The production notes on TPT are not all that reliable. Part of the reason is that it was actually first produced in two parts, in two different years (1991-92). The first part was revived in 2021 under Covid restriction guidelines. The resulting collection of songs is quite impressive, but unfortunately, not entirely available for inclusion here. I definitely need to re-record the songs as the archived recordings are for lack of a better word, awful. Stay tuned.
Enjoy! Comments are always welcome.
The Phantom Tollbooth Part 1 Script
OVERTURE: This is the only overture I ever wrote. Because of the age of the audience, the musicals needed to be an hour or less, so, no time for a 4 minute overture…except for this musical.
THE DOLDRUMS: Poor Milo. He has allowed himself to be taken into the land of the Doldrums. I feel that this may be one of the prettiest songs I ever wrote. There is something about that opening chord pattern on the chorus. Love it.
MOVING ALONG: Milo, with the help of Tock, finally figures out that he can get things moving by use his own thoughts.
THE WORD MARKET: I have always loved words. For the word market, I asked the students for their favorite words. I used them in the song along with a few of my favorites. Unfortunately there is only an instrumental version at this time. The song has a very nice vibe.
SLIPPEN’ AWAY: I probably shouldn’t have included two “sleepy” songs in tha first half of the musical, but I liked both tunes and I felt they were integral to the story. Milo and Tock have just been sentenced to what is basically a life sentence. Enjoy. Only a section survives until I can re-record it, something I can’t wait to do.
RHYME OR REASON: Looking back on the arc of my songwriting, I observe a number of trends, some good, some not so good. On more than one occassion I wrote a rather pompous piece that I guess was supposed to sound classical. This song is not bad, but it makes little sense in the contest of The Phantom Tollbooth. Again, instrumental only for now. Sorry for the ancient, distorted vocals. The beat is straight out of Manchester!
Sean Breen 