Grimm - Once Upon A Musical

Synopsis

Imagine a world where the villains always win and good always suffered!

At the villain’s convention [GREAT TO BE A VILLAIN], iconic villains mingle and boast about their successes. The guests-of-honour, writers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, reassure their villainous characters that happy endings will continue to be forbidden.

Poor Cinders is heartbroken after learning that the prince is to marry one of her evil stepsisters. The caring household staff do their best to cheer her up, but Cinders still feels invisible and forgotten [INVISIBLE]. Fifi and Gigi enter, making demands and bickering over which one of them the prince will actually marry. The loyal staff secretly plot to help Cinders by going to visit the Grimm brothers to persuade them to change her unfair story.

Inside the witch’s gingerbread house, Hansel and Gretel find themselves trapped as the witch stokes her fire. The siblings fear they are about to be turned into lunch. But clever Gretel remembers the helpful birds who ate their breadcrumb trail. Calling the birds to their aid, Hansel and Gretel beg them to fly off and find the writers who might be able to intervene [WE’RE COOKED].

At home, Jacob and Wilhelm craft their dark tales while their faithful assistant, Frank, suggests a new idea – that goodness might triumph [A LITTLE GOODNESS]. Before they can discuss this, a pack of wolves arrives to complain that not enough children are walking in the forest and Red Riding Hood has become too bold to frighten. The Grimm brothers apologise and assure the wolves that they will add some children to the forest. When the wolves have left, the Grimms tell Frank that they won’t be adding any happy endings – they prefer their world ‘grim’.

Outside her home, we hear Millie telling her baby about the time that Rumpel stepped in by spinning straw into gold. Suddenly, Rumpel appears to reclaim the prize she promised him – her baby! The trickster snatches the child and runs off. Thankfully, the kind birds are there to comfort the devastated mother, and persuade her to come with them to find the Grimm brothers. Just then, Bernie and Ernie (part of Cinderella’s household staff) walk by, and the unlikely group join forces, uniting to fight for a happier ending [BELIEVE IN YOURSELF]. 

In the woods, Wulf rallies his nervous wolf pack to finally capture Red. At that moment, she skips through the forest and the wolves hide [GRANDMA’S HOUSE]. Red crosses paths with Millie, Bernie, Ernie and the birds and walks with them. Though Red insists that the woods are safe, the wolves secretly stalk the group [THE WOLF WALTZ]. Eventually, Red goes to granny’s house and the group arrives at the Grimms’ home. They confront the authors about the cruel endings and, with Frank’s encouragement, Jacob and Wilhelm agree to add more hope to the endings. They give Frank their magic quill and he sets off with the group to set things right.

Back at the gingerbread house, Hansel has been eaten and Gretel awaits her turn to be supper! The birds and Frank arrive and Frank ‘rewinds time’ with his magic quill so Hansel is back in the cage with Gretel and the witch is once again preparing the oven. Gretel follows Frank’s whispered instructions to trick the witch into checking that the oven is hot, then pushes her in! Overjoyed, Hansel and Gretel are free and set off home again.

Frank joins Millie in the woods. With the help of Frank’s rewrite, Millie is reunited with her baby and they hear Rumpel singing his own name [RUMPELSTILTSKIN]. Frank’s rewrite means that Rumpel is outsmarted, and Millie guesses his name and gets to keep her baby. Rumpel is fuming and storms off to complain to the Grimms.

At Cinderella’s palace, Frank employs the help of the Fairy Godmother to rewind time so that Cinderella attended the ball after all. At that moment, Prince Charming arrives at the house with a glass slipper. Fifi and Gigi both try it on but it is too small for them. Cinders steps forward, tries on the shoe and is recognised as the prince’s true love.

At the Grimms’ house, Frank returns to find a long line of angry villains demanding an explanation for their losses. Just as tensions peak, Red’s scream is heard off-stage as Wulf devours her. Frank encourages Jacob to intervene and, with the magic quill, a huntsman appears to rescue Red and her granny. The heroes arrive to celebrates their successful rescues, and the Grimms tell the villains that the tales will now focus on hope and bravery. Initially, the villains are upset by this until they are all given ideas to help them reform. The entire cast celebrate this new world where, finally, good wins out [GOOD WINS OUT].

Script Samples

Act One, Scene Three - Sample Script

Act Two, Scene One - Sample Script

Character Profiles & Line Totals

Song Samples

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