''Lardington Lark''

The Plot

Home

The Plot

First Performance

Characters

The Songs

Sets, Props, Costumes

About The Creators

ACT 1 -

It's the first day of classes at Lardington Hall and excitement is in the air as Dean Etter welcomes new students during Orientation (''Welcome, Well Come On In''). One new student, Terry Barnes, is apprehensive, wondering why her parents let her go to school so far away from home. Terry needs help finding her first class and meets Maggie Sherman, who lives next door and dropped out of school last year because of an ''incident'' walking home from school one night. Maggie's father is the most disliked man in town. Terry, though uncertain what to make of Maggie, is grateful Maggie will show her the way to Songwriting class. After only a few minutes in Songwriting, however, class is interrupted by a loud eerie voice from out of nowhere screeching ''Maggie, Maaggiie! Go away. We were better off without you.'' Maggie runs out of the class distraught. One of the boys, Derek Adams, tells her not to get upset. Terry flares up at Derek for his insensitivity. Terry continues to feel uncertain about what she might have gotten herself into by going to Lardington (''Uncertain for Certain'').

One week into classes, some students outside Hoover's Hood, the party dorm on campus, are complaining about having to already be ''Back in the Daily Grind'' when suddenly one of them discovers some nasty rhymes about Maggie Sherman that were painted on a rock over the past weekend. They run to get the Dean. The Dean convenes a meeting with the faculty (''What Would This Meeting Be Like'') to discuss the incidents on campus.

Another week rolls by. Some thirty year old yearbooks are stolen from the Dean's office. Derek tells Terry and Maggie of the theft after they have critiqued a song (''You Still Look Beautiful To Me'') in Songwriting class. Maggie remarks her mother keeps a duplicate set of yearbooks at her house. Just then two teachers, Gaylord Bullock and Penny Fine, walk past and mysteriously disappear down the hall, only to reappear a minute later. Curious where they went, Terry and Derek explore the hall and find a secret door. It leads to a ladder, at the bottom of which is a secret room. Before Terry and Derek can explore further, however, Gaylord Bullock finds them. He marches them back up the ladder, warning them not to mention the room to anyone.

Terry and Derek don't have a chance to talk about the secret room until the following weekend at the Back to School Dance (''Happy Feet''). Terry feels guilty not telling anyone about the room. It would be the right thing to do. Derek wonders if she ever does anything wrong. Martin Mathis, Derek's favorite teacher, is introduced to Terry (''The Saxophone''). They are interrupted by the screeching sound of microphone backup. Terry cringes as it strikes a nerve in her ear the wrong way. Temporarily immobilized, she apologizes to Derek. He takes it in stride as Terry and Derek find, despite differences, they like each other more and more.

The following Friday night Terry passes by Hoover's Hood. Hoover invites her to party with him and some friends to celebrate the start of Columbus Day weekend (''Land of the Sublime''). She finds herself surprisingly attracted to Hoover but is turned off by his use of alcohol. The students make too much noise, attracting the attention of Mr. Mathis. While he admonishes them, they notice Gaylord Bullock's car parked nearby. Why is it there so late?

Terry arrives at Songwriting the following Tuesday morning. Dean Etter interrupts to ask if she'll go over to the Sherman's house and comfort Maggie. The worst thing yet has happened. Over Columbus Day Weekend the Sherman's pool was drained by someone into their basement. Maggie's cat was electrocuted, though it could have been anyone who had gone down there. Terry comforts Maggie, but on her way home she sees a banner hanging in the trees, ''Stay Away From Maggie''. In the next second a high-pitched crazy laugh makes her hair stand on end. Frightened, frustrated and angry, Terry grabs the banner from the tree and runs back to Lardington Hall, as the lights go out ending Act 1.

ACT 2 -

Friday, three days later, the police have taken the draining of the pool seriously (''Questioning the Faculty''). Now Dean Etter wants a progress report. The police found a hole in the wall of the Sherman's basement the water might have gone through but no digging around it. And they found a suspicious patch at the bottom of the pool. With Gaylord Bullock's alibi called into question, Officer Anderson and the Dean wonder what he's hiding and what he might do to achieve his ends.

Terry has skipped classes for a week since her walk through the woods. She keeps expecting people to be a certain way and they aren't, so she's withdrawn. Maggie, aware Terry was warned to stay away from her, visits Terry and updates Terry on developments in the case. Gaylord Bullock is the prime suspect but some footprints were discovered by the pool so now Mr. V's a suspect. While talking they look through Maggie's set of old yearbooks, wondering why someone would steal the school's copies. They don't find any reason why.

The next morning in Songwriting, Derek presents his song (''God and Nature and the Sky Above''). Terry criticizes the bridge, sparking a confrontation between them. Terry and Derek stay behind after class. They realize they have something in common - a desire to strive for perfection. But it's hard to work in an atmosphere of tension and anxiety. Derek believes the secret room is somehow involved in the attacks on Maggie. He convinces Terry to go back down to the secret room. They find a door which leads to some secret tunnels. They stumble across a supply cabinet with red paint and other evidence. Continuing on, they are surprised by Mr. Lasker. Terry asks him why he has the things in the supply cabinet and what he's got against Maggie. The items aren't his, though he hates Carter Sherman for driving his parents to untimely deaths (''Have You Ever Hated Anyone''). An alarm goes off on a beeper Mr. Lasker carries. Someone else is looking at the supply cabinet. When they return to it, the red paint and other items are gone. Someone else is down in the tunnels with them. Mr. Lasker escorts Terry and Derek out, concerned for their safety, telling them he was warned not to talk about the tunnels some years ago.

Terry and Derek return to the Songwriting room and are informed Mr. V is no longer a suspect (''The Deflated Duck''). The next night, Derek sneaks in to visit Terry in her room after hours. They look again at different events, trying to see how they fit together. Terry shows Derek a thirty year old yearbook. As they go through it, it gives Terry the final piece of information she needs to convince her she's figured out who has been terrorizing Maggie.

The next morning, after practicing her song for class (''It Was Too Good In Your Arms''), Terry confronts the person she feels is responsible. She did not plan properly, however, and finds herself immobilized. Fortunately, Derek comes to Terry's rescue. Safe, the mystery solved, Derek suggests they pretend the year is starting over. Imagining they are at Orientation once again, they sing the school song of loyalty and love (''Welcome, Well Come On In, Reprise''), accompanied by the rest of the cast, ending the musical.