Geppetto and Son
A New Stage Musical
Based on the original Disney television musical, Geppetto and Son features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by David Stern.
Pinocchio (Alex Peterson) turns into a real boy in Disney's GEPPETTO & SON. Also pictured: Geppetto (Charles Fugate). The Coterie Theatre, Kansas City, MO offered the World Premiere production June 27 to August 6, 2006. (Photo: Marianne Kilroy)
About Geppetto and Son
What about this father/puppet relationship?
In Geppetto and Son, as in the original Pinocchio story, a wooden puppet aspires to become a real boy, and faces lessons about telling the truth. In Geppetto and Son, Pinocchio's dad has some lessons to learn in being a real father. After many adventures, the two manage to stumble into a caring, accepting relationship.
This new Disney musical is a stage adaptation of the television production Geppetto from May 2000.
Geppetto and Son Songs
Hear clips or order Geppetto (2000 TV Soundtrack)
The songs on the original soundtrack:
- Includes: Once Upon A Time / When You Wish Upon A Star, Toys, Empty Heart, And Son, Just Because It's Magic, I've Got No Strings, Bravo, Stromboli, Toys (Reprise), Satisfaction Guaranteed, Just Because It's Magic (Reprise), Pleasure Island, And Son (Reprise), Since I Gave My Heart Away, Since I Gave My Heart Away - Sonya Isaacs (single version)
Geppetto and Son Songs:
Prologue
"When You Wish Upon a Star" -- sung by the Blue Fairy
ACT I
"Toys" - townspeople, Geppetto [for lyrics see Geppetto - Toys page]
"Empty Heart" - Geppetto
"Rise and Shine" - Automatons (in a clock-like structure) - NEW
"Geppetto and Son" - Geppetto, Pinocchio NEW MUSIC and some NEW LYRICS
"When You Wish Upon a Star" (reprise) - Blue Fairy
"I've Got No Strings" - Pinocchio, Stromboli
"Bravo Stromboli" - Stromboli
"Just Because It's Magic" - Blue Fairy, Geppetto
ACT II
"Satisfaction Guaranteed" - Professor Buonragazzo, Children of Idyllia
"Bravo Stromboli" (reprise) - Stromboli
"Pleasure Island" - Ringleader, Roustabouts, Deliquents
"Geppetto and Son" (reprise) - Pinocchio, Geppetto
"Since I Gave My Heart Away" - Geppetto,
and "Since I Gave My Heart Away" Finale - Company
Geppetto and Son Sheet Music
"Since I Gave My Heart Away" Sheet Music -- A version is available in the Stephen Schwartz Songbook
"When You Wish Upon a Star" and "I've Got No Strings" sheet music
New Illustrated Disney Songs
Or other sheet music versions: "When You Wish Upon a Star"
Geppetto DVD
Geppetto - at Amazon.com
Geppetto / Geppetto and Son Development and Details
David Stern and Stephen Schwartz at the Coterie Theatre production.
Notes by Carol de Giere for Schwartz Scene 24 Summer 2006 newsletter
The idea for a stage musical version of the 2000 made-for-TV film Geppetto was raised during discussions with Stephen Schwartz and representatives from Music Theatre International (MTI) who will soon license it to theatre companies offering shows for young audiences. Schwartz says, "In a meeting with MTI they said it would be good for us to have something with a minimal number of adults and an infinite number of children." Immediately he thought of adapting Geppetto to stage.
Photo: Jessalyn Kincaid as the Blue Fairy in the world premiere of Disney's Geppetto & Son by Stephen Schwartz and David Stern, directed by Jeff Church; at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Mo. Performing now through August 6. Photo by Mark Coffey/Coterie Theatre
Book writer David Stern discovered a child-appropriate way to make the show stage worthy. Stern begins with Geppetto's challenge to the Blue Fairy, and allows the rest of the story to be a kind of proof of Pinocchio's value. As with the film, when Pinocchio runs away to become a star in a traveling show, Geppetto must negotiate through maze of adventures and comic encounters to find him.
Schwartz said in production notes for Geppetto and Son: "I believe Disney's Geppetto & Son is a show that is entertaining while at the same time dealing with such important themes as individuality, self-esteem and the relation of parents and children. I am pleased that the Coterie Theatre feels this is an important work. I have written several other shows and films that I believe have had a positive impact on young audiences, such as Disney's Pocahontas, Godspell, Children of Eden, and the current Broadway show Wicked. I believe Disney's Geppetto & Son is a strong addition to this group."
He has also said: "I was working with Stern on another project and David mentioned he had the idea of doing a show based on looking at the Pinocchio story from the father's [Geppetto's] point of view," Schwartz said in notes. "I found the idea compelling, so together we approached Disney. David and I were interested in exploring the idea of fatherhood and what it means to be father."
In Disney's Geppetto & Son, the co-creators have kept the callous puppeteer Stromboli (from the first film), whose song is an operatic tenor recitative, and have also invented Professor Buonragazzo who "designs" perfect, made-to-order offspring, and the Ring Leader who turns children into donkeys. The show now incorporates a new song not included in the original Disney "Geppetto" movie along with "When You Wish Upon a Star" and "I've Got No Strings" from the original Disney "Pinocchio" movie.
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Geppetto Lyrics
See also Geppetto - "Toys" lyrics page
See also Geppetto and Son "Since I Gave My Heart Away" lyrics - (Finale)
Geppetto and Son - Links
Geppetto and Son in Rockford See photos and read about their production process when Stephen Schwartz and Larry Hochman showed up.
Source for Disney-related art and custom framing, including from the original Pinocchio: Disney Art Prints at ArtChoicesNow.com - Free Shipping, custom framing
About the Coterie: www.coterietheatre.org
Read all about Stephen Schwartz.
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