HOLIDAY ROAD TRIP

SCENE 1

Uncle Nick: ( Rylan Robb) (to the audience) Hi, everybody! I’m Uncle Nick. Well, at least that’s what the kids call me. Actually I’m the bus driver, and before the year ends, I always like to take the kids on a little trip somewhere in the country, to show them how the holidays are celebrated in different areas. This year, the students are having a hard time deciding where they want to go. I say, “Pile in! Let’s hit the road and figure it out as we go!” Here….this outa

to get things started! (honks the horn of the bus)

Uncle Nick: (Rylan Robb) (to kids) Ho! Ho! Ho! Load’em up, kids! Let’s hit the road!

SONG 1: HOLIDAY ROAD TRIP

SCENE 2

Uncle Nick: (Rylan Robb) First stop – New Orleans, Louisiana!

Bobby: (Diego Carballo)New Orleans! Awesome! I can’t wait to see Basin Street!

Kim: (Brooke Ramsdal) I want to ride a streetcar on Canal Street

Tommy: (Alex Sharpe)I want to eat beignets!

Julie: (Natalie Morales) I want to go to the French Market!

Tommy: (Alex Sharpe)I want to eat beignets!

Shari: (Kaelyn Langer)Maybe we can ride a riverboat on the Mississippi!

Louis: (Chai Hill)Hear some Jazz!

Tommy: (Alex Sharpe)I want to…..

All: We know….eat beignets!

Ashton: (Ben Swan)But why would we want to spend Christmas in New Orleans?

Lori: (Loran Bryant)Are you kidding me? They have some fantastic traditions here around the holidays….like lighting bonfires down by the river.

Kitt: (Sydney Fortunato)And Christmas caroling by candlelight at Jackson Square!

Carson: (Kade Robinson)I’ve even heard that Santa shows up, not in a sleigh, but in a boat pulled by eight alligators instead of reindeer!

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Well, that sounds a little far-fetched, but I suppose you never know. The elf’s got to do what the elf’s got to do.

Danny: (Elijah Dendinger)I’ve heard the music here at Christmas time is like no place else on Earth.

Dannielle: (Maiya Carter)Can you spell, Zydeco?

Danny: (Elijah Dendinger)Sure! Z-I-Y-E-T-D (gets confused) E-I-E-I-er…CO!

Dannielle: (Maiya Carter)(rolling her eyes) Close.

Danny: (Elijah Dendinger)Hey, look over there! I think I see a lady about to sing……but there are so many styles. What’s she gonna sing….blues, jazz, Zydeco?

SONG 2: CAJUN HOLIDAY

SCENE 3

Nick: (Rylan Robb)(honks the horn) Ho! Ho! Ho! Load up the bus, everybody. We’ve got a schedule to keep!

Abby: (Mary Beth Shore)Nice five o’clock shadow, Uncle Nick…

2 Kids: Not!

Bonnie: (Cambria Spencer)Wow! New Orleans is an awesome place to spend the holidays. (sings loudly the line from the song) “Gotta go, Oh! Join the show!”

Carl: (Teague Waring)Where to next, Uncle Nick?

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Well, since we’re already in the South, I figured we might

head on over to Florida for a tropical holiday!

Carl: (Teague Waring)You mean we’re going to Disneyworld?

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Not exactly. I’ve got another set of characters in mind.

TRAVELING MUSIC

Nick: (Rylan Robb)_Here we are! Kids, meet my friend Carmen, Queen of the Florida Shores!

Carmen: (Sabrina Long) (looks like Mrs. Claus playing Carmen Miranda). Hola mis jovenes amigos, bienvanidos a Miami Beach!

David: (D’Andre Brown) She looks strangely familiar.

Janaita (Cassidy Berkovich) Hola Carmen! We’re on a road trip to try to figure out the best place to spend the holidays!

David: (D’Andre Brown) We’ve just been to New Orleans and it was awesome! (singing loudly) “Gotta go, Oh Join the show!”

Carmen: (Sabrina Long) Nice, (pause) Well, if you are looking for a fine place to spend the holidays, you will find no place finer than right here in Florida!

Jane: (Katy Piper) What do you do that is different than everyplace else?

Carmen: (Sabrina Long) All sorts of things! But one thing we don’t do is shovel snow, or sit around a fireplace sipping hot chocolate.

Jane: (Katy Piper) But then how do you get in the spirit of the season?

Carmen: (Sabrina Long)The spirit of the season is all around you, it is true, but mostly it is right there in your very own heart. In Miami, when we feel the holiday spirit dancing in our hearts, we don’t stay inside. We get outside and show the world.

Jane: (Katy Piper) You mean right here in the street?

Carmen: (Sabrina Long)Why not? What better place to celebrate with friends and family than right here? Vamos a tener un partido! Feliz Navidad a todos!

