Raggedy Ann: The Musical Adventure (also known as Rag Dolly: The Raggedy Ann Musical or Raggedy Ann: The Musical With a Heart) is a musical with book by William Gibson and songs by Joe Raposo. It is based on the children's stories by Johnny Gruelle and the 1977 feature film Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. The story centers on Marcella, a dying young girl whose toys come to life and take her on a magical adventure to meet the Doll Doctor, in hopes that he can mend her broken heart. Although the show failed on Broadway, it developed a cult following through bootleg recordings.
Plot The story, in the Broadway production, was as follows:
Act I Young Marcella is suffering from psychological trauma. Her mother ran away with another man, which drove her father to drink. Her dog tried to eat her pet bird, which killed them both ("Gingham and Yarn"). In Marcella's bedroom, a trio of doctors give differing but equally dire warnings regarding the youngster's ailments until Poppa throws them out. Lightening the mood, Poppa presents her with a doll that he created, which he names Raggedy Ann. Marcella complains that she has no heart, so Poppa pulls a candy heart from a box and stitches it onto the doll. He sings his daughter a lullaby, claiming that her toys spring to life when she's asleep ("Carry On").
Marcella's bed whirls around, and out from the covers pops Raggedy Ann. The girl says she's dying, and the trio of doctors emerge from beneath the mattress to corroborate her story ("Diagnosis"). Raggedy Ann shouts them off and urges Marcella to get out of bed, revealing that this is a dream, so she can do anything she wants. The rag dolly calls for help from her friends: Raggedy Andy, Baby, and Panda, who emerge from the toy box one by one ("The Light").
Andy is curious as to what's behind the closet door, so he opens it despite Marcella's pleas. General D. emerges with his cronies, the sexy Bat and the roguish Wolf. He says that he's enlisting recruits for his Army of the Dead and thinks Raggedy Ann is the one he's looking for, but she argues that she's only "Make Believe". The General learns that Marcella is dying, so he declares that he'll be back to collect her at 6 a.m.
Suddenly, Marcella and the toys find themselves at the Miami shipyard, where old toys go to die. The doctors appear and drop the Camel behind a chain-link fence ("Diagnosis (Reprise)"). The animal tells the toys that he's all alone and "Blue". Raggedy Ann suggests that they should head to Los Angeles to visit the Doll Doctor. Andy leads them in transforming the bed into a boat, and they set sail ("Make Believe Reprise").
A giant hand sporting a thumb ring attempts to drag the boat down to Davy Jones' Locker, so the toys begin flapping the bed's blankets like wings and rise into the heavens ("Something in the Air"/"So Beautiful"). Along the way, Marcella reunites with her pet bird ("A Heavenly Chorus") and her parents ("The Shooting Star"). The Rat in the Rolls-Royce, representing the man her mother ran away with, jumps out to steal Mommy away, so Poppa punches him out, and the couple agree to remarry ("The Wedding"). Marcella says that she's tired of pointless stories and walks off, which fills Raggedy Ann with self-doubt, though the rag doll refuses to give up ("Rag Dolly"). Bat gnaws through the rope tethering them to the clouds, and the boat plunges from the sky.
Act II Marcella and the dolls land on the roof of a meatpacking plant in Omaha and have only four hours left to get to the Doll Doctor. Bat talks Raggedy Andy into handing over the map ("You'll Love It").
General D. arrives and commands Marcella to look at his opal thumb ring. He states his intention to make Marcella his queen. The toys lull the General and his cronies to sleep ("Would You Like a Little Music?") and steal the ring. The melody fills the Camel with such spirit that he's able to soar on the wings of the song, so everyone grabs on, and they float away. The General awakens and orders Bat to follow them, but Bat refuses, so the General throws her down a chimney and sends Wolf to find the dolls instead.
The toys find themselves separated in the Grisley Woods National Park and frantically search for one another through a maze of trees littered with skeletons with glowing red eyes ("Gone"). They meet the Witch, dressed like a 1920s flapper ("Why Not?"). The Witch pulls a bundle of clothesline from her bag and tries to fashion a noose. Raggedy Ann tells the Witch that it's a terrible idea to kill herself, and the Witch reflects on the life that she gave up ("What Did I Lose"/"Somewhere"). The Witch reveals that she had a daughter named Marcella and comes to realize that the young lady standing before her is her child. They have a tearful reunion, which is interrupted by the arrival of Wolf. Bitter toward his master for killing Bat, he allows Marcella to escape but pursues the Witch into the woods.
The toys arrive at the Doll Hospital ("Welcome to L.A."), but the doctors are revealed to be the same "quacks" as before ("Diagnosis (Reprise)") and tell them the Doll Doctor is dead. Panda suggests looking into the ring, where they see the head doctor alive and chained up. General D. emerges from the cellar and declares that this is his field hospital for the terminally wounded ("I Come Riding"). He becomes curious about the heart on Raggedy Ann's apron, but upon touching it, he collapses, crying that he's been poisoned by love. They tie up the General, swipe his keys, and head downstairs. He vows that he'll get loose.
In the dungeon, the Doll Doctor examines Marcella, declaring that the "chick" has a broken heart. Upon hearing her father's pet name for her, Marcella realizes that the Doll Doctor is actually Poppa. Poppa says that a heart transplant is the only thing that can save her, but those haven't been invented yet, so he suggests a candy heart. Just as the General bursts in to collect Marcella, Raggedy Ann sacrifices her own candy heart, which she coerces the girl to eat ("The Light (Reprise)"). Raggedy Ann then leaves with the General, who is satisfied he was right all along.
Back in her bedroom, a now-healthy Marcella tells Poppa of her adventure, and he offers to sew a new heart on Raggedy Ann's chest ("Gingham and Yarn Reprise").
