Pilot

***The untitled pilot*** of *Off Book: The Improvised Musical,* aired July 15, 2017 on Stitcher Premium's "Pod Days of Summer Premium Playlist." Previously available only on Stitcher Premium, this episode was re-released on the main feed on February 2, 2022. It features guest D'Arcy Carden, who would return for *Off Book'*s first live show, Wolf/Tuck: LIVE!. The musical is about a school in which the PTA decides to encourage parents to guilt (and/or abandon) their children.

## Episode Description

It takes years for a Broadway musical to hit the stage, but on Off Book: The Improvised Musical, you get a brand new original musical every week! Hear the pilot episode featuring Jessica McKenna, Zach Reino, and special guest D'Arcy Carden as they create a new musical on the spot.

Wow this is the very first episode we ever did, almost exactly five years ago! It's the pilot episode we recorded with our amazing hilarious friend D'Arcy Carden! Before there were drums, before there were guitars, there were just some crazy kids making up a musical in which traditional aquarium protocol is broken.

## Plot

### Act One

The musical begins with a PTA meeting wherein Secretary Barb Ra encourages parents to apply guilt to their children as a way of controlling them (Thinking of Me).

Three children, Darren, Tyler, and Steven, try to make sense of the sudden change in their parents' demeanor (You're Not a Piece of Crap). One, Darren, reveals that his parents are not only guilting and shaming him, but have disappeared entirely. Darren also has cancer.

A cut to Principal Water's office reveals that the guilt trip is just the latest part of a plan by himself and Secretary Ra to remove anything good or fun from the school (To Lead the Future). Step two is to cancel all the field trips.

But cancelling all the field trips affects not only the children, but also the local aquarium, which depends on them for revenue. Aquarium employees Thomas, Sharine, and a third unnamed employee resolve to deal with their frustrations by frolicking with the animals in their care (Get in the Dolphin Tank).

### Act Two

Meanwhile, Principal Waters and Secretary Ra explore a burgeoning romantic relationship with a date to the Melting Pot (We Are the Same), where they are served by Assistant Secretary Carla (moonlighting because she's underpaid) and her twin sister Marla. At dinner, Waters vents that one thing still hasn't been taken away from the children and vows to take it next: Finger Puppet Day.

The children sing about how the expectation of Finger Puppet Day makes everything else bearable (Finger Puppet Day). But then Waters and Ra show up and announce that it's cancelled. Waters reveals himself to be an actual Devil and begins having gross demon sex in front of the children.

Horrified, the children hatch a plan to broadcast the act to their parents to let them know how evil the school's administration is, but none of them have phones. They get Carla to drive them to the aquarium, where they all get in the dolphin tank (Get in the Dolphin Tank Reprise) and use the aquarium's equipment to broadcast a message to the children's parents, who immediately return home and regret the error of their ways. Swimming in the dolphin tank also miraculously cures Darren's cancer

**Show/Hide**

## Musical Cast

### D'Arcy Carden

* Darren's Mom
* Darren
* Carla
* Marla
* Aquarium Worker Who Likes Anemones
* Dolphin

### Jessica McKenna

* Secretary Barb Ra
* Steven
* Sharine
* A Mom

### Zach Reino

* Darren's Dad
* Tyler
* Principal Waters
* Thomas
* Dolphin
* American Airlines Pilot

## Songs

* *"Thinking of Me"* (6:06)
* *"You're Not a Piece of Crap"* (11:53)
* *"To Lead the Future"* (15:36)
* *"Get in the Dolphin Tank"* (20:04)
* *"We Are the Same"* (25:28)
* *"Finger Puppet Day"* (30:15)
* *"Get in the Dolphin Tank (Reprise)/We Are the Same (Reprise)"* (38:30)
* *"Anemone Puppet Day"* (45:25)

## Trivia

* This episode follows the Off Book formula in most ways, but differs in a few. Most notably, Zach and Jess don't name the musical before going to intermission (or at all), and there is no closing segment.
* Weirdly, this episode features animals that don't talk.

## References

1. ↑ Stitcher Premium Description
2. ↑ Official Episode Description