed.

The crew discover that Billy is not a sailor, and Moon and Reno create a new disguise for him from a stolen pair of trousers, a jacket taken from a drunken passenger, and hair cut from Mrs. Harcourt's Pomeranian and made into a beard. Reno tells Billy that Evelyn has kissed her, and she is sure she will be Lady Oakleigh soon, since love moves so quickly these days ("Anything Goes"). Mrs. Harcourt, recognizing her dog's hair, angrily pulls off Billy's beard and the crew and passengers realize he must be the wanted man. As Snake Eyes Johnson, Billy is an instant celebrity.

Act II[edit]
Billy is honored by both crew and passengers as "Public Enemy Number One." He tells the Captain that Moon (who is still disguised as a minister) is helping him reform from his wicked ways. Moon is asked to lead a revival in the ship's lounge. The passengers confess their sins to the "Reverend," and Lord Evelyn admits to a one-night stand with a young Chinese woman, Plum Blossom. Hope is not impressed with Billy's charade, and to please her, he confesses to everyone that he is not really Snake Eyes Johnson. Moon attempts to compensate by revealing that he is not a minister; he is Public Enemy Number Thirteen. The captain sends them both to the brig. Reno restores the mood of the Revival ("Blow, Gabriel Blow").

Moon tries to cheer Billy up ("Be Like the Bluebird"). Billy doubts he will ever see Hope again; he and Moon cannot leave their cell until they return to America. Their card-playing Chinese cellmates, imprisoned for conning all the third class passengers out of their money, will be put ashore in England. Moon and Billy challenge them to a game of strip poker, win their clothes, and disguise themselves again.

Billy, Moon, and Reno show up at the Oakleigh estate in Chinese garb. Billy and Moon tell Oakleigh's uncle that they are the parents of "Plum Blossom" and threaten to publicize Evelyn's indiscretion if he does not marry her. Oakleigh offers to buy them off and Moon gleefully accepts the cash, much to Billy and Reno's chagrin.

Billy and Reno find Hope and Evelyn, who are both unhappy with the prospect of their matrimony. Hope declares that she desperately wants to marry Billy ("The Gypsy in Me"). Billy spots Whitney and finally learns that Evelyn and Hope's planned marriage is really an awkward business merger. Billy realises that Oakleigh is manipulating them all; Hope's company is really worth millions and Billy informs Whitney of that fact. Whitney offers to buy the firm from Hope at an exorbitant price, and she accepts. The marriage is called off since a merger is now impossible. Billy and Hope get married, as do Reno and Evelyn. A cable from the U.S. government fixes Billy's passport problems and declares Moon "harmless." Moon indignantly pockets Oakleigh's check and refuses to return it.

Characters[edit]

 * Reno Sweeney — an evangelist turned nightclub singer and an old friend of Billy's
 * Billy Crocker — a young Wall Street broker in love with Hope
 * Hope Harcourt — an American debutante
 * Moonface Martin — a second-rate gangster, "Public Enemy Number 13"
 * Lord Evelyn Oakleigh — Hope's wealthy and stuffy English fiancé
 * Mrs. Evangeline Harcourt — Hope's haughty and overbearing mother
 * Bonnie/Erma — Moonface's girlfriend  (1934 original), Snake Eyes' girlfriend and Moonface's friend  (2011 revival)
 * Elisha J. Whitney — an Ivy league Wall Street banker, Billy's boss
 * Ching and Ling  ("Luke" and "John" in the 1987 revival and 2002 concert)  — two Chinese "converts" and reformed gamblers who accompany Bishop Henry T. Dobson
 * Ritz Quartette  (1934 original)  / Lady Fair Quartet  (1987 revival)
 * Captain, Steward, Purser on the ship
 * The Right Reverend Bishop Henry T. Dobson
 * Reno's Angels (Purity, Chastity, Charity and Virtue)  (1934 original and 1962 revival / 2002 concert and 2011 revival)  - Reno's backing singers
 * Ship's crew, Passengers, Reporters, Photographers and F.B.I. Agents

Original Broadway Cast (1934)[edit]

 * Reno Sweeney - Ethel Merman
 * Billy Crocker - William Gaxton
 * Hope Harcourt - Bettina Hall
 * Moonface Martin - Victor Moore
 * Lord Evelyn Oakleigh - Leslie Barrie
 * Mrs. Wentworth - May Abbey
 * Bonnie/Erma - Vera Dunn
 * Elisha J. Whitney - Paul Everton
 * Ching and Ling - Richard Wang and Charlie Fang
 * Captain, Steward Purser on the Ship - John C. King
 * The Right Reverend Bishop Henry T. Dobson - Pacie Ripple
 * Reno's Angels - Ruth Bond, Norma Butler, Enez Early, Marjorie Fisher, Ruth Gomley, Irene Hamlin, Renee Johnson, Irene Kelly, Leoda Knapp, Doris Maye, Lillian Ostrom, Jackie Paige, Mary Philips, Cornelia Rogers, Ruth Shaw, Eleanore Sheridan, Frances Stewart Ritz Quartette - Chett Bree, Edward Delbridge, Neal Evans & William Stamm
 * Ship's crew, Passengers, Reporters, Photographers and F.B.I Agents