DOWN TO EARTH GIRL features side tickling comedy, heart-warming romance, a crackling script full of snappy patter, and a beautiful score brimming with memorable melodies in the style of the great Golden Age musicals. It's charming entertainment for all audiences, from eight to eighty.
Minimum cast size: 5 Men, 4 women
Act I
Performer credits: Except as noted by (*), the following principal cast is heard on the demos (L-R): Robert J. Townsend (Scoop), Dana Meller (Nine-O/Aileen), Matthew Rocheleau (Floyd), Lindsay Mixon (Bessie), David Holmes (Major Nails), Susan Grace (Mabel), Erika Amato (Roxy), George Miserlis (Rusty). Not pictured: David Gordon (Frank), Jeffery Lyle Segal (Rocky, Old Couple), and Terrence Atkins (Guard 1). Chorus: Eydie Alyson, Jill Townsend, Elyse Dewsberry.
All vocals noted by (*) performed by Jeffery Lyle Segal
LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO LAND (Radio Newsman*)
People of Earth brace themselves for a possible alien invasion.
I COME FOR LOVE (Floyd, Nine-O)
Nine-O lands her invisible flying saucer outside Roswell, where she is found by Floyd. She tells him about her "mission" to find what she's heard on the radio.
OOGA BOOGA BOO (Scoop, Ensemble)
Scoop convinces the townspeople that there's an alien among them, and then conspires with Frank to create one.
FORK, KNIFE, SPOON (Nine-O, Bessie, Mabel)
Bessie tries to teach Nine-O about Earth silverware so she can wait tables. But all Nine-O can think about is Scoop.
LEARN TO DANCE (Scoop, Nine-O)
Hoping to charm "Cousin Aileen" into being in his fake alien picture for "human interest", Scoop puts a nickle in the jukebox, and romances her.
INVADER FROM SPACE (Scoop, Ensemble)
To keep them from suspecting that the new girl in town might be the alien they seek, Floyd tells everyone that he saw the alien -- a green, tentacled, bug-eyed creature -- and can lead them to it. Scoop drives the town into a frenzy about finding what he thinks is the fake alien. Then he takes Ai-leen to the movies. Rusty and Major Nails lead the hostile townspeople on a witch hunt to find and destroy the Invader from Space.
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For more information about co-author Terrence Atkins, click here.
To hear the songs from ACT II, click here.
Piano tracks played and recorded by Tom Griep
Demos with original singers recorded by Craig Adams at Winslow Court Recording Studio, L.A.
It was expanded based on Terrence's concept, and developed by Jeffery and Terrence, who have contributed equally to the new book, music and lyrics. First publicly presented in readings by the Artist's Repertory Company of the ANMT in 2005 as I COME FOR LOVE. A favorite at the the Kansas City Festival of New Musicals 2007 and the Thousand Oaks Festival of New Musicals 2007 with Ovation Award winner Robert J. Townsend as Scoop and Dana Meller as Nine-O. Co-produced by Jeffery and Terrence at the New York Musical Theater Festival 2008, with Joe Barbara as Scoop and Jodie Langel as Nine-O, who was awarded Best Actress of Festival for her portrayal. See the rest of our NYMF cast at www.icomeforlove.com. To read what the critics said in praise of our NYMF production, click here. Subsequently revised and presented as a staged reading at Theater Wit in Chicago in 2013. After further revisions, it was presented as a showcase by New Musicals, Inc. and Terrence Atkins at the NoHo Arts Center, 2014.
Jodie Langel as "Nine-O"
NYMF 2008
STRAIGHT TO THE TOP (Scoop*, Frank*)
Scoop plans to put Frank in a fake alien costume and take his picture at nightfall so he can sell it to the "Weird World Weekly". But he dreams of what it would be like to find a real story that could get him back to the journalistic big time.
DOWN TO EARTH GIRL began as I COME FOR LOVE, with characters created for the one act musical, THE SCOUT, by Terrence Atkins (music), Jeffery Lyle Segal (lyrics) and Megan Wygant (book), presented by the Academy for New Musical Theatre at the Colony Theater in Burbank, CA in 2004.
FAMILY (Bessie, Nine-O, Mabel)
Bessie explains to Nine-O that's there are different kinds of love on Earth. Scoop may make her toes tingle. But Floyd feels more like a brother...like family.
DOWN TO EARTH GIRL (Scoop, Bessie, Floyd)
While Nine-0 hides just out of sight, Scoop sings about the kind of girl he wishes he could meet.
The demos below were created for different presentations,
and may not represent the most up to date lyrics in every song.
Sparks and saucers fly when 9-0, an emotional alien girl from an unemotional planet, comes to Earth to find the romance she has heard on our radio broadcasts, and lands at Roswell in 1949. She is found by Bessie, a waitress in her mother Mabel's diner, and Floyd, a flat footed mechanic who has secretly loved Bessie since childhood. The townspeople form a posse under the dimwitted deputy sheriff, Rusty, and a wacko war veteran, retired Major Nails, to find and destroy the "invader from space." Meanwhile, Joe "Scoop" O'Reilly, a clueless reporter who was fired from the Chicago Daily Tribune for writing the headline "Dewey Defeats Truman (who knew?) is now reduced to making up crazy stories for a tabloid, the Weird World Weekly, along with his photographer sidekick, Frank. When their car breaks down outside of Roswell, and they hear about the mysterious "Lights in the sky," they decide to create a fake alien to terrorize the town and create another War of the Worlds panic. All they need is a gullible, innocent townie for "human interest," who will believe their malarky. When the new waitress at the diner, "Ai-leen", tells them she was on the space ship the night before, Scoop thinks, "Bingo!" Against his intentions, he falls like a shooting star for her goofy charm. When he learns who 9-0 really is, he must choose between the love of his life and the story of the century. Meanwhile, 9-0 must overcome the fear and prejudice of the town with her message of universal peace and love....and, of course, singing and dancing!
Joe Barbara as "Scoop"
Roswell will never be the same.
ME AND THE STARS (Floyd, Bessie)
Out under the stars, looking for the flying saucer, Bessie and Floyd almost admit their love for one another.
FLAT FOOTED FRIEND (Floyd)
In Mabel's diner, dimwitted deputy Rusty Dobbs convinces Floyd that Bessie prefers him, and self-effacing Floyd believes him.
