Master storyteller and bestselling author Jodi Picoult teams up with Jake van Leer and Ellen Wilber to bring you an original musical, sure to breathe life into any middle school and high school drama curriculum.

Part Shakespearean comedy and part Fractured Fairy Tales, Over the Moon is all fun. Narrated by a cross-dressing Hairy Godmother (no, that’s not a typo), the story begins when Luna (the moon) descends to a small town on earth disguised as a boy, and sets out to help humans find love. But Luna herself falls in love with Prince Jack...who’s in love with Felicity...who has fallen for Luna.

On the way to happily ever after are a steady stream of clever puns and topical jokes about American Idol, universal health care, Bernie Madoff, and just about every fairy tale creature you’ve ever heard of! With nineteen original hum-worthy songs and plenty of spots to tailor the play to any city or town, Over the Moon is the perfect choice for every school looking to perform an energetic show that’s fresh, funny, and timeless.

Excerpt

ACT ONE
SCENE 1

A cross-dressed HAIRY GODMOTHER enters, holding a book.
HAIRY GODMOTHER

(opening book)

Once upon a time. . .

(beat)

What? What’s the matter? You’ve never seen a hairy godmother before?

(beat)

Maybe you were expecting someone -- a little different? Someone with a little less testosterone? Some sweet old grandma type with a blue cloak and a magic wand? A FAIRY godmother?

(beat)

Well, news flash: that was a TYPO!

(beat)

You can’t believe everything you read in fairy tales. Jack and the magic beanstalk? We’re talking genetically modified plants, here. And the three little pigs? They went on to become [Insert name of local development company].

(beat)

I hear what you’re saying: the whole point of a fairy tale is that everyone knows the story. Sure as the moon’s in the sky every night, Cinderella’s always gonna lose her glass slipper and Rapunzel’s always gonna have a grooming problem, and me, well, I’m gonna wave the wand around and sing “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.”

(beat)

But what if the moon WASN’T in the sky? Because THAT’S a story I bet you’ve never heard. . .

He walks off, revealing:
SCENE 2

LUNA, the moon, and her friends, STELLA and BELLA, are up in the sky, listening to the radio.
JOHNNY NOVA

Howdy folks, welcome back to the number one satellite radio show in the galaxy. I’m Johnny Nova, comin’at you so bright you better keep your shades on!
STELLA

Guys, guys! It’s on again!!!
JOHNNY NOVA

Now, let’s get back to some of those hit Nep-Tunes. . .
STELLA

Hey, Bella, does this dress make my asteroid look fat?
BELLA

Honestly, Stella, you KNOW you’re a heavenly body.
LUNA

People down there just don’t get it!
STELLA

Don’t tell me you’re spying again.
BELLA

Oh, stop being such a blue moon! Humans mess everything up.
LUNA

Seeing them throw away love makes me want to just stop glowing! Seriously, girls, why else are we here?

Bella and Stella look at each other and shrug.
BELLA

The universal health care plan?
LUNA

No! All those wishes on a falling star. All those kisses in the moonlight. But each night I see humans throwing away true love.

SONG 1: OVER THE MOON

LUNA:

When it comes to love, you shoot for the stars.

When it comes to love, no journey’s too far.

Love is worth waiting for.

Love conquers all

right from the moment you fall.

LUNA WITH STELLA AND BELLA:

Someday I will find the guy of my dreams.

Someday I will find a fella who seems

like he was meant for me,

a perfect pair,

and then a lifetime we’ll share!

CHORUS:

Every word he whispers

is a secret tune.

Every one of his kisses, I know,

will send me over the moon!

Maybe one day I will walk down a street,

and, by chance, our eyes will happen to meet.

And we will know right then

we’re meant to be,

forever after happily!

And we will know right then

we’re meant to be,

forever after happily!
JOHNNY NOVA

This one’s going out to all you lovers. . .
LUNA

That’s it! Girls, I’m leaving. If people on Earth can’t find true love, I’m going to find it for them!

© 2011 Jodi Picoult and Jake van Leer

About The Authors

Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult received an AB in creative writing from Princeton and a master’s degree in education from Harvard. The recipient of the 2003 New England Book Award for her entire body of work, she is the author of twenty-seven novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers House Rules, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, and My Sister’s Keeper, for which she received the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Award. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Visit her website at JodiPicoult.com.

Jake van Leer

Product Details

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (January 4, 2011)
Length: 240 pages
ISBN13: 9781442421332
Ages: 12 - 99

Raves and Reviews

Begin with Cinderella, Pinocchio, Humpty Dumpty and myriad other fairy-tale and nursery-rhyme figures. Add an athletic princess pretending to be dainty, a moon hiding her light and dressed as a boy, a shy prince and a scary, lonely giant who all have crushes on the obviously wrong match. There’s also an evil queen and a “hairy godmother.” Place them in odd variations on typical fairy-tale plots and mix with music and a moral. Designed specifically to be performed by a large cast of middle- and high-school students, the authors (the novelist and her teenage son) pepper the script with snappy one-liners, local and pop-culture references, as well as social and political issues, some left of center (the narrator/hairy godmother is a cross-dressing male; there is a gay-marriage reference in a faux news report).... The play is fast paced and full of fun, with the overlying theme of staying true to oneself handled with a light touch. Sheet music for all the songs is provided. Applause, applause.