Stranger Sings

***Stranger Sings*** is the forty-second episode of *Off Book: The Improvised Musical,* and features guest Briga Heelan. The musical follows three new teachers at a school after the last ones left under mysterious circumstances, and a group of students who must sacrifice their teachers every year to sate the monster that lives beneath the school.

## Plot

### Act I

Three new teachers give themselves speeches of encouragement on their first day at a new school, Sunnybrooke, ("Dumb and Younger Than You"). They are confused as to why the teachers who came before them left, and Mr. Krall, the science teacher, shares a rumour he heard about the kids being violent, dumb, mean, crafty, and on a mission to get rid of all teachers. Mrs. Foster, the history teacher, encourages them to be more optimistic (although hypervigilant) and suggests that all the teachers reached retirement at the same time ("Sunnybrooke Side of Life").

Three students, Tony, Randy, and Mince watch the new teachers from afar. Mince is eager to have the chance to prove himself, even if his name doesn't inspire fear, although Randy begs to differ and goes on a brief tangent about British mince pies ("No Meat in a Mincemeat Pie"). This is almost immediately followed by a tangent about Mince's misunderstanding of Chicken Pot Pie ("No Prune in Chicken Pot Pie"). They share their pitches for ways to torment the new teachers. Mince proposes he turns his chair around and sits in it backwards. Tony says he will pound his fist into his cupped hand constantly. Randy plans to blow spitballs at his teacher every time his back is turned.

Mr. Krall introduces himself to his class, and Randy blows a spitball at him, only for Mr. Krall to catch the ball in his hand. Mr Krall turns it into a teachable moment about physics ("Friction"). A group of children, Steph, Amelia, and Eugene, regroup after class shocked and excited by everything they've learned, and are conflicted towards their new teachers as there is a Cthulhu-like monster that dwells beneath the school they feed the blood of teachers to keep its hunger at bay to save the entire town. They resolve to find a way to defeat the monster in order to gain an education and not sacrifice their teachers ("Stranger Things (Have Happened)").

### Act II

Randy, Tony, Mince, Randy's older sister Steph, Tony's girlfriend Amelia, and Eugene meet at midnight and decide to ask their teachers for help in solving the monster problem. They resolve to bike to their teachers' houses, because they're probably still awake and doing cool things. They meet Mrs. Sutton, the teacher that got Eugene excited about Shakespeare, and she climbs onto the handlebars of one of the bikes. Then also gather Mrs. Foster, the history teacher, and Mr. Krall ("It's Midnight..."). They then bike to Randy's house, where it safer to talk ("It's 1 A.M.").

The children tell the teachers about the monster. Randy notices the monster seems to feed off of the children's negative emotions, and it appears that due to the children being engaged and excited about their classes so far this year, the monster is yet to have awoken. Mr. Krall decides to investigate the caverns and geological anomalies around where the monster is said to live, Mrs. Foster suggests they search the library for Sunnybrooke's records to see if there is any information about the monster's origins, and Mrs. Sutton, who has a background in psychology, suggests they all communicate openly.

Mr. Krall takes Tony and Randy through the entrance of the cave, in the unused A.V. room, and under the school and they begin to explore. They discover heat and sulphur and energy. Mrs. Foster takes Mince, Amelia, and Steph to the library. They discover the town had a nuclear power plant, and a straight-A student who went missing before graduation. Mrs. Foster thinks that it is probably the child that turned into the monster after being exposed to radiation. Mrs. Sutton remains with the most troubled child, Eugene, to discuss his emotions, although he thinks they are in love ("Research/Exploration").

They all regroup and Mr. Krall recommends they do not let the children go to investigate the monsters with the teachers, but the students object strongly ("You Need Us Kids"). Mr. Krall acquiesces and they bike back to the school ("It's 2 A.M. (Transition)"). The child they believe turned into the monster is named Nicholas Huckle. The children plan to have Eugene write a note in iambic pentameter for Randy to spitball into a hole they imagine is in the monster's body to tell Nicholas that he doesn't have to eat teachers.

They descend into the caves and meet with Nicholas Huckle, who builds a wall to separate them. The kids are small enough to crawl through, and they leave their teachers behind. They talk to Nicholas who admits he hates teachers because they should have warned him of the dangers of nuclear power and that is why he eats teachers. They convince him that these teachers are good, and Randy spitballs Eugene's note, which says that Eugene is in love with his teacher ("Stranger Things (Reprise)"). They befriend Nicholas and demonstrate love to him, and encourage him to return to school. Nicholas tears down the rock walls and creates a suit of basketballs to protect others from his nuclear energy. The children introduces him to the teachers who promise to teach him ("No Child Left Behind").

**Show/Hide**
## Musical Cast

### Briga Heelan

* Mrs. Sutton, English Teacher (With a Background in Psychology)
* Tony
* Amelia, Tony's Girlfriend

### Jessica McKenna

* Mrs. Foster, History Teacher
* Randy
* Steph, Randy's Older Sister

### Zach Reino

* Mr. Krall, Science Teacher
* Mince
* Eugene
* Nicholas Huckle

## Songs

* "Dumb and Younger Than You" (9:03)
* "Sunnybrooke Side of Life" (13:12)
* "No Meat in a Mincemeat Pie" (16:42)
* "No Prune in Chicken Pot Pie" (18:05)
* "Friction" (21:13)
* "Stranger Things (Have Happened)" (25:21)
* "It's Midnight..." (31:10)
* "It's 1 A.M." (36:41)
* "Research/Exploration" (42:31)
* "You Need Us Kids" (48:44)
* "It's 2 A.M. (Transition)" (50:58)
* "Stranger Things (Reprise)" (54:50)
* "No Child Left Behind" (59:20)

Closing Song:

* "Beware" (Bad Reviews) (1:03:52)

## Trivia

* This is the first appearance of Producer Dana on the microphone with her reading of the review for the final segment.
* The closing song was suggested by a listener through Twitter. The instructions were to read a bad review from Yelp, Amazon, etc., and do a rap based on that. The review was for Albanese Sugar Free Gummy Bears.