Oh No, Not Emily! - An Operetta of Academia, Fraud & Emily Dickinson (Paperback)

"Oh No Not Emily" is a Gilbert & Sullivan-like operetta based very loosely on actual events. It is the story of Molly Writerblock, an aspiring poet, as she enters a graduate English program at a very large public university located next to an ocean. There she meets another newcomer to the department who is attempting to sell a hitherto unknown original poem by Emily Dickinson to the same English Department. There are also supportive parents; older, helpful grad students who have been there a very long time who willingly share how to be a successful grad student; an extremely knowledgeable professor who willingly shares his brilliance and an unseen Dean who communicates entirely through memos. In the end, only one newcomer will remain. With "Oh No, Not Emily " you have the recipe for a show that will have your entire campus buzzing. With "Oh No Not Emily" you get a show that has: 8 strong characters all of whom get their own songs and "time in the sun." A musical score that is continually rich and inventive. One song actually combines each of the chord triads based on the 11 semitones of the Western Musical scale (really). A show that lovingly, yet satirically, through song and dance examines academic life from the inside. People who will especially be attracted by this script are: People who have spent time in an English department. People who know what a paradigm is. People who exist in large bureaucracies. People who are in grad school and need to laugh about it. People who are thinking of going to grad school and want to know what is is really like. People who are paying for grad school and are curious about what they are spending all that money for. In short, a show with something for everyone.