synopsis - Contemporary Drama Service

SYNOPSIS
Cool Suit is a musical retelling of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” The
show is designed to be performed by a largely adult (or older teen) cast,
with a flexible cast size of six to ten or more (including one or more
kids). The music is theatrical pop, and the humor is designed to appeal
to kids while still being entertaining to adults (lots of jokes that will
go over the kids’ heads but plenty of slapstick, underwear references,
etc.). And along with the silliness and entertainment, there are genuine
messages about sticking to ones’ convictions, pursuing goals even if they
seem difficult and not going along with peer pressure.
Optional Opening: (Without the opening, the show simply starts
immediately with the Narrator’s prologue.) A group of bored kids are
trying to find something cool to do, until their ringleader decides they
should all make silly raspberry noises. An outsider approaches and asks
why they’re doing something so silly. When they say “She said it was
cool,” the newcomer asks why they don’t make up their own minds. He
notices a large trunk On-stage and suggests they look inside. As the cast
starts pulling out a storybook, costumes, and props, they decide to put on
a show and they transform themselves into the various characters. The
last item they pull out is a boom box which launches them into their
opening, and which segues immediately into a number introducing the
vain, self-absorbed, clothes-horse Emperor. (Songs: “Cool Suit —
Prologue” — Narrator and Minstrels; “Emperor’s Song” — Emperor and
Groupies.)
The Narrator introduces each successive scene with a brief rap — now
we meet some people who are plotting a rebellion against the mean
Emperor. They want to do something but aren’t sure what would work,
until one brave rebel inspires them with a pep talk and a clever plan
involving magic fabric. (Song: “One Tree at a Time” — Rebel #1 and
Rebels)
Meanwhile, back at the palace, the Emperor is hearing rumors of an
uprising and whines to his mommy, wondering why people don’t like
him. She reassures him that “(It’s Not Easy) Being Perfect” — Mommy
and Emperor.
The palace Page announces visitors, who turn out to be Tailors (actually
the rebels) offering to sell the Emperor some magic fabric, which will
only be visible to people who are smart, talented and deserving of their
positions. The Tailors promise they will sew the Emperor his very own
–i–

“Cool Suit” — Tailor and Assistants.
The offer appeals to the Emperors vanity, so he has the Tailors get right
to work. However, he is nervous about whether he’ll see the fabric, so
he tries to get his equally apprehensive Ministers to “Check It Out” —
Emperor and Ministers.
Meanwhile, the young palace Page has seen the empty sewing machines
and realizes the “cool suit” is a hoax. However, the adults brush him
aside, and the sad Page wonders why no one will “Listen” — Page.
After the Ministers finally go inspect the Tailor’s work, they come back
determined to convince everyone they’ve seen the magic suit, as they
explain: “You Gotta See It to Believe It.”
Of course, to the Emperor’s dismay, he can’t see anything, but he goes
along, including dressing in an invisible cool suit and staging an
elaborate parade. The crowds “ooh” and “ah” over the Emperor’s new
clothes, until the Children notice he is wearing nothing but his (teddybear
printed) underwear. (Song: “Strut Your Stuff” — Groupies, Emperor,
Townspeople)
The Emperor is so humiliated, he and his mommy flee the country and
the people take over. The rebel leader (who is elected president in a fair
and democratic election) explains the perils of going along with the
crowd, in a rousing moral-of-the-story finale: “Think for Yourself” —
Rebel #1 and Company.
–ii–

CAST OF CHARACTERS
This show can be done by a cast of six to ten and up, depending on
which actors play multiple roles. We’ve described each character
individually, including suggestions on which roles work well to
combine.
NARRATOR
The hip “conscience” of the show. Male or female, good comic actor
who is able to rap and can handle physical comedy. (Continues
throughout the show. Cannot be combined with other roles by one
actor but can join in with townspeople, back-up groupies, rebels,
ministers, etc.)
EMPEROR
A vain, spoiled, Elvis-esque momma’s boy.
Male, baritone, good singer and physical comic
(throughout show, cannot be combined with other roles).
MOTHER
The Emperor’s mother, who will tell you she’s much too young
to have such a big grown-up son, attractive and extremely vain.
Female, high legit soprano, usually disgustingly sweet but
occasionally loses her cool (throughout show).
REBEL #1
Female, pop/alto, strong leader, needs to be able to sing pop styles
(disco, R&B), also should move well. (Could also play tailor or minister.)
TAILOR
Male or female, oily, charming salesperson who can sing pop and do
physical comedy, good dancer. (Could also play one of the groupies.)
PAGE
Child, male (boy soprano) or female, good singer, wise beyond his/her
years, somewhat of a smart-aleck. (Can also play one of the town
kids.)
GROUPIES
Female, emperor hangers-on, should be
good dancers and harmony singers. (Can also play rebels.)
REBELS
Male and female, good singers/dancers, good with physical comedy.
(Can also play groupies, townspeople, and/or ministers.)
MINISTERS
Male and female, primarily physical comics but able to sing rock.
–iii–

