1965's Holiday With Light - The Script

"HOLIDAY WITH LIGHT"
TOWER OF LIGHT
1965

T H EXXS C R I P T

Source: Souvenir Record Jacket Cover (all the above)

Holiday With Light is a lively new musical show, presented by America's investor-owned electric utility companies. Reddy Kilowatt, a familiar trademark of many electric utility companies, is introduced at the onset of the show and takes Benjamin Franklin and the audience through a series of fanciful scenes depicting electricity's contribution toward making every day a holiday. The audience, comfortably seated on a giant revolving turntable, rides through seven show chambers and hears a selection of musical numbers.

Some of broadway's greatest names have combined their talents to make Holiday With Light a delightful musical entertainment. The musical score was composed by Lee Pockriss, composer of the Broadway hit Tavarich, and such popular songs as Catch a Falling Star, Johnny Angel, and Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Sidney Brooks, who helped create three other New York World's Fair presentations, wrote the lyrics and script.

**C R E D I T S**
Voice of Benjamin Franklin	Kenny Delmar
Voice of Reddy Kilowatt	Russell Nype
Choral Accompaniment	The Dick Williams Singers
Production and Design	Wilding, Inc.
Producer	Howard Hoyt
Script and Lyrics	Sidney Brooks
Composer	Lee Pockriss
Musical Director	Larry Wilcox
Setting	Fred Fox

HOLIDAY WITH LIGHT

**C A S TXXO FXXC H A R A C T E R S**
Reddy Kilowatt "Uncle" Ben Franklin The "Kilowatt Birds" Chorus Radio Announcer Madame Cow

SCENE ONE:	INTRODUCTION
Reddy: LISTEN!	Stop fussing Ben, this won't hurt a bit. You can't go walking around the Fair looking like that!
Ben:	Reddy! Please!
Reddy:	Don't be stubborn, Ben.
Ben:	But I can't wear this.
Reddy:	Careful! You'll break it. Now quick. The curtain's opening!
Ben:	Wait! Don't leave me! Oh my goodness. Isn't this silly? Me, Ben Franklin, the man who flew a kite in a thunderstorm and proved that lightening was electricity, dressed like this. And all I wanted to do was go to the Fair and have a holiday.
Reddy:	But you're going to have a holiday Ben. In fact, seven of them.
Ben:	Seven holidays?
Reddy:	Sure! And while we're at it you're going to see some startling changes in electricity since you flew that kite in 1752. Well, for instance: each night you can see our Xenon Searchlights which produce over twelve billion candlepower. That's three times brighter than the surface of the sun!
Ben:	Are you sure of that figure?
Reddy:	Sure I'm sure. Why I know all about electricity. I'm Reddy Kilowatt.
Ben:	Any relation to James Watt?
Reddy:	A distant Uncle. But now, let's all hold on to our hats and let go of our imagination. Your Investor Owned Electric Companies who serve 80% of America's people, invite you all to come along with Ben Franklin and me on a "Holiday with Light!"
	"Holiday with Light!" theme music plays as the audience "rotates" into the next chamber:

SCENE TWO:	PRELUDE
Ben: LISTEN!	Without light there is nothing. Without power there is no movement. And without movement we stand still. But with light! With power! There is movement! There is light! And you are on a holiday!
Reddy: (sung)	Holiday. We're on a Happy Holiday. Light and Power all the way, you've got to shout hurray!
Kilowatt Birds:	Hurray!
Reddy: (sung)	Today. Tonight. We're on a Holiday with Light. Light. Light. Light. Lights will twinkle. They will sprinkle happiness today.
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	We're on a holiday.
Reddy: (sung)	Cares will lighten. Smiles will brighten all along the way.
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	We're on a holiday. Holiday.
Kilowatt Birds:	You'll see Thanksgiving. Christmas. The Fourth of July! Labor Day. Mother's Day and A Happy New Year!
Reddy:	Hey! Wait a minute. What about Father's Day?
Ben:	Why? Is that a holiday?
Reddy:	Aw! Come on!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	Father's Day.
Reddy:	Well, that's more like it!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	Holiday. We're on a Happy Holiday. Light and Power all the way, you've got to shout hurray! Hurray! Today. Tonight. We're on a holiday. A happy holiday. We're on a Holiday with Light!
	"Holiday with Light!" theme music plays as the audience "rotates" into the next chamber:

