A CONCORD THEATRICALS TITLE

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Full-Length Musical, Drama  /  8w, 10m

Book by Helen Watts / Music and Lyrics by Eamonn O’Dwyer

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    8w, 10m
  • Duration
    Duration
    120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Fantasy, Adaptation (Literature), Period
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for All Audiences
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Details

Summary
New England, 1820: The isolated town of Sleepy Hollow is disrupted by the arrival of a new schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, who challenges the town’s superstitions with science, reason and fact. The locals instantly mistrust him; but Katrina van Fleet, heiress to Sleepy Hollow’s rich land is charmed by his intellect and passion. But Ichabod is mistaken: as behind each one of the villagers’ tales lies a dark and bloody truth. As the spirits of the Hollow Wood grow restless, and as the hooves of the Headless Horseman thunder ever nearer, Katrina is forced to make a choice that will change the fate of Sleepy Hollow forever.

Based on Washington Irving’s infamous short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a powerful and atmospheric musical by Helen Watts and Eamonn O’Dwyer. It is a story of community; a story of faith, of blood and belief; a story that asks the simple question: what happens when good people make bad choices?
History
First Performed at The Other Palace, London on 22nd August 2018 by The National Youth Music Theatre.

New England, 1820: The isolated town of Sleepy Hollow is disrupted by the arrival of a new schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, who challenges the town’s superstitions with science, reason and fact.  The locals instantly mistrust him; but Katrina van Fleet, heiress to Sleepy Hollow’s rich land is charmed by his intellect and passion.  But Ichabod is mistaken: behind each one of the villagers’ tales lies a dark and bloody truth.  As the spirits of the Hollow Wood grow restless, and as the hooves of the Headless Horseman thunder ever nearer, Katrina is forced to make a choice that will change the fate of Sleepy Hollow forever.

ICHABOD CRANE (20s) – The new school teacher. Educated and well-travelled, but skeptical of the superstitions of Sleepy Hollow. He falls in love with Katrina.
BALTUS VAN FLEET (40s) – Landlord of Sleepy Hollow. Misanthropic, and often harsh, but ultimately fair in his business dealings. Tender towards his wife and daughter.
LISBETH VAN FLEET (40s) – Baltus’s wife. Elegant, quiet but with a hidden strength that emerges after her husband’s death.
KATRINA VAN FLEET (18) – Only daughter of Baltus & Lisbeth Van Fleet. She has a quiet, intelligent nature, but becomes passionate and reckless after falling in love with Ichabod Crane.
BROM VAN BRUNT (20s) – Baltus’s estate manager and Katrina’s fiancé. A salt-of-the-earth farmer, practical and honest, who becomes hardened by his own sense of duty.
SABINE (40s) – Outcast sister of Lisbeth Van Fleet with an instinctive understanding of nature and the Hollow. A dreamer and a mystic, she foresees the tragedy that is coming to the town.
HANS VAN RIPPER (40s) – Baltus’s accountant. A sly and calculating businessman, he uses the confusion in the aftermath of Van Fleet’s death to try and assume control of Sleepy Hollow.
FATHER ABRAM (20s) – An idealistic, but somewhat ineffectual man of God. Along with the Tenant Farmers, he orchestrates a cruel prank against Ichabod.
EVA VAN BRUNT (15) – Brom’s younger sister, and friend to Katrina.
WILLEM (18) – Clerk to Hans Van Ripper, but also his eyes and ears in the town.
IMOGEN (13) – Narrator of the story in 1833, later revealed to be Katrina and Ichabod’s daughter. She has had a dark and isolated upbringing in Sleepy Hollow.
JOSHUA (12) – Bright and inquisitive; later revealed to be Eva’s son.

Tenant Farmer Families
HENRIETTE and KLAUS (30s–50s) – Henriette is a prim and proper, but rather stuck-up woman, and Klaus her long-suffering husband. In their eyes, their children ANNA (14) and ISAAC (13) can do no wrong.
FLORINA and JOHAN (30s–50s) – A loving, wholesome couple who are often outmaneuvered by their numerous, andq uite badly-behaved offspring, ESTHER (16), MARTHA (14), JAKOB (14), ABEL (12), and RUTH (10).
DRIKA and MARKUS (30s–50s) – Slightly down-at-heel compared to the others, Markus likes a drink, and Drika has a reputation as a sharp-tongued gossip. Their children, ROSA (14), ESPEN (11) and REBEKAH (11), are quick-witted like their mother.

