Our Lady of Mount Carmel's "Ohio" Play
A short while ago, Denny was asked by Our Lady of Mount Carmel to write a play for the students about our Great State of Ohio. The finished product was both fun and informative, covering a variety of topics and interests. Shown below are a couple of excerpts of the play. If you wish to see the entire play, go to: entire play.
Note: if this play was to be performed again, any non-original music (such as by Billy Joel) would be replaced with originals so as not to infringe on copyrights.
Narrator: “Hello, everybody. Welcome to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel’s Original Presentation of 'Ohio'. We are going to talk and to inform you about our state of Ohio.”
Student 2: “Ohio is one part of the big picture of World History and U.S. History - a part of a bigger picture, but a really important part.”
Student 3: “Famous presidents, inventors, athletes, and music have originated in Ohio. Other regions and states around the country in song and literature venerate their own traditions and history.”
Student 4: “Why should all the songs be about the South, California, or New York? Let’s lift up Ohio, accept ourselves, laugh at ourselves, remember, and let’s celebrate Ohio.”
(sing “O-H-I-O”)Narrator: “Hopefully our presentation will not only be informative but also entertaining and fun. Before we begin about the history of Ohio, let’s get a bigger picture of some world history as we sing Billy Joel’s song, “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” In this song, Billy Joel uses rock and roll (by the way the term rock and roll was originated in Cleveland) to educate about world history and to remind us that we are a part of that history. Billy has said that if he hadn’t gone in to the field of music, he would have wanted to teach World History. In this song, he is able to both teach and sing.”
SKIT: JOHNNY APPLESEED -(GRADE 7)
Narrator: “Ohio continued to grow and expand, and in 1798 Congress passed resolutions to give land to Revolutionary War veterans. So there was plenty of land available. One of the most interesting characters during that time was Johnny Appleseed, who used the land to plant seeds.
Johnny is a legendary American figure. He also was a minister of the Church of the New Jerusalem. So when Johnny planted apple seeds, he also planted seeds from the word of God.”
(student sings song as Johnny Appleseed enters, dressed in old, torn clothes)
Young Child: “Hey Johnny, what are you doing?”
Johnny Appleseed: “Planting seeds.”
Young Child: “Hey Johnny, tell us one of your stories about animals.”
Johnny Appleseed: “Well, once I saw an old horse being put out to pasture. I bought that horse and then gave it to another farmer so he could have a decent retirement.”
Young child: “Tell us another story about animals, Johnny.”
Johnny Appleseed: “Well, one time I was out in the cold freezing so I built a fire. There were some mosquitoes that kept being drawn to the fire. So rather than hurt the mosquitoes, I put the fire out and froze all night.”
Young child:“Wow, kind of like St Francis! Do you plant any other seeds besides apple seeds?”
Johnny: “Besides apple seeds, I plant natural herbs that were used for medicine. The poor folks can get free natural god- made herbal medicine. The herbs are still available around the Mansfield area.”
Older man: “Well children, the popular image of Johnny Appleseed had him spreading apple seeds randomly, everywhere he went. In fact, he planted nurseries and built fences around them to protect them from livestock. Despite his best efforts to give his wealth to the needy, Appleseed left an estate worth millions when he died. He could have left more if he had been diligent in his bookkeeping.”
Child: “Johnny, why weren’t you more diligent in your bookkeeping?”
Johnny: “Too busy planting seeds...”
Child: “But Johnny, why the pan on your head?”
Johnny: “Good question.”
(song)