SCENE THREE:	A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Ben: LISTEN!	Well thank goodness I had a strong tail-wind. Otherwise I would have been late for Reddy Kilowatts big New Year's party. But where is Reddy?
Reddy:	Here I am Ben. And holiday or not the Electric Companies have to keep these transmission lines in tip-top shape so people can get power and light when and where they need it. In other words Ben ...
Reddy: (sung)	Look around. There's power everywhere. Whether you're at home or at the Fair. Companies are inter-connected. Adding power to be directed. So's towns and cities grow, more electricity will flow! And you'll have light and power to spare. Whether you're at home or at the Fair. Look around. There's power everywhere.
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Reddy:	Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's right! And another thing that's right is that power means progress. Why we have an abundance of power. In fact, one-third of the world's power supply. And I could tell you even more, but I promised Ben I'd take him to a New Year's party. And you're invited too so come on along!
	Scene shifts to opposite side of the chamber.
Reddy:	Tell me Ben: What's the only thing in the world that's manufactured the moment you use it?
Ben:	A smile?
Reddy:	Guess again.
Ben:	A kiss?
Reddy:	Nope. It's electricity!
Ben:	Oh come on Reddy. Let's not mix business with pleasure! Where's the party?
Reddy:	Party? Why we're at a party. And having a wonderful time!
Reddy: (sung)	We're generating power every single hour to meet your every power need. Sending currents straight and true through the lines direct to you. So while you're celebrating we'll keep generating power-plus right here!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	To light your way and make everyday a happy and bright New Year!
	The Kilowatt Birds sing the "Holiday with Light!" theme song as the audience "rotates" into the next chamber:
Kilowatt Birds: (sung) LISTEN!	Holiday. We're on a Happy Holiday. Light and Power all the way, you've got to shout hurray! Hurray! Today. Tonight. We're on a holiday. A happy holiday. We're on a Holiday with Light!

SCENE FOUR:	LABOR DAY
Radio Announcer: LISTEN!	... and that's the news except to say it's Labor Day again. So drive carefully and have a Happy Labor Day.
Ben:	Say Reddy, what's that "Labor Day" the man spoke about?
Reddy:	Well, it's a holiday. Everything shuts down and most people take off. Except for those who have to work like the Electric Companies; the trains and planes ...
Ben:	Planes?
Reddy:	Yes. Planes. They're machines that fly through the air.
Ben:	Wait until I tell the people in Philadelphia that one!
Reddy:	Ben, we've got other things you couldn't even begin to imagine: If you look around the nation we've atomic generation. We're as fast as super-sonics with our work in heat pneumonics. We have multiple activities in Super Conductivity. We're deep in the miasma of Cesium and plasma; Investigating phases of fuel cells and lasers. We're working in ceramics, and, get this:
Reddy: (sung)	Magneto - hydro - dynamics!
Ben:	My goodness! You told me about fuel cells, planes and atomic power. But now! Magneto-hydro-dynamics?
Reddy:	Sure. Electricity from a jet of very hot gasses. But look at what electric energy does: Over there:
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	What turns the wheels and cooks our meals and heats our schools and makes the tools for industry? Electricity.
Reddy:	Say it again!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	Electricity. What's everywhere? It's at the Fair and even more in every store and factory? Electricity.
Reddy:	I love that word!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	Electricity. What's helps us thrive and gives us drive and puts the zing in everything with energy?
Reddy:	Aw, come on. Say it again!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	E - lec...
Reddy:	Louder!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	Electricity!
	"Holiday with Light!" theme music plays as the audience "rotates" into the next chamber:

SCENE FIVE:	THANKSGIVING & MOTHER'S DAY
Ben: LISTEN!	Thanksgiving dinner down on the farm. I haven't seen farmer Smith yet. I suppose he's in the barn milking the cows. Hope he's got good candle light to work by.
Reddy:	Good old Ben Franklin. He sometimes thinks we're still living back in the 1700's. But for years now the farmer's life, the farmer's load, have been made lighter and brighter with electricity. What Ben doesn't know is this:
Reddy: (sung)	Everybody's livin' electrically...
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	...down on the farm.
Reddy: (sung)	Life is really changin' spectacularly...
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	...down on the farm.
Reddy: (sung)	They're milkin' the cows now electrically.
Madame Cow:	I'm never touched by human hands!
Reddy: (sung)	Their feed's never off. They feed from a trough electrically.
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	Electrically.
Reddy: (sung)	And eggs are incubated "one - two - three" electrically!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	Soooo. Down on the farm. Down on the farm. Down on the wonderful farm.
Reddy:	You know we've really got a wonderful turkey this year. Best one we've ever had. Fresh from the freezer!
	Scene shifts to opposite side of the chamber for "Mother's Day" scene.
Reddy: (sung)	There's a new look to this old house and it's not just a "painted" look. For someone livin' in this old house went and threw away the book!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	Mother. Mother. She has ceilings that light electrically. Heating and cooking that's all flame-free. Snow removers and color TV. Working by electricity. And Mother just loves to live this way. Her electrical servants are here to stay. And each little whim they love to obey! To make every day a Mother's Day.
	The Kilowatt Birds sing the "Holiday with Light!" theme song as the audience "rotates" into the next chamber:
Kilowatt Birds: (sung) LISTEN!	Holiday. We're on a Happy Holiday. Light and Power all the way, you've got to shout hurray! Hurray! Today. Tonight. We're on a holiday. A happy holiday. We're on a Holiday with Light!