SONG 3: HOLIDAY STREET PARTY

SCENE 4

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Load’em up, everybody! We’ve got miles to go if we’re going to get to Austin before Christmas Eve!

Tex: (Trent Baker)Austin, As in Texas?

Sharon: (Allison Litteer)Uncle Nick, are you ever gonna shave again? Those whiskers are getting kind of scraggily.

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Just getting ready for the season.(looking in the mirror of the bus). These in-between days are never very attractive when you’re trying to grow it out.

Tess: (Rory Murphy)Uncle Nick, how in the world are we going to get to Austin? That’s on the other side of the Gulf of Mexico.

Nick: (Rylan Robb)No problem, kids! This is a very special bus!

TRAVELING MUSIC

Tex: (Trent Baker)What happened?

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Nothing to worry about, kids. Just a Longhorn in the road.

(everyone hears a moo)

Sharon: (Allison Litteer) Longhorn? Here in Florida?

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Oh, we’re not in Florida anymore. Everybody out. Welcome to the Lone Star State!

Tess: (Rory Murphy)Wow! This is a special bus.

Roxanne: (Hannah Moore)Yee Haw! Christmas in Texas! What could be better than that?

Lyndon: (Chris Terrazas)They say down here, Longhorn cattle pull Santa’s sleigh!

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Could be.

Baines: (Drake Watson)And they make wreaths out of cactus.

Lyndon: (Chris Terrazas)You mean “cacti”

Baines: (Drake Watson)What?

Lyndon: (Chris Terrazas)You mean “cacti.” You said they make wreathes, as in “more than one,” out of cactus. When you should have said “cacti” the plural of cactus.

Baines: (Drake Watson)(rolling his eyes) And they make wreathes out of “cacti”

Lyndon: (Chris Terrazas)Much better.

Tex: (Trent Baker)My Texas friends eat tamales and light their sidewalks with luminaria.

Sharon: (Allison Litteer)They decorate their homes with Texas-sized poinsettias!

Tess: (Rory Murphy)And they dance to the music of the “Jingle Bell Boogie”

Roxanne: (Hannah Moore)I actually have never heard of the “Jingle Bell Boogie.”

Tex: (Trent Baker)Well, that’s the last time you’ll ever be able to say THAT! Come ya’ll, let’s boogie!

SONG 4: JINGLE BELL BOOGIE

SCENE 5

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Load’em up, kids! Next stop, New York City!

Ann: (Macey Hermatuk)(red-haired kid) New York City! Oh, boy! I wanna be in a Broadway Show!

Liza: (Kinsey Moore)I wanna walk down Fifth Avenue and look at all the beautiful windows.

Dorothy: (Macy Piper)I wanna ice skate at Rockefeller Center.

Ann: (Macey Hermatuk)I wanna be in a Broadway Show!

Mary: (Kameryn Rogers)I wanna ride in a carriage in Central Park

Martin: (Josiah Brown) …eat chestnuts roasted on an open fire.

Mary: (Kameryn Rogers) …see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall!

Clueless Kid: (Casey Moga)…ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower!

(everyone stops and looks at kid.)

Clueless Kid: (Casey Moga)(chagrined) The Eiffel Tower’s not in New York, is it?

(other kids all shake their heads and murmur “No”)

Clueless Kid: (Casey Moga) (looking at Ann) She wants to be in a Broadway Show!

Liza: (Kinsey Moore)Uncle Nick, isn’t parking this bus in Manhattan going to be a bit of a challenge?

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Don’t worry, kids. I’ve got connections.

TRAVELING MUSIC

SONG 5: CITY LIGHTS

During song: Dorothy: (Macy Piper) Look at all the amazing light!

Mary: (Kameryn Rogers) It’s like the most spectacular light show I’ve ever seen!

Martin: (Josiah Brown)Like a Christmas tree the size of an entire city.

Anne: (Macey Hermatuk)Christmas in New York…this is going to be awesome!

SCENE 6

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Ho! Ho! Ho! Come on, everybody, load’em up.

Bobby: (Diego Carballo)What’s with the “Ho Ho Ho!” Uncle Nick? You’re starting to sound like somebody we should know?

Kim: (Brooke Ramsdal)And that beard. What’s up with that?

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Ho! Ho! Ho! You kids crack me up! Come on, let’s go. California, here we come!

TRAVELING MUSIC

(police siren rings, and through the loud speaker/megaphone we hear…..)

California Highway Patrol Officer (CHP): (Malynn Ward) Pull it over, buddy! Pull it over! Keep your hands where I can see them and pull it over!

(the kids all groan)

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Do NOT say a word.

(patrol officer walks over to Nick who is in the driver’s seat)

Nick: (Rylan Robb)What seems to be the problem, Officer?

