"The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow"
Radio Drama Script,
Music and Sound Effects
by
Tony "Sparx" Palermo
An imaginative 60-minute radio-on-stage adaptation of Washington Irving's
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow--perfect for Halloween or any Early-America course of
study.
Here is detailed information about the play, the cast, sound effects, and music.
The performance royalty I charge is based upon the venue (school, stage,
recording, or broadcast).
My script dramatizes Irving’s classic short-story, bringing to life scenes
and characters that were merely described in the original, including the
one-room schoolhouse, the Van Tassel household, the country damsels, the
townsfolk’s ghost stories, singing-master Ichabod’s terrible choir, the quilting
frolic, and the climatic chase by the Headless Horseman. The treatment is both
spooky and funny, with a poetry duel, rained-out pie-contest and several
are-they-or-aren’t-they dream sequences with the Horseman. As with my
adaptations of Dickens’ Christmas Carol and Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life!,
the show is suitable for all audiences, yet performable by students. However, it
is not dumbed-down for kiddies. I remain true to Washington Irving’s short
story, bringing plenty of authentic 1789 elements—from Major Andre, to Isaac
Watts to Jonathan Edwards to Hudson Valley folktales.
EXTENSIVE 'HOW-TO' GUIDE INCLUDED:
Along with the script, you get
a 15-page appendix including casting monologues, a sound effects cookbook,
pre-recorded track listings and audio-gear requirements. Note: there is no fee
per-script-copy, like other play publishers. I send you a PDF of the full script
and you can make as many copies as needed for cast and crew—at no additional
charge.
TO ORDER: Contact me at
and tell me about your intended production. I deliver the
script via e-mail as a PDF file, and the pre-recorded music cues and
pre-recorded sound effects tracks can either be downloaded as MP3
files, or shipped via regular mail in the form of audio CDs. The live sound effects
(bells, plates, footsteps, etc.) are up to you to assemble, but my script has a "cookbook" section explaining how
to make each sound using items you can find in your town.
ALSO AVAILABLE:
The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow is Tony "Sparx" Palermo's
faithful, yet imaginative reworking of Washington Irving's classic tale of
Americana. While Irving's original short story is long on description and bereft
of dialogue, this adaptation takes each scene from Irving and dramatizes it. We
inhabit Ichabod Crane's classroom, Katrina Van Tassel's rich home, Tarrytown's
riverside gossips, the Quilting Bee, the haunted Old Mill--as well as new scenes
of Ichabod's ill-fated pie-eating contest, a poetry-duel with a country bumpkin,
lodging with the Van Brunt family, awful singing lessons and an out-of-tune
choir at the Old Dutch Church. What's more, Ichabod has two nightmares featuring
the Headless Horseman, before their terrible encounter at the crossroads.
This adaptation has been performed and recorded by community theatre troupes
and
students across America. This richly imaginative story is particularly well-suited to the
medium of radio, but it also goes over well as a live-on-stage performance--one
which doesn't require costumes, sets or memorization. The manual sound effects
(mostly doors, horse hooves, thunder and walla walla) always fascinate live
audiences.
This script is true to Irving's language and theme--without a string of
characters merely reciting Irving's descriptions, as you'll find in several
other adaptations. What's more, this production boasts authentic,
orchestral music tracks of early American folk and thrillingly spooky ghost music. The instrumentation
varies from woodwind and strings to dulcimer, guitar, drums and harmonica, to
reed organs, chimes, cymbals, and timpani.
Additionally, pre-recorded sound effects are available
for the more unusual sounds: creepy crickets,
tree frogs, thunderstorms, the waves of the Tappan Zee, pastoral meadows, eerie winds. Please note that sounds generated by the characters,
such as doors, the Horseman's devilish steed, noisy party crowds, plates & forks
and ritual drums are not part of the pre-recorded collection. They are intended to be
done live by the sound effects crew in coordination with the actors as they
perform.
Changes of gender for characters is permitted, as is trimming lines and even
whole scenes.
Free "Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow" Radio Drama Script:
Here's a free, downloadable radio drama "Headless Horseman of Sleepy
Hollow" script, including scene excerpts and a truncated
version of the 15-page "How To" appendix:
SCRIPT SAMPLE - RADIO VERSION -
Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow -
TRUNCATED.pdf (244
KB)
You can view/print the
script, which is in the PDF format, via the free Adobe Acrobat reader program,
which works for PCs and Macs.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html
Cast size:
 Throughout
the play, there are never more than 6 characters in a scene, so a small cast can
easily perform the entire show. However, you can employ anywhere from 7 to 30
actors.
Maximum: 16 men, 13 women, and 1 man-OR-woman. With the doubling
of roles, this show has been done with only 12 actors (6 male, 6 female—but you
are permitted to change the genders of characters to suit the makeup of your troupe.)
