Synopsis
Gideon is a stablehand who yearns to join the Royal Cavaliers. Alanna is a young viscountess who feels trapped in the system of hereditary succession. The two have more in common than they think.
Thrown together by chance, Gideon and Alanna must contend with bandits, a treacherous forest, and a giant monster that just wants to eat everyone.
Gideon and the Blundersnorp combines witty characters, pulse-pounding excitement, and a rousing cinematic/medieval-folk score. Underlying the fun is a positive message: aspiration is fueled by personal character, not social class.
Awards and distinctions
Early History
Gideon and the Blundersnorp was initially conceived as a piece for narrator and orchestra, in the tradition of Peter and the Wolf. In 2016, author Michael Gordon Shapiro re-imagined the work as a stage musical, using songs and staging as a means of bringing the story’s action sequences to life. Thus the musical-theatre incarnation of Gideon was born.
On the heels of his 2019 Hollywood Fringe hit The Bully Problem, Shapiro teamed up with New Musicals Inc to develop the piece for the stage. Gideon was initially workshopped as a pandemic-era online presentation, with eleven actors from across the USA performing their dialogue and songs from home.
Gideon’s online workshop (above) was enthusiastically received by audience members of all ages!
World Premiere
With live theater’s cautious return in 2021, Gideon made its true stage debut at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Taking advantage of the show’s storybook motif, director Matthew Toronto and production designer Edward Hansen created an imaginative onstage world that blurred the lines between props and set pieces, transforming everyday objects into stallions, jail cells, forest trees, and even a giant monster.
The show was simultaneously staged for in-person audiences as well as live-streamed, allowing fans from around the country (and world!) to join the adventure.
Gideon received unanimous praise from audience members and critics alike, earning the Best Musical festival award, the prestigious Encore Producer’s Award, and numerous commendations and nominations.
Perform it!
Gideon and the Blundersnorp is available for licensing! It’s the perfect one-hour musical adventure for your school or young-audience-friendly performance troupe.
We provide backing tracks, rehearsal tracks (including vocal guide tracks for quick part learning), scripts, and all musical parts. Materials are normally digitally delivered, though hard copies of scripts and scores are available by request for a nominal cost.
Flexible cast size. Minimum: 4M 4F. The cast be expanded with additional parts for bandits and the Blundersnorp chorus. Some roles are gender-swappable.
Music can be performed via backing tracks alone (perfect for when you’ve misplaced your piano), via solo piano scores (also great for rehearsals), or if you’re daring a five-piece ensemble (piano, percussion, cello, violin, guitar).
For more information, or if you’d like to license the show, drop us a line via this contact form.
