K12 PlayKit

K12 PlayKits are designed to make theatre in schools simple! Hand-picked by a team of professional educators, they put everything schools need for a successful production right at your fingertips; high-quality scripts, student-friendly materials, and streamlined performance rights without the hassle or uncertainty of traditional licensing. With no hoops to jump through, you can focus on what really matters: creating inspiring productions with your students.

PlayKit | Riding the Rails

by Ann Schulman
With music by Gary Rue

At the height of the Great Depression an estimated 250,000 children roamed America by jumping on trains. Riding the Rails tells the story of world-wise Sam, who gives newcomer Rook a hand. Rook and Sam meet wily Jumpin’ Joe and a whole chorus of vagrant children. During the course of their adventures, Rook learns “the rules of the road” and Sam learns to trust her new friend.

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$135.00

Quick Details

  • Type: Musical
  • Estimated Run Time: 60-75 minutes
  • Availability: Available for productions worldwide
  • Cast Size: 14 roles + ensemble | Doubling possible
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Full Details

Roles:

  • SAM: a girl traveling as a boy, tough.
  • ROOK: a first time train rider kicked out of his house, in a sensitive place.
  • JUMPIN JOE: an adventure seeker.
  • ELSIE: a waitress, yearning.
  • ACTOR #1
  • ACTOR # 2
  • ACTOR #3 and BETTY: a hoodlum.
  • ACTOR #4
  • ACTOR #5 and RON: a hoodlum.
  • ACTOR #6 and DAPHNE: flirtatious. Works as a cleaning lady at Bryn Mar college.
  • ACTOR #7 and DELILAH: flirtatious. Works as a cleaning lady at Bryn Mar college.
  • ACTOR #8 and BOB: a hoodlum.
  • DELCLAN: a scared kid, and CHORUS
  • CORMICK: Declan’s older brother and CHORUS

The homeless folks in this play are meant to have names. That is, the actors cast should choose names or themselves and those names should appear in the program. (Not Actor #4, #5, or # 6 etc.) The gritty world of this play needs to be created by a whole chorus of actors who have us believing they’ve been on the road. That they smell bad. That they’ve seen some sights. That they know things we sedentary people don’t. In asking actors to choose names, I encourage them to create their own history and to make us believe. Directors should feel free to mix and match. If you have some actors who are lesser singers, and some whose singing is their best foot forward, please feel free to shift which actors do and say
what. Tailor make the chorus to your cast. For it is the chorus makes the world of this play.

The following resources are included in each PlayKit:
  • Opening Act Edition PDF script and score
  • Opening Act performance license for 1-8 performances (choose the number of performances using drop-down bar).
  • Copy license to copy included PDF script for your cast, crew, and production team. There is no additional cost for scripts! 
  • Media pack including logo PNG & SVG's as well as template poster files.
  • Director's Guide with tips, suggested rehearsal activities, FAQ, and more!
  • Demo tracks with vocals for rehearsal
  • Production audio tracks for performance

Ann Schulman

Ann Schulman's children's theatre productions include Peter Rabbit & Co. and Riding the Rails, both composed by Gary Rue. She is currently under commission by Stepping Stone theatre to adapt Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale. Ann's adult plays, Conversations About Hannah and Eternity, were produced by The History Theatre. She is currently working with Somali poet Said Salah Ahmed on Peace and Milk. Her work-in-progress, Composing Ellen, was a Jerome and Minnesota State Arts Board finalist and a PlayLabs semifinalist. Ann is a graduate of the SUNY-Purchase Acting Conservatory, studied acting with Uta Hagen, and is a member of Equity and SAG. She is also the wife of Bruce Field and mother of Benjamin.

Gary Rue

A performer and composer, Gary Rue has been playing music for audiences throughout the western hemisphere since the mid-’60s, beginning with various town halls in the upper Midwest and graduating to East Coast “tent” tours that included the Big Apple (Carnegie Hall as music director and duet partner for Gene Pitney) and on to far-flung points in Canada and the Caribbean. Early along the way, Rue began writing music of his own and was rewarded with some of his songs being recorded by (among others) Nick Lowe and Helen Reddy, as well as many prominent regional artists. He is the author of nearly 80 scores for music theatre, including The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fair(l)y (Stoopid) Tales, which toured the U.S. and China with Dallas Children’s Theater. Rue is also a 2010 Minnesota Music Hall of Fame inductee and an active touring musician and educator.

Originally commissioned and produced by Steppingstone Theatre