Oregon Trail Summer

Oregon Trail Summer is the two hundred and ninety-seventh episode of Off Book: The Improvised Musical, and features guests Mary Sohn and Zeke Nicholson. Four best friends embark on a journey across...the Oregon Trail! What could possibly happen to three Boston high school graduates and one other guy as they traverse across the country?
== Episode Description ==
Paint your wagon (blue) and load it up (with pianos) for a wild ride out west! This week we are joined by the absolutely blinding talents of TWO of our all time favs, Mary Sohn and Zeke Nicholson. We had to ford the river to bring you this one folks, and you know how that usually ends.Official Episode Description
== Plot ==
=== Act I ===
Margaret, Brian, Linda, and Clyde are four friends from Boston who decide to take on the Oregon Trail this summer (“Oregon Trail with You”). Clyde wants to make all the “wrong” and irresponsible decisions while on the trail so as to have a good time. Linda, having recently gone through a break-up with her boyfriend, hopes to find a wife.
As the four of them plan for their trip, Margaret shares that her cousin, Shannon who traveled the Oregon Trail last summer, had written to her, suggesting they bring more salt than they think they will need. However, the group is hesitant to take her advice because they believe Shannon always makes everything about her.
They go around the group, listing what each person will bring in the structure of an icebreaker game ("My Name Is and I'm Bringing"). Clyde will bring salt and pepper, Margaret will bring games and snacks, Linda will bring a barrel and pelts, and Brian will bring ants and ants. Brian immediately regrets his split-second decision to bring ants and internally berates himself for ruining the group’s planning. But when he tries to walk it back, Brian only manages to change his answer to “pianos and ants”, much to his dismay. Clyde and Margaret both individually lament that they were not the ones to come up with the idea to bring ants. Linda, on the other hand, is happy with her decision as her pants are already covered with ants.
One day into the journey, the pack-animals pulling the wagon, three oxen and a circus horse, express their doubts in the humans and complain that the wagon is very heavy, on account of the three pianos the humans have elected to take. The horse is excited about the adventure and the prospect of getting to cross a river at the very end. One of the oxen asks how a circus horse ended up in their group.
We flashback to the day all the animals were purchased. The humans are immediately enamored by the trotting, dancing horse, and are excited at the idea of having such a fun animal with them on the trip ("A-Trot A-Trot"). It’s revealed that the horse is dancing, both because she’s been trained in it, but also because she is covered in itchy ants.
The flashback ends, and the horse asks the oxen if they have any dreams they want to accomplish during the journey. While the three of them have made this trip several times in the past, one of the oxen explains that he’s always wanted to climb Devil’s Canyon, something they’re never allowed to do as the path is too narrow for oxen ("Devil's Canyon"). The second ox confesses that he’s always wanted to jump off the edge of Devil’s Canyon to see if he can fly. The third ox, in turn, wants to have a rope and be a goat. The horse promises to help all three of them accomplish their dreams.
The humans notice that the animals are acting strangely and veering off in one direction. But before they can investigate, Clyde loudly complains that his stomach hurts after he drank brown water from the side of the trail. As he is throwing up, sweating, and behaving erratically, Margaret suggests he might have dysentery. Brian is unsympathetic and asks Clyde to tone it down and fix his vibes. Linda accuses Clyde of faking dysentery in yet another attention-seeking tantrum. When Clyde protests this, Brian reminds him of the time Clyde disguised himself as a bison using their food supplies and pelts, resulting in the group accidentally shooting him in the foot.
Exposed, Clyde complains he only does this because as the only one who didn’t go to Boston High School with the rest of them, he always feels left out of the group. Margaret counters this, saying that they try to be sensitive to not talk about Boston High School too much. However, they can’t help it as they made so many memories then. Not only that, it’s a big deal for Margaret and Linda who, as women, were originally not allowed to attend but were able to buy their way in with ants. Though his friends try to assure Clyde that he is part of their group, Clyde reminds them that they would have brought their high school friend Tony instead, had he not died one week before the trip.
Margaret, Linda, and Brian protest this—just because Tony was the coolest and the original owner of the wagon (which has the words "The Tony Train" painted on its side) doesn’t mean this is true! However, they quickly become distracted with reminiscing about their favorite memories of Tony being a town hero and having exciting and cinematic adventures (“Top Ten Tony Stories"). Clyde cuts in and points out that Tony bullied him mercilessly. As the other three ignore this and wistfully talk about how much they miss Tony, the wagon begins to approach Devil’s Canyon.
=== Act II ===
At Devil’s Canyon, the animals are excited to achieve their dreams (“Do the Dame Thing”). Despite the horse’s best efforts to help them, this goes poorly, and the oxen begin to fall and slip down Devil’s Canyon. On the bright side, they all make it through unscathed as they only went up two feet. Next up, the animals are now determined to help achieve the horse’s dream of fording the river.
