BonanzaLear​

a short musical

a mash-up of Shakespeare’s King Lear and the television western Bonanza​ 
with parodies of songs from 1960s TV shows, country music and Oklahoma!

Ben Lear’s three daughters compete for control of the family ranch and their reality TV series. Meanwhile, the planet is suffering from climate change.
  
Characters
BEN LEAR, senior man
MADAM, young woman
BOSS, young woman, large build
LITTLE DEE, teenage girl, slight build

Setting
A ranch in Texas
 
Time
The all too near future

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Part 1 
Serial Bowl
​Midnight Sun Theatre
University of Alaska Anchorage Jerry Harper Studio
Anchorage, Alaska
​September 12-13, 2025
​
Cast: Edison Ruland (Ben), Alexis Hart (Madam), Melanie Sorensen (Boss), KJ Schneider​ (Little Dee)

​Directed by David Block

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(online reading)
Anything Goes! Theatre Lab
ANDTheatre Company
New York, NY
​November 16, 2022
​
Cast: Arthur Lundquist (Ben), Sharlene Hartman (Madam), Diane Quinn (Boss), Victoria Freedman (Little Dee)

Arthur Lundquist (Ben), Diane Quinn (Boss), Sharlene Hartman (Madam) and Victoria Freedman (Little Dee)

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(online reading)  
​P.A.G.E.S.
New York, NY
​Part 1  September 20, 2022
​Part 2  October 4, 2022
​Part 3  October 18, 2022

Cast: Arthur Lundquist (Ben), Sharlene Hartman (Madam), Diane Quinn (Boss), Saoirse Hooper (Little Dee)

Musical director: Victoria Freedman

Part 1: Sharlene Hartman (Madam), Arthur Lundquist (Ben), Diane Quinn (Boss) and Saoirse Hooper (Little Dee)

Part 2: Diane Quinn (Boss), Arthur Lundquist (Ben), Sharlene Hartman (Madam) and Saoirse Hooper (Little Dee)

Part 3. Arthur Lundquist (Ben), Diane Quinn (Boss), Sharlene Hartman (Madam) and Saoirse Hooper (Little Dee)