TOWNSPEOPLE
Assorted males, females, and children,
can be doubled from groupies/rebels/ministers.
SUGGESTED CAST BREAKDOWNS
Cast of 11: Narrator
Emperor
Mother
Page
Rebel #1 (doubles as Townsperson)
Tailor (doubles as Groupie, Townsperson)
Minister #1 (doubles as Rebel/Townsperson)
Minister #2 (doubles as Rebel/Townsperson)
Minister #3 (doubles as Rebel/Townsperson)
Groupie (doubles as Tailor Assistant/Townsperson)
Groupie (doubles as Tailor Assistant/Townsperson)
Cast of 6: Narrator (doubles as Minister #3, Groupie, Townsperson)
Emperor
Mother
Page (doubles as Town Kid, Groupie, Tailor)
Rebel #1 (doubles as Minister #1, Groupie,
Townsperson, Tailor)
Tailor (doubles as Minister #2, Groupie, Townsperson)
Larger cast: Narrator
15–18 Emperor
Mother
Page
Rebel #1
Tailor
3 Ministers
3 Groupies
3–5 Ensemble (Tailor Assistants, Rebels, Townspeople)
–iv–

PRODUCTION NOTES
Cast: As indicated above, this show can be performed by a small or
large cast, with many of the roles appropriate to be played by one actor.
The page and the town kid or kids can be played by actual kids or by
adults or teens. And most roles can be played by either gender, with
the exception of Mommy and the Emperor.
Style: This show is almost a commedia dell’arte farce, so realism is not
essential. The humor is fairly broad, and there are lots of opportunities
for physical comedy and slapstick. However, while you want the comedy
and silliness to appeal to a younger audience, always remember there
is a fundamental message underneath, about the importance of
resisting peer pressure and making up one’s own mind.
Music: The show can be performed with live accompaniment or the
pre-recorded CD which is available from the publisher, or you can use
the CD for rehearsal purposes until you bring in live musicians. You
can also supplement the CD with some live musicians, using the
Piano/Conductor score. There are also several places where you may
want additional music (if you add in longer dance numbers or whenever
the narrator does the recurring rap). You can simply use the piano score
to add whatever amounts of music are appropriate to your production.
(The CD also comes with tracks including vocals by studio singers to
help the actors learn the tunes and to show how the harmony vocals
work.)
Costumes/Props: The whole premise of the show is that it “comes out
of the trunk,” which the kids find on the empty stage (making it very
portable and easy to stage, as well as appropriate to the concept).
Ideally, the kids at the opening, who turn into the various characters,
are all in simple, bright-colored basic costumes (T-shirts and leggings
or tops and shorts) over which they can add pieces from the trunk (a
skirt for the Mother, a royal robe and crown for the Emperor, vests for
the Rebels, some sort of top for the Groupies, etc.) Props would also
come out of the trunk (tape measure for the Tailors, a tray for the Page,
and so on).
The easiest costuming is to have one add-on piece to indicate each type
of character (robes or jackets for Ministers, cute tops for Groupies, vests
for the Tailor and Assistants, ragged jackets for Rebels, folk-ish tops for
Townspeople, etc.). Ideally, all the costuming, including the basic
costumes in which the cast begins the show, will be in bright primary
colors to give a fun, cheerful look to the costumes.
–v–

Set/Lighting: There really is no set, since the idea is that everything
comes out of the trunk. In fact, this show could be performed in a nontheater
environment (a multi-purpose room, outside, a classroom, etc.)
If using a theater, to indicate changes of scene (from the palace to the
Rebels’ meeting place or from different rooms in the palace), simply
have the actors utilize different parts of the stage (e.g., Stage Right is
the Emperor’s dressing room, Stage Left is the Rebels’ meeting place,
Center Stage could be the reception hall), with simple lighting changes
if possible. Standard stage lighting is fine, with brownouts (not
complete blackouts) to indicate changes of scene. You also may want to
bring up house lights when the parade goes into the audience, if you
decide to use that option.
If you decide you need some supplemental stage furniture (a throne for
the Emperor, a screen for him to dress behind), those could be “lying
around the stage” and put into use when needed or brought from Offstage.
Anything brought on should be easy to move out of the way for
scene changes or dance numbers.
The script is not written to require a curtain, but if your theater has
one and you want to use it, you can raise and lower the curtain at the
beginning and end of the show: since the scenes are fairly brief,
lowering the curtain to indicate scene changes would interrupt the flow
of the show and we don’t recommend it.
–vi–

SONG TABLE OF CONTENTS
11. Cool Suit — Prologue (Narrator and Minstrels) . . . . . . . . . . 2
12. Emperor’s Song (Emperor and Groupies) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
13. One Tree at a Time (Rebel #1 and Rebels) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
14. (It’s Not Easy) Being Perfect (Mommy and Emperor) . . . . . 9
15. Cool Suit (Tailor and Assistants) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
16. Check It Out (Emperor and Ministers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
17. Listen (Page) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
18. You Gotta See It to Believe It (Ministers) . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
19. Strut Your Stuff (Groupies, Emperor, Townspeople) . . . . . . .25
10. Think for Yourself (Rebel #1, Company) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
–vii–