| Kids on a cross-town train wish they
were going on a world-wide adventure instead, but they soon discover the world can be
found in the roots of the people on the train. We Come From Everywhere celebrates
the diverse origins of Americans from Native Americans to immigrants from all over the
globe. Students learn we come from a variety of places and cultures while they develop an
appreciation of the opportunities and challenges such diversity presents. CHARACTERS:
FLEXIBLE
CASTING:
From 11-40 students.
Parts can easily be added, or one student can play more than one role. Note that all
roles can be played by either boys or girls; see our comments on page 35 of the Teacher's
Guide. |
Four Kids on a train:
Charles, Maria, Pauline, Freddy (Pauline has a song towards the end of the show.)
Passengers on the train, grouped by song):
George, Patrick, Louisa
Juan, Isabella
Melody, Min
Ian, Surf Dudes
Richard
Rachel
Jesse
Francesca, Marc
Peggy, Jim
and a Chorus made up of all students who are not playing roles at the time.
ENTIRE CLASS:
Song 1
From far away
Both long ago
And yesterday
We come from here
We come from there
We come from everywhere.
There’s different skin
And different hair
There’re different things
We eat and wear
Still we have got
So much to share
We come from everywhere.
Some folks came to keep themselves from starving
And some heard the voice of freedom call
Some came for the gold or for the weather
And some did not ask to come at all.
From right next door
From far away
Both long ago
And yesterday
We come from here
We come from there
We come from everywhere.
(ALL snap to attention on the last beat.)
(STUDENTS sit down as if riding on a train. Some are reading magazines, listening to music
on headphones, carrying packages, etc. Four TRAIN-RIDERS are closest to front of stage.)
FREDDY: Every school day it’s the same trip. I wish this train were going someplace
fun instead of just across town to school.
CHARLES: Yeah. Imagine if the train were going to Africa.
MARIA: Or Greece.
PAULINE: Or Hong Kong!
FREDDY: Or Bakersfield.
CHARLES: Bakersfield?
FREDDY: I hear they’ve got great french fries.
MARIA: Wait a minute. I bet we have most of the world right here in this train.
PAULINE: What do you mean?
CHARLES: Maria’s right! People in the U.S. come from everywhere.
MARIA: Come on, let’s find out. We’ll ask people on this train where
they’re from.
CHARLES: Great idea!
FREDDY: I hope somebody here is from Bakersfield—or at least has some french fries.
Song
2
(MUSIC plays while FOUR students move among passengers, pantomiming conversations. When
the music stops, the students gather again next to each other.
CHARLES: What did you find out?
PAULINE: I found somebody whose family came from Vietnam just a few years ago.
MARIA: I found someone from Australia.
FREDDY: I found some gum under one of the seats—look, it’s hardly been chewed!
OTHERS: Yuck!
CHARLES: Listen to this.
(Brings THREE PASSENGERS forward. )
I found three people who come from completely different places but they have something
really interesting in common.
GEORGE: Hi, I’m George. My grandparents came from Greece in 1920.
PATRICK: My family came over from Ireland 100 years ago.
LOUISA: We’re originally from a small town in Germany.
GEORGE: And all of our families entered the United States through Ellis Island.
FREDDY: What’s Ellis Island?
LOUISA: Ellis Island was the place in New York harbor where immigrants arrived by ship
from Europe.
PATRICK: Their papers were inspected, their health was checked, and they had to answer
questions about coming to the United States.
LOUISA: I often heard my grandparents speak of their first day in America—they were
so nervous and excited.
LOUISA:
Song
3
Hello Ellis Island
Hello USA
Gonna make this my land
Starting from today.
GEORGE and LOUISA:
Apple of my eye-land
I am here to stay
Hello Ellis Island
Hello USA.
GEORGE, LOUISA, PATRICK:
Hello Ellis Island
Hello USA
You’re my place to try-land
Nothing’s in my way.
GEORGE, LOUISA, PATRICK, CHORUS:
Apple of my eye-land
I am here to stay
Hello Ellis Island
Hello USA.
(THEY return to their seats. STUDENTS speak. JUAN and
ISABELLA approach.)
CHARLES: Hey guys, these two people just came from Mexico when they were little kids.
FREDDY: Did they come through Ellis Island?
MARIA: Of course not. Ellis Island has been closed since 1954.
PAULINE: Besides, they wouldn’t come by ship. Mexico and the United States share a
border over 2000 miles long.
FREDDY: I knew that.
JUAN and ISABELLA:
Song 4
Our father came to work the fields
To find a better life
A place of opportunity
For two kids and a wife.
And we were taught to do our best
And we have surely tried
Though it's been tough, it's working out
And we can say with pride:
We are on our way
We are on our way
We are on our way.
Our father came to work the fields
To find a better life
A place of opportunity
For two kids and a wife.
Our parents left the life they knew
And worked hard every day
They say they'd do it all again
So they can hear us say:
We are on our way
We are on our way
We are on our way
We are on our way.