Ghosts
THE INDIAN GIRL – A Native American child who was slain by The Headless Horseman.
POOR LITTLE TOM – A little boy who was killed by his mother.
MAJOR ANDRE – A British officer hanged as a spy during the American Revolutionary War.
PETER’S WIFE – An adulterous wife who was murdered and buried in a pumpkin patch.
THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN – A Hessian trooper beheaded during the American Revolutionary War.

Throughout the show the Company act as a Chorus, helping Imogen to tell the story of Sleepy Hollow by manipulating and dressing the scenes. 

  • Time Period 19th Century
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Duration 120 minutes (2 hours)

Media

“The overall impression is of a fine addition to the musical theatre canon, and a piece which, with its large cast and spooky subject matter, should appeal to many a youth theatre company in future.” — Musical Theatre Review

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Breaking Character

Q&A with Eamonn O’Dwyer and Helen Watts

Read

Music

Music Samples


1. Prologue – Strange Child – Company
1b. The Girl – Imogen, Joshua
2. A Pleasing Land – Sabine, Company
3. The Devil Never Rests – Company
3b. Transition – Shall We Gather At The River – Company
3c. Transition – Into Van Fleet’s – Company
4. The Tale Of The Headless Horseman – Baltus
4b. Transition – Homeward – Company
5. Poor Little Tom – Children
6. The New England Primer – Children
7. We Used To Think The Earth Was Flat – Ichabod
8. The Life We Live – Brom, Tenant Farmers
9. All Too Soon – Eva, Katrina
10. Mr Crane Says – Children, Ichabod, Tenant Farmers, Fr Abram
11. Black-Eyed Susan – Sabine
11b. Underscore – Strange Things Do Happen
11c. Transition – The Girl – Imogen
12. The Tale of the Whippoorwill – Katrina
13. Underscore – After Van Fleet
14. The Promise – Brom, Markus, Johan, Klaus
14b. Underscore – Outside the Tavern – Orchestra
15. The Tale of Major Andre – Fr Abram, Company
16. The Dream – Sabine
16b. Transition – After The Dream – Sabine
17. Nothing – Ichabod, Katrina
18. The Funeral – Lisbeth, Katrina, Fr Abram, Drika, Tenant Farmers
19. The Will – Baltus
19b. Underscore – After The Will
20. The Dream (reprise) – The Fight – Sabine, Brom, Katrina
21. Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater – Children
22. Transition – The Schoolroom: The Girl Revealed – Imogen, Company
23. The Power – Lisbeth
24. Hallows’ Eve: The Headless Horseman – Company, Van Ripper
24b. Underscore – Party Music – Whippoorwill
25. The Tale of the Drunkard Jack – Lisbeth, Markus, Johan, Company
25b. Underscore – Party Music – Peter Peter
26. The Letter – Katrina, Ichabod
27. The Hollow Wood – Sabine
27b. Underscore – The Haunting
27c. The Horseman – Company
28. The Curse – Katrina
29. Eva Remembers – The Tale Of The Indian Girl – Eva, Children
Reed 1 (Piccolo/Flute/Clarinet/Bass Clarinet/Bassoon)
Reed 2 (Oboe/Cor Anglais)
Horn
Harp
Piano
Percussion (Tubular Bells, Cymbal (soft mallets, bowed, brushes), Bass Drum, Tam Tam (mallets, coin scape, bowed), Waterphone, Slapstick, Vibraslap, Finger Cymbals, Ratchet, Cowbell, Woodblocks, Mark Tree, Triangle, Cajon, Shaker, Washboard, Glockenspiel, Reduced Drum Kit - Bass/Snare/Toms)
Violin
Cello
Double Bass
  • Musical Style Contemporary Broadway
  • Dance Requirements Minimal
  • Vocal DemandsModerate
  • Orchestra Size Small/Combo
  • Chorus Size Large

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

Music Rentals

Concord offers a full suite of resources to help you put on the show of a lifetime!
20 Piano-Conductor
1 Reed 1
1 Reed 2
1 Horn
1 Harp
1 Piano
1 Percussion
1 Violin
1 Cello
1 Double Bass
1 Full Score

Add-Ons

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Authors

Eamonn O'Dwyer

Eamonn is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and has worked as a musician, composer and sound designer in theatres all over the world. He has written original music for Mrs Beeton Says...(Bristol Old Vic Theatre School); The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow(National Youth Musi ...
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Helen Watts

Helen trained at Italia Conti on the BA Acting (Hons) course.After a few years of working as an actress Helen moved to writing and directing, with a particular interest in 19th century classic literature. Adaptations for stage include Persuasion, Far From The Madding Crowd, N ...
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