Motherlode

Acts / Scenes / Songs

By Pete Fry and John Roberton

Act 1 - From Home to America

Scene 1

St Just, Cornwall.

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