RIP VAN WINKLE THE MUSICAL

Music and Lyrics by Michael Berkeley
Book by Michael Berkeley and Ray Roderick

Run Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Cast: 8F, 10M, 5 children (can be expanded to 40+; dog optional)
Orchestration: Keyboard, Bass, Drums/Percussion, Reed (clarinet/flute/piccolo), Trombone, TrumpetSet Requirements: Unit Set

Rip Van Winkle: The Musical! – set against the backdrop of Colonial America – shares the untold story of Washington Irving’s legendary farmer who slept for 20 years, from 1770-1790. This heartfelt family musical celebrates community, love, forgiveness, and home through rousing music, comedy, dance, and a little gnomish mischief.

Synopsis

Act I

In 1770, a man fell asleep in the Kaatskill Mountains; in 1790, he woke up. The story opens on a bearded man, sitting under a tree, looking forlorn. Gnomes appear and start recounting the story of this man, Rip Van Winkle.

We flashback to a very hot day, July 4, 1770, a few years before the Revolutionary War, in a small village at the foot of the Kaatskill Mountains in Colonial New York. Rip Van Winkle, a Dutch farmer, is living a modest life with his wife and children on a somewhat rundown farm. Dame Van Winkle finds Rip asleep in a cabbage cart and chides him while Rip dreams of doing what he most loves.

Rip is much appreciated by the villagers, always ready to lend a hand for any needy man, woman, or child in town, including Gertrude Lindemulder, a woman ahead of her time with dreams of owning a millinery shop. However, Rip struggles with the wrath of his endlessly nagging wife, Dame Van Winkle while also dealing with the changing political landscape, struggling to provide for his family, and trying to accept that his teenage daughter is growing up. Some of the gossipy women of the town take all of this in and come to conclusions of their own.

After years of a troubled marriage, and a series of misunderstandings, Rip’s wife concludes that they cannot continue to live together. Rip decides that it would be best for his family if he were to leave Kaaterskill. He heads to his favorite spot on the river with his dog Wolf. Looking over the valley and the beautiful Hudson River, Rip has second thoughts. But, before he can decide what to do, he encounters a group of gnomes who ask for his help carrying a keg up the mountain. They encourage him to roll nine pins and drink ale — except for one gnome (Chuacer) who has observed how much Rip loves his family and town and tries to convince Rip not to drink and to return to Kaaterskill. But Rip does drink and he falls into a deep sleep. Twenty years pass.

Act II

It is 1790. Rip has awakened to the shocking discovery that everything has changed. Upon returning to town, in the midst of a Fourth of July celebration, he notices that the King George Tavern has become the General Washington Tavern. The Hay & Feed Store is now a millinery shop. He finds that his children are now married with children of their own. He discovers that he has grown old. He had been sleeping for a very long time — in fact, for twenty years.

In his absence, the town has created a legend surrounding their missing friend, Rip Van Winkle. However, despite his much hoped for return, no one recognizes the old man with the long beard. When he is finally recognized by his daughter, her joy quickly turns to anger over all that he has missed in her life. Chaucer, an unseen Gnome, tries to help bring about a reconciliation between Rip and his family, and Dame Van Winkle helps to convince her daughter to be forgiving. Rip’s family joins the town of Kaaterskill in a jubilant and heartfelt welcome home.