10-MINUTE MUSICAL COLLECTION
What's Your Wish?
by Thicket and Thistle
A devised folk musical in the style of Grimm's Fairy Tales. It's about two boys who are sucked into a magical storybook and try to make it out alive!
Comedy
Overview
Cast Size
3m, 2f
Duration
10 Mins Approx.
Setting
A suburban home and a magical storybook land, the present.
Cautions
None
Subgenre
Fantasy, Adventure, Fables/Folktales
Themes
Adolescence/Childhood, Death, Fairy Tales, Friendship
Target Audience
Appropriate for all audiences
Style
Folk Americana
Instrumentation
TBD
Additional Resources
Synopsis
On the night of his 16th birthday, Nicholas celebrates in their attic with his mother, sister, and his best friend Brian. The boys are left alone and they discover an old book “WHAT’S YOUR WISH?” that sucks them in and transports them to a magical forest called Death Forest. The boys approach a nearby house that is inhabited by an Enchantress “SECRETS ON THE WIND” who asks them for help. She traps them and exclaims that she needs their virgin blood to bring back her powers “DARK SPIRIT OF THE ANCIENT SOIL!” While the Enchantress goes out to collect the ingredients needed for her potion, the boys are advised by the Fairy in the Cage to “MAKE A WISH” to get them out of their situation. Upon the Enchantress’ return, the boys wish to go back to the real world ten minutes ago! They are swooped back into the real world to Nicholas’ attic.
Casting Information
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NICHOLAS WILKE - A smart, gullible boy, slight build, 16.
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MCKENZIE WILKE - Unapologetically weird sister of Nicholas, goth, 15 - she’s got a big crush on Brian.
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DIANA WILKE - A single, harried, caring mom, mid-30’s.
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BRIAN - A down-to-earth, impulsive boy, improbably bearded, 16.
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WITCH - A powerful, power-hungryEnchantress, with long, billowing robes and a beautiful visage. Appears to be in her 30’s.
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GORT - All wings and sparkles, she is a Fairy with a rebellious streak. Appears to be about 17. A servant to the Witch, she is trapped in a cage.
NOTE: The same actor can play DIANE and WITCH and the same actor playing MCKENZIE can also play GORT.
Songs
Media
Production History
What’s Your Wish? written by Thicket & Thistle was first performed as a 10-minute musical at The 47th Street Theater in New York, NY for Theatre Now’s SOUND BITES 2014 on December 8, 2014. The show was awarded Best Music and Actor (Sam De Roest) in that year’s festival.
Then the show went through four developmental readings and productions in 2015 & 2016, expanding to a 90-minute musical into a full length. The first reading was at Access Theatre in New York.
The second, third, and fourth productions happened at The New York International Fringe Festival in the Al Fresco division, the Michael Chekhov Festival and remounted at Access Theatre.
In December 2017, the 90-min version of the show returned to Theatre Now as part of their Alternating Rep Series in a nine performance run at the West End Theatre in New York, NY.
In July 2018, the 90-min version of the show made it’s Off-Broadway debut in five performance run at the Acorn Theatre on Theater Row as part of the 15th Annual New York Musical Festival. The show was nominated for Outstanding Direction (Jonathan Foster), Best Lead Actor (Joshua Stenseth), Outstanding Ensemble, and Outstanding Musical Orchestrations.
Author Bios
THICKET AND THISTLE is a troop of theatre makers who weave their multidisciplinary creative skills, imaginative storytelling, and humble virtuosity to create original, charming, and accessible musical theatre in which the actors are also the musicians playing multiple instruments while singing, dancing, and acting. Formed in early 2014, the current members are: Kyle Acheson, Julianna Wheeler, Jonathan Foster, Sam De Roest, Lindsay Zaroogian, and Joshua Stenseth. Thicket & Thistle’s first creation was a ten minute musical, What’s Your Wish?, for Theatre Now New York’s Sound Bites 2.0 festival. They then developed What’s Your Wish? to a full musical and performed it at the NY Fringe Fest in 2015, Access Theatre in 2016, The Michael Chekhov Festival in 2016, and NYMF in 2018. In 2015, Thicket & Thistle performed The Waterman at Ars Nova for their Summer ANT Fest, and the following year, they began developing their 3rd original musical, Death Cruise which played at Access Theatre and the PIT in 2019. Thicket & Thistle has enjoyed residencies with Access Theatre, The PIT Theatre, and are currently participants in Theatre Now New York’s Musical Theatre Writers Lab.