Without doubling, the cast list is as follows:
|
KNICKERBOCKER |
The narrator (Male/Female) |
|
ICHABOD CRANE |
Yankee school-master (M) |
|
KATRINA VAN TASSEL |
Rich
18 yr-old girl (F) |
|
BROM VAN BRUNT |
Arrogant suitor (M) |
|
SIBYLLA VAN RIPPER |
Old
mid-wife (F) |
|
PARSON HILLEBRAND |
Fiery
preacher (M) |
|
LITTLE ULF VAN BRUNT |
Mischievous boy (M) |
|
MOGEN VAN BRUNT |
Tough
blacksmith (M) |
|
KOREN VAN BRUNT |
Wife
of blacksmith (F) |
|
LORIS |
Cheeky country lad (M) |
|
VOORLEZER |
Church leader (M) |
|
MYNHEER 1 |
Superstitious man (M) |
|
MYNHEER 2 |
Skeptical man (M) |
|
MYNHEER 3 |
Gullible man (M) |
|
VROUW 1 |
Superstitious woman (F) |
|
VROUW 2 |
Skeptical woman (F) |
|
VROUW 3 |
Gullible woman (F) |
|
LITTLE GERT |
Young
girl (F) |
|
BALTUS VAN TASSEL |
Wealthy farmer (M) |
|
SOFIE VAN TASSEL |
Regal
farm wife (F) |
|
VARKENVISSER |
Storyteller (M) |
|
ASTRID |
Country damsel (F) |
|
BRIELLE |
Country damsel (F) |
|
ROOS |
Country damsel (F) |
|
ALVA |
Girl
student (F) |
|
FAMKE |
Girl
student (F) |
|
CECILIUS |
Boy
student (M) |
|
DOL |
Boy
student (M) |
|
HEADLESS HORSEMAN |
Vengeful ghost (M) |
Music Tracks for "Headless Horseman":
Additionally, I offer pre-recorded orchestral music
tracks—20+ minutes worth. These 22 tracks cover scene transitions and underscore
the drama. They are NOT Broadway-style musical songs—although there are several
songs to be sung by cast members. Mostly, the music tracks function the way
movie music does—supporting the drama. The instrumentation consists of a small
orchestra, supplemented--for the quilting frolic band--with hammered dulcimer,
guitar, jaw-harp, harmonica, and snare drum.
The music cues are available on CD or as downloadable MP3 files.
01) Sleepy Hollow Intro
02) Horseman’s Origin
03) School-master
04) Van Brunt Dinner
05) Moonlight Walk
06) Eerie Ritual
07) Only a Nightmare
08) Country Damsels
09) Van Tassel’s Parlor
10) Sabbath Bells
11) Boating Excursion
12) Hush-A-Bye
13) Heavenly Courting
14) Rude Awakening
15) Twilight Journey
16 (SOURCE) Frolic
17) (SOURCE) Yankee Doodle Dancing
18) Firesiders
19) Ichabod’s Sigh
20) Vengeful Coup
21) Aftermath
22) Twisted Fanfare Outro
 Live
Sound Effects for "Headless Horseman":
The script offers detailed
instructions on how to find/make them in the SFX cookbook section of the 15-page
appendix.
| MUSKETS |
|
BIRCH SWITCH |
|
WHACK WITH BIRCH SWITCH |
|
TREE TOAD CROAKS |
|
DOOR, MILL DOOR, RATTLES KNOB |
|
DOOR KNOCKS |
|
APPLAUSE |
|
SADDLE TUMBLES ONTO GROUND |
|
DANCERS STOMPING TO THE BEAT (1-2-3-4) |
| SWORD FIGHT(S) |
|
DINNER PLATES, FORKS, SCOOPING FOOD |
|
FOOTSTEPS ON LEAVES, WOODEN FLOOR |
|
THUNDER RUMBLE |
| CRASHING |
|
POURING INTO A MUG |
|
OARS ROWING |
| SCUFFLE |
|
PUMPKIN CRASHES |
| HORSES WALKING, GALLOPING |
|
HOOTING OF A SCREECH-OWL |
|
SLOW GHOSTLY DRUMMING (1-2-3-4, REPEATS) |
| CRANKS A PULLEY OF CHAINS |
|
CANNON BLAST |
|
WIND (Wind machine or mouth-blowing near mic) |
|
HORSE-SHOE FALLS ONTO WOODEN FLOOR |
|
SLAPPING ICHABOD TO WAKE HIM |
|
DOG HOWLS |
BRICK-LIKE CAKE DROPS ON TABLE. DISHES
CLATTER
|
Pre-Recorded Sound Effects for "Headless Horseman":
I also offer 17 pre-recorded sound effects
tracks—33 minutes worth—of the more unusual sounds: spooky winds, crickets, tree
frogs, storms, water splashes, lake ambience, thunder, creek water rushing into
a mill vat, etc.
01. Crickets (1:30)
02.
Crickets & wind #1 (1:30)
03. Crickets & wind #2 (3:30)
04.
Mill ambience of dripping water (1:00)
05. Water streams into vat
(1:00)
06. Mill-Pond ambience - a bit windy (5:00)
07.
Cloudburst (0:15)
08. Tappan Zee ambience (5:00)
09. Brom
falls into river, splashes about (0:30)
10. Sofie falls into
river, swims (0:15)
11. Twilight meadow ambience (4:00)
12.
Midnight Crickets & Wind, Rolling Thunder (1:35)
13. Rain begins,
then downpour (2:00)
14. Intense thunderstorm (1:40)
15.
Ichabod plunges into brook, Thunder (0:15)
16. Sunday ambience
(1:20)
17. Crickets & wind #3 (0:35) |
|
