So, ignoring whether the 12 days of Christmas run up to Christmas day, or Twelfth Night, and in a Dickensian spirit of ‘carolling’, a little more of the musical Mr Moliere’s Mouse (Cheese). Set in Pre Revolutionary Paris it is about the Old Paris Theatre, where a family of mice live below the stage. Our hero, the stuttering Bobolan, who dreams of being an actor, his father Victor, a tailor, uncle Hugo, who wants to be a writer, Victor’s frantic Spanish wife Maria, and the children, Pierre, Collette and Marie Antoinette. Facing Scarapino and the rat’s invasion of the Theatre, and a host of woes, including having to finish Scarapina’s dress, but in the spirit of Pierre wanting to join the army, they sing!
LYRICS – “When you’re really in a hole” – The Mousette’s Anthem
When you’re really in a hole
When you’re down, just like a mole
Draw your sword from out its sheath
Raise your head from underneath
And Mouse the barricades!
When you’re starving, for a crust
When your tail, drags through the dust
Draw your sword from out its sheath
Push your snout from underneath
And Mouse the Barricades!
Twitching, stitching,
Writing, fighting
Looking for some cheese
Flirting, skirting
Often hurting, life is never ease
Forever on the go
Clothes I have to sew!
Just the job
To lead us on to fame.
Oh my god,
Please take me back to Spain!
(Medley)
MARIA
I’m a donya, a Mouse with class
Whose pride you should not shame
Now I’m always slaving, my family’s raving
Just send me/her back to Spain!
ALL
When the Mousettes sing a song
Then the sorrow’s never long
Lift your chin and flash a smile
Find a husband with a pile
And Mouse the Barricades!
Peeking, sneeking
Dreaming, scheming
Dodging Paris cats!
Prancing, dancing
Always chancing,
Waiting for the rats
Forever on the make
(Victor – ‘I’m sewing’!)
Cakes I have to bake!
(Maria – ‘I’m going!’)
Just the job, to lead us on to fame
Oh my God, please take us back to Spain!
We work and slave, just to earn some cheese
But soldiers, we’re singing, a stirring reprise
We toil and chore, just to meet our debts
A family, together, the brave Mousettes!
(Medley)
CHILDREN
When your dresses, are in rags
And your sisters, look like hags!
Thread the needle, start to stitch
Dream you’re happy, loved and rich
And Mouse the Barricades!
VICTOR
I’m a Tailor, A Mouse of threads
A King of bows and braids
Now I’m always sewing, my clothes are growing
So Mouse the Barricades!
ALL
When you’re really in a hole
When you’re down, just like a mole
Draw your swords from out their sheaths
Stand up straight, not on yours knees
And Mouse the Barricades,
And Mouse the Barricades!
Story, book and lyrics by David Clement-Davies, music by Michael Jeffrey, Phoenix Ark Press 2014. All rights reserved.
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