The Adventures of Moe Joe and Snowie in Lochloosa
Play by Shirley Gambrell and Michael Holtzhauer based on the book Auntie Ann’s The
Adventures of Moe Joe and Snowie of Lochloosa!! by Shirley Gambrell. Book
Copyright 2007.
Comments by Michael Holtzhauer:
Shirley Gambrell and I met in a parking lot across the street from where her husband Tim
works as head electrician at a major construction site in Gainesville, Florida. Shirley
drives a burgundy van decorated with references to her book. I approached Shirley
bragging that I was a writer too and, well, our friendship was immediate. Shirley
suggested that we collaborate on writing something. I was flattered and agreed. What
did she have in mind, I wondered? Shirley wanted to write a play. Shirley had some
ideas but we soon decided that the play would be based on her book. I can’t remember
who came up with the idea and I suppose it doesn’t matter. We became equal partners.
I have always enjoyed writing but writing a play was something I never considered
doing. In high school I cheated my way through Shakespeare with Barnes and Noble and
Cliff Notes. And in college I just bluffed my way through English Lit. I have been to
very few plays and went only because a teacher or some girl had forced me to go.
Years later I worked at a high school in Southern Maryland and during my breaks I
became a regular in the auditorium watching the kids rehearsals. It was then that I fell in
love with theatre.
Shirley had dreamed of writing books for children and with the support of her husband,
Tim, her dream became a reality.
Tim is a well-grounded guy. He’s an electrician by profession. He is our reality check.
If he likes it, we go with it. He has come up with ideas for the play that at first I rejected
but upon consideration ignited my imagination. That’s because Tim is a creative and
intelligent soul with imagination. He inspires us.
Shirley and Tim live near Gainesville, Florida on Lake Lochloosa and really do have a
dog named Moe Joe and a cat named Snowie. Shirley is a talented photographer and had
taken photos of Moe Joe and Snowie. One day Shirley laid out the pictures played
around arraigning them in different ways and a wonderful story came to life and that
became her storybook for children.
Our play is based on Shirley’s book.
The play takes place in Lochloosa, Florida circa 2012. Season: non-specific but warm.
The Cast:
The Teacher, Miss Ann aka/ Auntie Ann: Miss Ann plays the pretty classroom teacher
and also plays the role of Auntie Ann in Freddie the Daydreamer’s daydream. Miss Ann
is an attractive young schoolteacher that dresses cheerfully. As Auntie Ann she has aged
somewhat but still dresses cheerfully. She has a bright, sunny disposition. Miss Ann
marries the school principle and in Freddie the Daydreamer’s daydream she becomes
Auntie Ann.
The Principle, Mr. Timothy aka / Uncle Tim: Mr. Timothy plays the Principle and also
plays the role of Uncle Tim in Freddie the Daydreamer’s daydream. Mr. Timothy is an
impeccable dresser and very professional in appearance. As Uncle Tim he has aged,
looks somewhat dumpy, and smokes a pipe constantly. Moe Joe and Snowie don’t like it
and he gets ashes everywhere. He can no longer tie a tie although he insists on wearing
one to a meeting. He is also a little grumpy at times but Auntie Anne has the ability to
cheer him up. She loves him anyway and so do Moe Joe and Snowie. As the school
principal Mr. Timothy he is smitten by Miss Ann (the teacher). In Freddie the
Daydreamer’s daydream he is marries Miss Ann and he becomes Uncle Tim.
Freddie is the boy who daydreams in class. He is known as Freddie the Daydreamer. The
storybook Miss Ann reads to the children inspires Freddie’s daydream. Mr. Timothy,
Miss Ann, Sally, Joey, Kat and, and Pipper assume other roles in Freddie’s daydream.
Sally is the girl with the big oversize eyeglasses. She has been nicknamed “Eagle Eyes”
because with her glasses she sees especially well. Sally plays “The Eagle” in Freddie’s
daydream.
Kat is the girl who bonds with the cat Snowie. Kat plays Snowie in Freddie’s daydream.
Joey (owns Mojo the dog) Joey is the boy who owns the dog Moe Joe. Joey plays Moe
Joe in Freddie’s daydream
Pipper is the girl who snacks constantly. She is very pretty and slender even though she
snacks all of the time. Kat and Joey are amused by her over-indulgence and giggle in
class as they observe her eat. Pipper does not like being the subject of Kat and Joey’s
humor. Pipper plays the alligator in Freddie’s daydream
Moe Joe the dog and Snowie the cat are played by hand puppets in the classroom and by
costumed actors in Freddie’s classroom daydreaming.
.
ACT 1
The setting is a classroom furnished with the American flag, a round table with six stools,
stove, sink with a cabinet, blackboard, and bookshelf and pencil sharpener. There is also
an entrance and a window
In the opening act the school bell rings and Miss Ann, the schoolteacher enters the
classroom. All five students, Moe Joe the dog and Snowie the cat are already present
and seated at the round table. (Moe Joe and Snowie are played by hand puppets in the
classroom scenes and costumed actors in Freddie’s daydream. Pipper has started
snacking, which she continues to do throughout.
