RAGGEDY ANN A Musical Adventure in 2 Acts. Book by William Gibson. (Based on characters created by Johnny Gruelle in the "Raggedy Ann Stories.") Music and lyrics by Joe Raposo. Nederlander Theatre, Broadway. Opened 16th October, 1986; closed 19th October 1986 (15 previews; 5 performances) SYNOPSIS A little girl is transported to a never never land where good, represented by Raggedy Ann tussles with the forces of evil for her soul STORY Act I As the ensemble performs an introductory song (“Gingham and Yarn”), the backstory is presented with a montage of cut-outs. Mommy and Poppa dance at their wedding; Poppa holds the baby as Mommy runs away with the Rat in the Rolls Royce; Poppa swigs from a liquor bottle as Marcella sits alone in bed; three doctors hover over the girl. In the ESIPA version, the ensemble rolls the set onto the stage as the song is performed. In Marcella’s bedroom, the trio of doctors pokes and prods at her. In the original ESIPA staging, the song “Diagnosis” is situated here. Marcella cries out deliriously, claiming that her mother, bird, and dog all vanished through the closet door. The doctors give differing but equally dire warnings regarding the youngster’s ailments, so Poppa gets annoyed and throws them out. Marcella hears Yellow Yum-Yum the canary (referred to as Tweety in the ESIPA production) singing from an empty birdcage, and it’s revealed that Red Fang the puppy choked on the bird and they both died. Marcella remarks that Mommy ran away, and Poppa corrects her, stating that she was kidnapped by a Rat in a Rolls-Royce. Lightening the mood, Poppa presents her with a doll that he created, which he names Raggedy Ann. Marcella declares that she has no heart, so Poppa pulls a candy heart from a box and stitches it onto the doll. He sings his daughter a lullaby, claiming that her toys spring to life when she’s asleep (“Carry On”). After Marcella dozes off, Poppa pleads with God to let her live as he exits. Marcella’s bed whirls around, and out from the covers pops Raggedy Ann. The girl says she’s dying, and suddenly the trio of doctors emerge from beneath the mattress to corroborate her story (“Diagnosis” (Broadway)). Raggedy Ann argues that they’re wrong, and eventually the men vanish to report to a mysterious figure named General D. Raggedy Ann urges Marcella to get out of bed, revealing that this is a dream, so she can do anything she wants. The girl protests claiming she’s too ill, so the rag dolly calls for help from her friends, Raggedy Andy, Baby, and Panda, who emerge from the toybox one by one (“The Light”). Andy is curious as to what’s behind the closet door, so he opens it despite Marcella’s pleas. With a crash of thunder and through a cloud of smoke, rat-faced General D. emerges along with his cronies, the sexy Bat and the roguish Wolf. He says that he’s enlisting recruits for his Army of the Dead and thinks Raggedy Ann is the one he’s looking for, but she argues that she’s only “Make Believe” (Broadway). The General learns that Marcella is dying, so he declares that he’ll be back to collect her at 6 a.m. Suddenly, Marcella and the toys find themselves at the Miami shipyard, where old toys go to die. The doctors quarantine the Camel behind a chainlink fence (“Diagnosis (reprise)”), and the animal tells the toys that he’s all alone and “Blue.” (Broadway) Realizing that if Marcella dies, they’ll all cease to exist, Raggedy Ann suggests that they should head to L.A. to visit The Doll Doctor, so they transform the bed into a boat and set sail (“Mexico” (ESIPA) / “Make Believe (reprise)” (Broadway)). In the ESIPA version, the camel with a wrinkle knee starts to sing his own sad song (“Blue” (ESIPA)) along with Ann. A fish with the voice of
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