SCENE SIX:	FATHER'S DAY & "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"
Ben: LISTEN!	What has Father's Day got to do with electricity?
Reddy:	Just look at it this way:
Reddy: (sung)	Meats cost more and drinks cost more and prices go up in the local store. But "Total Electric Living" keeps the cost of living down. "Total Electric Living" is the biggest bargain in town. But on Father's Day poor dad is glum for what he gets from Sis and Mum are all of the bills from the other days. Oh. It's always Father who pays.
Ben:	Hmmm. Except for the bargain he gets in electricity.
Reddy: (sung)	He gets better light that's nice and bright ensuring daddy better sight. To see all the bills from the other days! Oh. It's always Father who pays!
Ben:	Why that's enough to make poor dad blow a fuse!
Reddy:	Shhhh! We never say that around here.
	Scene shifts to opposite side of the chamber for the "Happy Birthday" scene.
Reddy:	Now there's an extra special holiday we'd like to celebrate with you. The "Kilowatt Birds" and I would like you to remember:
Reddy: (sung)	Happy Birthday this year and all the years to come! Happy Birthday from us to you!
Kilowatt Birds: (sung)	To Johnny and Mable, Billy and Gertrude, each and every boy and girl. To Huey and Peter : May the cake be sweater on your Birthday this year. Eddie and Annie, Louise and Fanny. Michael and Pat. Catherine and Matt. Wherever you're at from Power and Light: May your Birthday be bright this year!
	"Holiday with Light!" theme music plays as the audience "rotates" into the next chamber:

SCENE SEVEN:	FOURTH OF JULY
Reddy: LISTEN!	Thank you very much, Your Honor. Your short talk on motherhood, brotherhood and the neighborhood will long be remembered. Not so much for what you said but that it took you only four hours to say it. But now it is my pleasure and privilege to introduce to you a man we all love and look up to. A man who, to a great degree, made the Fourth of July what it is: Ben Franklin!
Ben:	What can you say about the Fourth of July that hasn't been said before? Leave it this way: It's a solemn day and a happy day. It's America's Birthday and a second Birthday for each of us. A great American spoke for all of us when he, George M. Cohen, wrote about this day: "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy, Yankee Doodle Do-or-die. A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam born on the Fourth of July" And so "Happy Birthday" USA! And many, many more!
	The chamber explodes in a "fireworks display" that lasts for several minutes before The Kilowatt Birds sing the "Holiday with Light!" theme song as the audience "rotates" into the next chamber:
Kilowatt Birds: (sung) LISTEN!	Holiday. We're on a Happy Holiday. Light and Power all the way, you've got to shout hurray! Hurray! Today. Tonight. We're on a holiday. A happy holiday. We're on a Holiday with Light!

SCENE EIGHT:	CHRISTMAS & FINALE
	"Holiday with Light!" theme song from the previous chamber fades into a chimes version of "Deck the Halls" which plays under this scene until the finale.
Ben: LISTEN!	I've enjoyed this "Holiday with Light" so much I think I'll take another swing around the building.
Reddy:	Well, watch out for the kids in that Santa Claus outfit.
Ben:	Don't worry, and thanks for inviting me, Reddy.
Reddy:	My pleasure, Ben. And it's been a particular pleasure to have everyone here because the Investor Owned Electric Companies feel you are neighbors and friends. We promise to keep on providing an abundance of electric energy to serve you in this country.
Ben:	I know! In every one of the thirteen states!
Kilowatt Birds along with Reddy and Ben (sung)	Holiday. We're on a Happy Holiday. A celebration bright and gay, you've got to shout hurray! Hurray! Today. Tonight. We're on a Holiday with Light. Light. Light. Light. Lights will twinkle. They will sprinkle happiness today. We're on a holiday! Cares will lighten, smiles will brighten all along the way. We're on a holiday! Holiday. We're on a Happy Holiday. Light and Power all the way, you've got to shout hurray! Hurray! Today. Tonight. We're on a holiday. A happy holiday. We're on a Holiday with Light!