Stephen Flaherty
Egg, Nest And Tree
[SOUR KANGAROO] (singing)
UP OUT OF THE JUNGLE,
UP INTO THE SKY,
UP OVER THE MOUNTAINS,
[BIRD GIRLS #1, 2, 3, WICKERSHAM BROTHERS #1, 2, 3, & SOU KANGAROO]
TEN THOUSAND FEET HIGH,
[SOUR KANGAROO, & BIRD GIRLS]
THEN DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINS
[BIRD GIRLS, WICKERSHAMS, & SOUR KANGAROO]
AND DOWN TO THE SEA
[ALL (except HORTON)]
WENT HORTON THE ELEPHANT,
EGG, NEST AND TREE.
[WOMEN]
EGG, NEST AND TREE!
[MEN]
EGG, NEST AND TREE!
[ALL (except HORTON)]
THEY LOADED THE WAGON
RIGHT ONTO A SHIP.
OUT OVER THE OCEAN
AND OOH, WHAT A TRIP!
ROLLING AND TOSSING
AND SICK AS COULD BE!
(HORTON throws up on one of the HUNTERS, who reacts!)
[HORTON THE ELEPHANT] (spoken)
Blaaggghh!
[ALL] (singing)
JUST A SEASICK ELEPHANT,
EGG, NEST AND TREE!
["VOCALLY LOW" MEN]
NEST AND TREE
[ALL]
EGG, NEST AND TREE...
["VOCALLY LOW" MEN]
NEST AND TREE
[BIRD GIRL #1] (spoken)
After bobbing around for two weeks like a cork...
[ALL (except HORTON)] (singing)
EGG, NEST AND TREE!
[BIRD GIRL #2] (spoken)
They landed at last in the town of New York.
[ALL (except CAT IN THE HAT, & HORTON)] (singing)
EGG, NEST AND TREE!
[BIRD GIRL #3] (spoken)
He was wet. He was tired.
And hungry and cold.
[ALL (except HORTON)] (singing)
EGG, NEST AND TREE!
[BIRD GIRLS] (spoken)
Then, Horton was taken to auction...
(The CAT appears as a very proper, and elegant AUCTIONEER.)
[CAT (as AUCTIONEER)]
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Seusseby's. Our first item up to bid this evening is lot 39, a pendulous pachyderm on egg, nest and tree. The bidding will begin at ten thousand dollars. Do I hear ten, ten thousand?
(NOTE: Another "free" improvisational area for the CAT to invite audience participation in the auction.)
[CAT (as AUCTIONEER)]
Going once, going twice...
(The CAT bangs his gavel.)
Sold...to the man with the sideburns and the greasy black mustache. Oh, excuse me, Madame! Sold...to the man from the circus!
[ALL (except CAT, & HORTON)]
SOLD...
SOLD...
SOLD...
EGG, NEST AND TREE.
(ALL exit mournfully, as HORTON is carried off. And suddenly, the CAT is transformed into the man from the circus—McGURKUS himself. Circus music begins.)