TITLE:

The Adventures of Mighty Man
Book by Alan David Perkins and Michael H. Perkins
Lyrics by Alan David Perkins
Music by Charles Pizer
Copyright © 1989

CLASSIFICATION:

Full-length musical comedy.

SYNOPSIS:

At the once-noble Bottoms Lab, biochemist Sheldon and his twin lab assistants, Millard and Mildred, feverishly labor for the beautiful but vain Betty Bottoms - inheritor of the lab. When a lab experiment goes wrong, Sheldon transforms into a superhero, or so he thinks. He instantly insists on using his powers to do good, but has no idea of the extent of these powers.

Meanwhile, rich and powerful business conglomerate Clayton Smee notices the antics of this new hero (who calls himself Mighty Man) and has reason to believe he is a product of Bottoms Lab. He attempts to woo Betty into selling her lab but settles to blow her up instead. It's up to Mighty Man to save the day.

Clayton enlists the aid of his top scientist, Dr. Simon Hexter, and his monster, Gerg, to capture Betty to use as bait to trap Mighty Man.

Will Clayton Smee capture Mighty Man? Will Mildred (AND Millard) ever declare their love to Sheldon? Will Gerg get the girl? Will Dr. Hexter find Mighty Man's secret? Will Smee use Mighty Man's secret to manufacture his own personal army and take over the world? And most importantly, will there be a sequel?

CAST:

SHELDON - Male, early to mid 30's. A mild-mannered, nerdy biochemist and genetic engineer who is also Mighty Man, an idealistic super-hero with an overabundance of bravado.
MILDRED - Female, 20's. Very smart and practical and is in love with Sheldon. Twin sister to Millard.
MILLARD - Male, 20's. Very smart with natural cynicism. Like his twin sister, Mildred, he is in love with Sheldon.
BETTY BOTTOMS - Female, 30's. Beautiful, selfish and vain.
CLAYTON SMEE - Male, 40's. Rich and powerful businessman who accepts his role as the perennial bad-guy.
DR. SIMON HEXTER - Male, 40's. An evil scientist who works for Clayton Smee. He speaks with a fake German accent.
GERG - Male. A gargoyle-like beast.
MEREDITH - Male, 30's, but can look younger. Informant.

LENGTH:

120 - 130 minutes.

REQUIREMENTS:

Necessary for production are two main sets. The first is Bottoms Labs. The lab should be a modest and cluttered room. Center should be a large work table with lots of lab stuff. Surrounding the room is an array of shelves and tables, all liberally littered with more lab stuff. There should be visible a picture window, door and coat rack. This lab can double for Smee Labs, which should look similar.

The second necessary set is that of an office, which can double as the offices of Betty Bottoms and Clayton Smee. The office should contain a window and a break-away wall.

The play is in two acts, with each act divided into multiple scenes.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Well, this is it -- my first play. I was on a trip with my brother and I had just finished writing a prior project when it was suggested that I write a play. I'd never thought about it, but I was willing. So, my brother and I put our heads together and tried to come up with the silliest, most contrived story we could think of. We came up with the "nerdy biochemist has an accident and becomes a superhero" scenario and the rest, as they say, is history.

This one took a while and a lot of polish. As a matter of fact, it's been scored twice. My brother, who is an accomplished blues guitarist, came up with the first score. Though some of the songs were quite inspired, most were forced. It wasn't until AFTER The Virus was scored that Charlie Pizer stepped in and scored Mighty Man within a couple of weeks! God bless him!

This inspiration for Mighty Man came from so many places. Aside for the obvious influences of shows like Little Shop of Horrors and The Rocky Horror Show, there was the comic book The Tick (years before the cartoon) and Roger Ramjet. Ironically, seven years after completing Mighty Man I produced It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman for the Parkside Players and saw some similarities -- but only some.

CONTACTING THE PLAYWRIGHT:

The entire script and sketch score of The Adventures of Mighty Man is available upon request from the playwright. No production of this play can take place without permission from the playwright.