Musical numbers For the 1986 Broadway production.
Act I "Overture" – Orchestra "Gingham and Yarn" – Company "Carry On" – Poppa "Diagnosis" – Doctors "The Light" – Marcella and Dolls "Make Believe" – Raggedy Ann & General D. "Blue" – The Camel & Raggedy Ann "Make Believe (Reprise 1)" – Raggedy Ann, Marcella, Dolls & Company "Make Believe (Reprise 2)" – Raggedy Ann & Marcella "Something in the Air" – Company "Delighted"† – Clouds "So Beautiful" – Raggedy Ann, Marcella & Clouds "A Heavenly Chorus" – Yellow Yum-Yum "The Shooting Star" – Mommy, Poppa, and The Rat in the Rolls-Royce "The Wedding" – Company "Rag Dolly" – Raggedy Ann
Act II "Gingham and Yarn (Reprise 1)" – Company "You'll Love It" – Bat, Raggedy Andy & the Batettes "A Little Music" – Marcella, Raggedy Ann and Dolls "Gone" – Dolls & Company "Why Not?" – Mommy "What Did I Lose?" – Mommy "Somewhere" – Raggedy Ann "Welcome to L.A." – Nurses "Diagnosis (Reprise)" – Doctors "I Come Riding" – General D. "Gingham and Yarn (Reprise 2)" – Company "Rag Dolly (Finale)" – Cast † While "Delighted" is listed on the track list for the Oct. 13th preview playbill, the song seems to be missing from known recordings of the Broadway production, as well as one of the scripts determined to be the most recent. Casts Role 1984 ESIPA 1985 ESIPA/1986 Moscow 1986 Broadway Doctors William McClary, Scott Alan Evans, Gary O. Aldrich Neal Ben-Ari, Joe Barrett, Gary O. Aldrich Dick Decareau, Joe Barrett, Richard Ryder Poppa MacIntyre Dixon Gibby Brand Bob Morrisey Marcella Tricia Brooks Lisa Rieffel Raggedy Ann Ivy Austin Raggedy Andy Scott Schafer Baby Doll Carolyn Marble Valentis Panda Jeanne Vigliante Michelan Sisti General D. Paul Haggard David Schramm Leo Burmester Bat Pamela Sousa Gail Kathleen Benedict Wolf Tom Pletto Gordon Joseph Weiss Camel with the Wrinkled Knees Joel Aroeste Mommy Bethe B. Austin The Company Helena Andreyko, Helena Binder, Melinda Buckley, Laura Carusone, Christine Hughes, John Thomas McGuire III, Betsy Normile David Bunce, Laura Carusone, Scott Alan Evans, Nina Hennessey, Michaela Hughes, John Thomas McGuire III, Betsy Normile Kenneth Boys, Melinda Buckley, Gregory Butler, Sara Carbone, Anny DeGange, Susann Fletcher, Michaela Hughes, Steve Owsley, Andrea WrightStand-bys / SwingsKenneth Boys, Sara Carbone
Background Genesis After finding success with their 1969 Hallmark Hall of Fame production of The Littlest Angel, Broadway producers Richard Horner and Lester Osterman searched for another property that they could adapt into a live-action TV special. Horner recalled: "Raggedy Ann came up in our conversation and I said, 'Gee, that would be a great thing for what we have in mind'". Horner set to work developing the project, with Littlest Angel co-writer (and Osterman's daughter) Patricia Thackray penning the script.
At a 1974 Friar's Club roast, Lester and Osterman found themselves seated at a table next to Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo, who expressed interest in their idea. Raposo recalled: "I was then presented with about two dozen books of Raggedy Ann and Andy". The composer studied the books and composed 25 songs for potential inclusion. Titled Rag Dolly: The Raggedy Ann Musical, the show was slated to feature Goldie Hawn and Dick Van Dyke as the rag dolls. According to Horner: "Then as we got further and further into the project, we realized that it had wider possibilities for acceptance than just as a television special. So we thought we should do it as a movie for theaters". The result was the 1977 animated feature Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure, as Raposo said that "it was going to be the kids movie of the season. It opened on Sunday... and on Wednesday a little movie called Star Wars that nobody thought would do anything opened and the rest is history". In 1981, Thackray dropped the music and reworked the film's script as a play titled Raggedy Ann & Andy, which remains available to license for regional/school productions in the US and Canada.
Several years later, Raposo joined the board of The Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts, (ESIPA) where producing director Patricia Snyder, who had seen the movie on television, urged him to adapt a stage musical for the character. The result was a workshop piece known as Raggedy Ann and Andy and/or Rag Dolly composed by Raposo and written by Tim Mason. It ran from December 10-20th, 1983, involving director Patricia Birch, guest director Bill Gile, and cast from actors in house at ESIPA. "For the Holiday season, December 10-20, the company will stage the world premiere of a new musical based on Raggedy Ann and Andy to music by Joe Raposo and score by Tim Mason, with guest director Bill Gile". Starring Ivy Austin as Ann and Mark Baker as Andy, the show followed the dolls as they ran away from home to join the circus, but Raposo concluded "it simply didn't work".
Development In 1984, Snyder, having retained the stage rights to the character after the closure of the previous play, asked playwright William Gibson for his opinion on the script and music, which largely unimpressed him. In passing, she told the fabled story of Johnny Gruelle creating the Raggedy Ann character to entertain his sickly daughter, Marcella, who died at the age of 13. In a journal he kept detailing the production, Gibson wrote: "I was hooked; death is a subject that always brings me to life as a writer". Gibson began sketching the plot that evening and composed the first draft over three weeks in August 1984.