CHP: (Malynn Ward)The problem? The problem? You were traveling three thousand miles an hour. Do you think we might have a problem here?

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Three thousand? Hmmm. (calls to the front of the bus as if to reindeer) Somebody’s not doing their job up there! On Dasher! On Dancer!....oh never mind…..

CHP: (Malynn Ward)Let me see your license, buddy.

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Of course, Officer.

(he hands Officer his license)

CPS: (Malynn Ward)(reading it) Let’s see. Address: North Pole. Age: Seventeen hundred and forty two. Name: Sant…. (he gasps)

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Shhhh! Let’s keep that between the two of us for now.

CHP: (Malynn Ward)Well, why didn’t you say so!! You’re….you’re…..

Nick: (Rylan Robb)(to officer) Shhh! (louder, so whole group hears)Sorry I was going to fast, Officer, but the kids here are trying to figure out where to spend Christmas this year, so I’m trying to show them all of the wonderful ways

Christmas is celebrated around the country.

Abby: (Mary Beth Shore)Yeah! We’ve been to New Orleans!

Carl: (Teague Waring)Florida!

Tex: (Trent Baker)Texas!

Ann: (Macey Hermatuk)New York City!

Nick: (Rylan Robb)And now we’re heading to the beach so the kids can see what it’s like to have a real west coast holiday! We’re kind of in a hurry, as you can imagine, since this is kind of a busy time of year for me.

CHP: (Malynn Ward)Of course it is! Well, don’t worry uh, (nudges Santa) you

know who, follow me! I’ll have you at the beach in California before you can say……”Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!”

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Ho! Ho! Ho! A policeman is a kid’s best friend!

SONG 6: CHRISTMAS IN CALIFORNIA

SCENE 7

David: (D'Andre Brown)That was fantastic! I’ve never had a better time in my whole life!

Juanita: (Cassidy Berkovich)But how in the world are we ever going to decide where to spend Christmas?

David:(D’Andre Brown) Yeah, I loved singing the Blues down in Louisiana.

Tommy: (Alex Sharpe)Yeah, and those beignets were out of this world!

Jane: (Katy Piper) And dancing in the streets of Miami was just the best!

Tex: (Trent Baker)How about the Texas Line dance?

Ann: (Macey Hermatuk)Or singing on Broadway in New York City?

Kitt: (Sydney Fortunato)It’s all been incredible!

Nick: (Rylan Robb)(in full beard) Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s true kids. There are a lot of wonderful ways to enjoy Christmas and

as you have learned, people all over the country, in fact all over the world, like to add their own twist to things.

Ashton: (Ben Swan)Like alligators pulling a boat in Louisiana.

Liza: (Kinsey Moore)Or the Rockettes kicking up a storm at Radio City Music Hall

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Ho! Ho! Ho! I think you get it. Wherever you are at this wonderful time of year, if your heart is full with the spirit of peace and giving, you’re at exactly the right place to have a perfect holiday!

SONG 7: THE ROAD HOME

SCENE 8

(Uncle Nick is getting the bus ready, loading a sack full of toys onto it, washing the windshield, kicking the tires, etc. He pretends to be oblivious to the fact that the cast is watching him and talking about him)

Danny:(Elijah Dendinger) Hey everybody, have you noticed anything different about Uncle Nick lately?

Danielle: (Maiya Carter)You mean like the fact that he hasn’t shaved this entire trip?

Liza: (Kinsey Moore)And his eyes – how they twinkle!

Ann: (Macey Hermatuk)His dimples – how merry!

Jane: (Katy Piper) His cheeks are like roses, his nose like a cherry!

Kitt: (Sydney Fortunato)His droll little mouth is drawn up like a bow!

Carson: (Kade Robinson)And that beard on his chin is as white as the snow.

David: (D’Andre Brown) He’s gotten so chubby and plump like a jolly old elf!

Carl: (Teague Waring) And I laugh when I see him, in spite of myself!

All: Hmmm..

Martin: (Josiah Brown)Is anybody else thinking what I’m thinking?

Mary: (Kameryn Rogers)Well, there’s only one way to find out.

(They approach Uncle Nick)

Mary: (Kameryn Rogers)Hey, Uncle Nick. I think we all know where we want to be for Christmas this year.

Martin: (Josiah Brown) Uncle Nick, do you think we could get on the bus and head for home?

Nick: (Rylan Robb)Ho! Ho! Ho! Of course we can! I’ll get you home for Christmas or my name isn’t …

All: Santa Claus!

Santa: (shrugs, then holds up “surrender” hands) Ho! Ho! Ho! Busted! (to everyone) Merry Christmas, everyone! Now let’s hit the road.

Kids: Yay! Road Trip!

REPRISE: HOLIDAY ROAD TRIP