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The
Princess and the Pea Score: Vocal/Piano
Accompaniment, 122 pp. (Now also available with chamber ensemble
accompaniment--6 instrumental parts plus full conductor score |
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The Princess and the Pea is a delightful comic story about love, devotion, and the search for a royal daughter. The tuneful score is adapted from the works of Gilbert & Sullivan (Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado, Iolanthe, Ruddigore, and more). It is set in the style of a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta but is sung throughout. It is vocally and musically appropriate for children age 6 and up though some of the larger roles are better suited to children in the 10-15 age range. The piano part is accessible to intermediate/advanced piano students. |
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| Roles: (B=boy, G=girl, E=either) Score also calls for a regular chorus of villagers and a small chorus of princess prospects. | ||
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Small
(few lines) Pastry Chef (E) Butcher (E) Bread Maker (E) Princess Prospect 1 (G) Princess Prospect 2 (G) |
Medium
(several solo lines and ensembles) Maisie (G) Rowan (E) Daisy (G) Robin (E) Royal Messenger (E) Gwladwys (G) Charlotte (G) |
Large
(solos and ensembles) Pansy (G) George (B) King Edward (B) Fanny (G) Queen Margaret (G) Royal Lord Examiner (E) |
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| The roles of George and King Edward, and the roles of Fanny and Queen Margaret, may be combined for one performer. | ||
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Synopsis of the Plot One day, while strolling through the woods with his infant daughter, the kindly but absent-minded King Edward somehow managed to set the girl down and lose her. Insisting all along that she had not been "lost" but merely "misplaced" he had sent his Royal Messengers out to search the countryside for her but, for twenty years, they had had no luck. Then certain clues led the searchers to a small country village which buzzes with a market day celebration as our story begins. Scene One: A Village Square on Market Day
Scene 2: A Throne Room in the Royal Palace, The Next Day
Scene Three: A Palace Bedchamber, Later that Night The final scene begins with Pansy expressing her confusion about the impending test and Fanny at last confessing to her the truth about her past. Meanwhile, Maisie, Daisy, Rowan, and Robin have discovered how the test is to be conducted and, with Gwladwys secretly listening in, are devising a cunning plan to help Pansy succeed. They learn that she must sleep overnight on a bed with twenty soft mattresses under which will be concealed a single tiny pea. If the pea disturbs her sleep, she will be judged to be a most noble and sensitive lass, "i.e., a princess." She will fail if she sleeps soundly. In her bedchamber, Pansy is serenaded to sleep by her father, the Queen, the Examiner, and a chorus of villagers. Later that night Pansy's four friends enter her bedchamber and replace the small pea under her bed with a gigantic one sure to make her most uncomfortable. Pansy tosses and turns and, as expected, fails to get a good night's sleep. In the morning she awakens to find everyone in her bedchamber, anxiously awaiting the test result. She announces that she could not "sleep a wink upon that awful bed" and everyone begins to celebrate, thinking Pansy has indeed proven herself to be the true princess. Just then Gwladwys, still brooding over Charlotte's rejection, steps forward to reveal that Pansy's friends have cheated for her and therefore "she clearly is a phony." Maisie, Daisy, Rowan, and Robin apologize to the King but insist that Pansy is truly a noble lass after all. The King agrees and, in despair, denounces the silly test. He then explains that the one true princess would be easy to spot because she would be wearing the official royal gold medallion. On hearing this, a startled Pansy pulls out her necklace from which dangles the very same medallion. Overjoyed at having found his daughter at last, the King invites her to accept her "rightful, royal place" but Pansy declines, unwilling to leave her beloved friends and family. The King reluctantly consents to honor her wishes, but Fanny then sadly advises her to accept the truth and stay in her rightful place. With everyone on the verge of tears, the suddenly inspired King announces a glad solution – Pansy would remain, joined by her friends and family who would take new posts in court as "Royal Princess Guardians" They all gladly accept this solution and everyone breaks into joyous celebration of this most happy resolution. |
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opera on video? Our Other Operas... |
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Four of the villagers, Maisie, Daisy, Rowan,
and Robin, are there anxiously awaiting the arrival of their dearest friend
Pansy, a young maid who, coincidentally, was found abandoned in the woods twenty
years earlier. Pansy, who has been out doing good deeds, enters with gifts for
her friends. Just then a Royal Messenger appears with news of the royal search.
He tells the villagers to bring all of their young maidens to court the next day
for a test that would determine which one of them is the true long-lost
princess. Another villager, an opportunistic old biddy named Gwladwys (pictured,
left in our production), is
delighted by the news. She sees this as the perfect chance to get her naïve
young daughter Charlotte crowned princess. Meanwhile, Pansy's adoptive parents,
Fanny and George, worry that their loving family could be separated if Pansy
were found to be the real princess. Still they feel duty-bound to take her to
court and discover the truth. As the scene ends, all of the villagers depart for
the Royal Palace, excited about the impending Princess Test.
As the curtain opens, Queen Margaret is
chiding the King for losing their daughter, as she has been doing for the past
twenty years. The King reassures her that his men had at last found the girl and
were presently returning her to court. The Royal Messenger arrives with not one,
but fourteen potential princesses (pictured, right in our production). The King, a bit confused, cannot pick out his
long-lost daughter from among them and sends for the Royal Lord Examiner to test
them for "princess qualities." The Examiner questions the prospects,
including Charlotte, only to conclude that none of them could be the real
princess. As the King worries about possibly never seeing his daughter again,
the Examiner and villagers assure him that she would be found even if the search
took "another score" of years. Just then Fanny steps forward to
declare that one maid, her Pansy, had yet to be examined. The Examiner looks her
over, finds her to be a suitable princess candidate and suggests that she take
the ultimate royal "sensitivity" test to discover her true nobility, or
lack thereof. As the scene ends, the crowd reacts with shock to the suggestion
of the test while the Examiner and the King reaffirm that it is indeed
necessary.