Unable to stop them, the humans are frightened at the idea of fording the river. Clyde insists on doing so, however, emphasizing that he’s not afraid at all. The others ask if he’s only doubling down on this because Tony famously wanted to cross the river and always called Clyde a coward, but Clyde vehemently denies this. He suggests that he could go alone with the horse to find a safe path first.
An old prospector named Old West Shannon, who lives in a shack a little further down the river, warns the group that many people famously die trying to cross the river and that if they pay him, he can help ensure they make it across safely. When Margaret asks him to share one thing about himself, he says he’s dug a secret hole underneath his house ("One Thing About Old West Shannon"). Before he can tell them more, Margaret cuts him off, complaining that all Shannons want everything to be about them. 
As an example, she begins to read from her cousin Shannon’s letters, and the group is both bored and disgusted by how hard Shannon tries to sound introspective and poetic (“Honk-Shoo Ew"). Old West Shannon tries to join into the conversation, but the others reject him. Linda confesses that she’s starting to feel attracted to Old West Shannon. When Margaret asks if she wants to stay behind, Linda changes her mind but Old West Shannon suggests that he could come along instead. Margaret reluctantly asks Old West Shannon to tell them more about the hole, and he explains he uses it to hide his dark secrets from his past and that he has a map from the Old West showing places to find gold. The group, finding this incredibly boring, doze off during this explanation. Old West Shannon gives them the map anyway to leave a good impression on them, suggesting they could write him a letter later.
Though terrified of the river, Clyde and the horse are determined to cross it. Upon entering the dangerous waters, Clyde begins to panic and regret his decision (“Clyde’s Death”). He laments that he could never live up to Tony’s memory as the two of them drown. The surviving three are stunned by the loss, but refuse Old West Shannon’s help in crossing the river. They decide that in Clyde’s honor, they are going to each ride an ox and do the exact same thing that Clyde did, hoping for a different outcome.
The oxen are horrified and refuse to go, climbing onto a raft instead. Inspired, the humans turn the wagon into a raft, realizing that this was Tony’s intention all along. They all decide what to bring: Margaret will bring a piano, Brian will bring ants (much to his dismay), and Linda will bring barrels and pelts. Then, with complete and utter confidence, they begin to ford the river (“Ford the River (Finale)”). The raft begins to sink, however, and Brian and Margaret quickly drown. 
Linda is determined to survive, however, and an ox encourages her to climb onto the oxen raft instead. It’s also revealed that the horse somehow survived after all, and Old West Shannon reminds Linda that if she lives, he can become either her husband or wife in the future. Linda is unsure what to do, wondering if she should live on to remember her friends. While she does, Tony’s ghost appears to her, urging her to live on. Brian and Margaret’s ghosts are ecstatic that they get to hang out with Tony in the afterlife. Linda decides she would rather join her friends in the afterlife and drowns in the river too. 
The video game Oregon Trail quickly recaps everyone’s deaths and the general themes of the story. At the very end, an unnamed man asks two children what they learned from this, and he reiterates that the lesson of the story was risk-management and anti-bullying.
Show/Hide
== Musical Cast ==
=== Jessica McKenna ===
* Margaret
* Dancing Circus Horse
=== Zach Reino ===
* Brian
* Ox who wants to climb Devil's Canyon
* Old West Shannon
=== Zeke Nicholson ===
* Clyde
* Ox who wants to fly
* Ghost Tony
=== Mary Sohn ===
* Linda
* Ox who wants to be a goat and have a rope
== Songs ==
* "Oregon Trail with You" (6:00)
* "My Name Is and I'm Bringing" (11:00)
* "A-Trot A-Trot" (17:00)
* "Devil's Canyon" (18:30)
* "Top Ten Tony Stories" (25:00)
* "Do the Dame Thing" (30:00)
* "One Thing About Old West Shannon" (37:00)
* "Honk-Shoo Ew" (38:00)
* "Clyde's Death" (44:00)
* "Ford the River (Finale)" (48:00)
Post-Credits Song: 
* "The Funk and Ants" (57:00)
== Top Ten Tony Stories ==
# Climbed up city hall and caught electricity, then was given the town's key
# His whole family left him home alone at Christmas, then he defended his house from two burglars attempting to take his toys
# Tony was in 8th grade and documented his life stories, and his dad talked about the trials of being in 8th grade 
# He said "Gucci" 
# When he was stuck on a boat, and then sailed the friends into the blue using his t-shirt as a sail 
# When he led the Boston Tea Party 
# Bullying Clyde mercilessly
# Really making Clyde's life hell
# ...
# ...
# He was obsessed with fording the river 
== As We Say Every Week... ==
== Gallery ==
File:Oregontrailsummer.png
File:ZachAndJess.png
File:MaryAndZekeInOTS.png
== References ==
Category:Episodes
Category:Mary Sohn
Category:Zeke Nicholson
Category:Completed plot summary