Acts / Scenes / Songs
By Pete Fry and John Roberton
© 2022 All rights reserved. No portion of this material can be used or reproduced in any form without written permission from the owners.
Act 1 - From Home to America
Scene 1
St Just, Cornwall, England
Evening
The sleepy Cornish village begins to come alive as the day ends. Women break bread and tend children. Men recover from the hard labour of the day.
Ingram greets his sweetheart, Caroline.
Music: Another Day.
Vocal: Ingram and Caroline
Scene 2
The Road To Malpas Bay
Ingram joins a band of travellers. They have heard the stories of rivers of gold in California’
The procession enters Malpas Bay, creating a carnival atmosphere.
An air of excitement as the tall ship prepares to set sail.
Music: Pot o' Gold
Vocal: All
Scene 3
Aboard ship.
Full sail, mid Atlantic, heading for America. The land of hopes and dreams, and freedom.
Music: Horizons
Vocal: All
Scene 4
Arrival.
Hustle and bustle of Charleston. Full of hope and possibilities.
Music: Land of Hopes and Dreams
Vocal: Ingram
Then....amongst the crowds the sound of street musicians and singing beckons and he is smitten by a beautiful Appalachian girl. They dance. embark on a passionate affair and run away together.
Music: The Dance
Vocal: Eliza
Act 2 - Tangier Isle
Scene 1
The couple have made their way to the idyllic Tangier Island and lead a carefree, romantic life in a small fishing village. where they have nothing but each other and, for a brief time, are blissfully happy and content
Music: Good To Me
Vocal: Ingram and Eliza
The County Fair comes to town
Music: Perfect Day
Vocal: Colonel Tom
Then...thoughts of discontentment and desire burn into Ingram’s soul, He and Eliza both know that they are drifting apart.
Music: Just A Little
Vocal: Ingram and Eliza
Ingram leaves suddenly. Eliza wakes one day to find him gone. She reads the letter that he has left her, and vows that she will not be defined by this and to move on and make another life.
Music: The Leaving song
Vocal: Eliza and Ingram duet
Alternate
Music: Oh, Eliza
Vocal: Ingram
Music: Long Shadow
Vocal: Eliza
Act 3 - The West
Scene 1
In Molly's Place. A saloon on a small frontier outpost, Due East of the Cumberland Gap.
Music: Motherlode
Vocal: The Band
A raucous saloon/bordello in a boom town near the Dead Line, where we meet some of the colourful characters and hear their stories.
Music: Oh Be Joyful
Vocal: The Band
Welcome to Molly’s Place. She can out drink, out shoot and outsmart everyone in the bar and they all know it. Have a drink, have a good time, but don’t handle the goods.
Music: Hell, Me Too
Vocal: Molly and her girls
The music stops, everybody stares at the stranger who has just entered.
Music: The Dead Line
Music: Oh Be Joyful, Bulletproof, Motherlode, Hell, Me Too, The Dead Line, Barrelhouse piano?, drunk song?
Scene 2
The morning after. A tranquil scene on the back porch, after a night spent with Molly
Music: A love song
Act 4 - The Endless Trail
Scene 1
On the trail.
The long journey through the Cumberland Gap. Mile after mile. The hot sun beats down. Wagon train rolls along. The tedium. The boredom. One thing only drives them on. Gold.
Music: Endless Trail
Vocal: Billy, Luke and John
Scene 2
Around the campfire.
The traveller’s amuse themselves by singing songs, eating and dancing. The mood is light and the food is good Wagon train heading west.
Music: California Widow
Vocal: All
The mood changes with thoughts of home.
Music:Traveller’s Lament
Scene 3
Absent friends
As the wagon train rolls on, they are faced with untold hardships and struggle to survive. His quest, which has eaten away at his very soul, overrides everything. The time has come to decide. Does he stay or leave his friend to die.
Music: The Ballad of Padstow Billy
Vocal: Ingram
Alternate:
Music: Between The Devil and the Light
Vocal: Ingram
Act 5 - The End of the Trail
Scene 1
Frisco Bay, California.
The motley crew arrive in San Francisco and are ready to make their fortune. The future seems bright. Fortune and Glory awaits.
Music: Frisco Bay
Vocal: All
Scene 2
Sutter’s Mill
Music: Work Song
Vocsl: All
Scene 3
Gold!
By now totally consumed by greed and the lust for gold. He spends his life as a slave to the mining companies. He dreams of gazing into his treasure chest, running his fingers through hundreds of gold coins. A dreamlike sequence with a Flamenco dancer and a Mariachi band, representing greed and temptation. The dancer has the face of his Appalachian girl. Suddenly, a stranger looms out of the darkness with murder in his eyes and then blackness.
Music: Precious Things
Vocal: Ingram
Scene 4
Epilogue. The stage is in darkness. Then, a single spotlight and Ingram appears centre stage. Alone. His final thoughts are not of his insatiable lust for gold but of home and those that he left behind along the way.
Looking back over his life of struggle, he recounts his journey and realises the true meaning of wealth and happiness.
Music: Six Feet Under
Vocal: Ingram
The End