(THEY return to seats. STUDENTS speak)
PAULINE: Now that we’re talking about our families, I realize I don’t know where
mine comes from.
CHARLES: Haven’t you ever asked your parents?
PAULINE: Yeah, but I keep getting different answers.
MARIA: Maybe you should ask them again.
PAULINE: Yeah. Can I borrow your cell phone?
FREDDY: Here, you can use mine.
(hands over phone)
MARIA (as MELODY and MIN approach): Listen up. I want to hear the story of this Chinese
family.
MELODY: My ancestors came here from Canton in 1850 during the gold rush.
MIN: Merchants told us tales about Gum San, the mountain of gold in California.
MELODY and MIN:
Song 5
Every body’s buzzing with excitement
n our little Kwangtung town
Seven thousand miles across the ocean
Mounds of gold have just been found.
Nuggets even bigger than our chicken
Gold is lying everywhere
Got to get to ourselves to California
’Cause our fortune’s waiting there.
At Gum San
Golden Mountain
So we’ve been told
Gum San
Gotta find that
Mountain made of gold.
When I’m rich I’ll sail back to China
Buy some land and settle down
Maybe set my family up in business
In our little Kwangtung town.
MELODY, MIN, and CHORUS:
Gum San
Golden Mountain
So we’ve been told
Gum San
Gotta find that
Mountain made of gold.
Hello San Francisco
With your lovely bay
Never found my fortune
Guess I’m here to stay.
Gonna make this my land
Starting from today
Hello San Francisco
Hello USA.
(THEY return to their seats)
Song List
Click on the song name to hear samples in
mp3 format. Please note that internet song samples have low fidelity and rest assured that
the CDs we sell sound much better.Problems hearing the music? Visit our Audio Help page.
Top of Page
| Vocabulary Terms
from We Come From Everywhere |
Ellis Island
“apple
of my eye”
Canton
gold
rush
Gum San
Jamestown
Orient
|
slave trader
kola tree
mail-order bride
vanity
hospitality
steamer
masses
yearning
throb
melting pot |
Cherokee
caress
acrobat
Vocabulary
From Stage Directions
pantomiming
Emma Lazarus
|
Top of Page
Teacher Reviews:
To submit your own review, just e-mail it to ron@badwolfpress.com
Be sure to include your school name and what grade you teach.
"I like all of your shows! This year
we're doing 'We Come From Everywhere' and my chuildren are loving the geography lesson. I
do a play each spring and it's a great way to end the year."
---Julie Usher, Teacher (1st/2nd grade), Sanborn School, Ossineke, MI
"We Come From Everywhere is very well
written and easy to adapt. The children learned the lines and songs quite quickly. They
learned so much about America being a country of many diverse cultures, and why various
cultures chose to come to America."
---Jill Borwn, Teacher (3rd grade), Mapleton Elementary, Mapleton, ME
"It was great! The kids decided what
characters they'd like to be after listening to the songs and reading through the script.
We heard many wonderful comments, in particular that each child had a 'star' moment."
---Cheri Chapman, Teacher (5th grade) Christa McAuliffe School, Saratoga, CA
"In November my 2nd grade class performed
'We Come From Everywhere.' I love the plays because they provide the children with an
alternative opportunity to learn. It's perfect for those students who love to sing and
act."
---Peggy Coberly, Teacher, (2nd grade) Valley View School, Pleasanton, CA
Top of Page
Two of You are Planning to
Put the Play on Together??
If you ask us, we always suggest having just one class put on a play. We
think each kid is more involved, and we think it's easier for you to deal with a smaller
number of students.
But lots of teachers disagree with us.
They've been happily doing the plays together for years.
In fact, Amy Anderson, the teacher who does four musicals a year (and she talks about this on our home page) thinks two classes
together is the way to go.
Then what do I need to purchase?
Think of a musical play like a library book. Only one teacher may "check out"
(i.e. put on) the play at a time. If another teacher wants to produce the music play that
you purchased in a separate production and at a later date, you may loan
out your original plan and student copies.
Your "library" needs two copies of the play for two teachers to
put on the play at the same time. If a teacher wants her class to put on the play with
your class, she needs to buy her own copy of the play. For three or more teachers
to produce a play together, purchase three copies for your "library" and Bad
Wolf extends a Site License for all the teachers and
classes at your school.
But why can't I just make extra copies of
the play? If copies are made for a class other than the purchasing
teacher's, it's an infringement of U.S. copyright law. Yikes! Bad Wolf
likes to toe the line where Uncle Sam is concerned, so we offer a discount on the purchase
of multiple copies of the play.
If you are 2 teachers putting on the play
together...................................$60
* Includes 2 copies of the book and CD (save almost $20 off of
buying
them separately) so each of you has a CD and
book to work with.
* Free bonus: We'll throw in our famed
"Earthworms on Parade" CD. Y'know,
that's the one with the six
goofiest songs about earthworms ever written
($9.95 value.)
* Includes the right to reproduce the
script for the students in both of
your individual classes.
Questions? Call or email Ron Fink at (888) 827-8661 or ron@badwolfpress.com
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