All of the students in unison: Good morning, Miss Ann.
Moe Joe the dog barks and Snowie the cat purrs greeting Miss. Ann.
Miss Ann: good morning Freddie, good morning Kat, good morning, Pipper, good
morning Sally, and good morning Joey. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Pledge of Allegiance is recited by all present:
I pledge allegiance
to the Flag
of the United States of America
And to the Republic
For which it stands,
One nation under God, Indivisible,
With liberty and justice for all
Miss Ann: Students please be seated. How is Mo Mo this morning, Joey?
Joey: Just fine Miss Ann. And it’s Moe Joe, not Mo Mo.
Miss Ann: Rather formal this morning, aren’t we Joseph?
Moe Joe it is!
Mr. Timothy enters the classroom, glances at Miss Ann and smiles flirtatiously at her.
He is smitten by her. She smiles in return. The children rise to greet Mr. Timothy.
All the students in unison: Good morning Mr. Timothy!
Mr. Timothy: Good morning pupils. Please be seated. Freddie, stay focused today. No
daydreaming.
Freddie: Yes, Sir, Mr. Timothy. No dreaming out there yonder.
Miss Ann’s pencil sharpener needs repair.
Miss Ann: Mr. Timothy please get maintenance to fix that pencil sharpener.
Mr. Timothy: Certainly.
Mr. Timothy exits.
Miss Ann walks over to the bookshelf and selects a random book and it is The
Adventures of Moe Joe and Snowie of Lochlossa!!! By Shirley Gambrell
A spider is on the book.
Miss Ann: Vamoose!
The spider (actually unseen) vanishes and the children laugh.
Freddie recognizes it as a book he has already read.
Freddie: Boring. It’s about a dog and a cat and a gator and two old people.
Kat looks at Freddie, smiles at him and playfully poses as a cat.
Kat: Meow.
Just before Miss Ann starts reading the book Mr. Timothy re-enters the room with a big
oversize screwdriver. He walks over to the pencil sharpener to repair it He clearly wants
to please Miss Ann.
Mr. Timothy drops a screw on the floor, which he cannot find. Sally spots the screw,
rushes forward to pick it up and hands it over to Mr. Timothy.
Mr. Timothy: Thank you, Eagle Eyes.
Sally: You’re welcome, Mr. Timothy
Mr. Timothy finishes the pencil sharpener repair. He is visibly proud of his work and
happy to have pleased Miss Ann.
Snowie brushes her body up against Mr. Timothy’s legs leaving cat fur behind. He
sneezes into his handkerchief as he whisks the cat fur away. He appears dislike cats.
Miss Ann: Thank you so much, Mr. Timothy, you have so many talents.
Mr. Timothy winks at Miss Ann and exits the classroom.
Miss Ann returns to her stool at the round table.
All of the children and Miss Ann are seated at the round table as Miss Ann opens the
book and begins reading. The dog is on Joey’s lap and the cat is on Kats lap.
As Miss Ann begins to read aloud from the book and as she turns the pages the camera
zooms in on the story and the photographs and these images are seen on screen for the
benefit of the audience.
Miss Ann: Our story begins in Lochlossa, Florida with Moe Joe and his sidekick, the
adventurous Snowie! It was a warm sunny day when Moe Joe said, Snowie let’s go
outside and play!”
Appearing distracted, Freddie gazes out the window and begins daydreaming.
ACT 2
We enter the world of Freddie’s daydream.
Freddie sings to himself.
Freddie: Ann and Tim, sitting in a tree, k-I-s-s-I-n-g. First comes love, and then comes
marriage, then come Mo Mo and Snowie in a baby carriage.
Freddie remains on his stool but is off to the side of the classroom as his daydream
unfolds
The setting is the home of Auntie Ann and Uncle Tim (known as Miss Ann and Mr.
Timothy in the opening act). The setting is the same as in the opening act except that
now everything is quite rickety. Cartoonized, it resembles the architecture in the movie
Popeye.
Auntie Ann and Uncle Tim are near the stove. Auntie Ann is cooking soup. Uncle Tim
is smoking his pipe and dropping ashes everywhere. Moe Joe and Snowie complain
about their uncle pipe smoking.
Moe Joe: We wish you’d stop smoking that thing. You’re polluting the air we breathe.
Snowie: And second hand smoke kills.
Uncle Tim: Good.
Moe Joe and Snowie giggle.
Uncle Joe looks at the honey -do list Auntie Ann has written on the blackboard. He gets
his hammer, exits through the door and gets up on the room to do some repair work. Moe
Joe and Snowie tag behind him. He begins to fix the roof. Snowie playfully knocks the
hammer to the ground. Moe Joe retrieves the hammer and hands it back to Uncle Tim.
Uncle Tim: Thank you Mo Mo! You sure are a big help. You my dog. Look after your
little sister today, will you? See to it that she keeps out of mischief.
Moe Joe: Certainly.
The Eagle sees the spider and warns Uncle Tim, Moe Joe and Snowie.
Eagle: Spider! Spider!
A huge spider appears on the roof further annoying Uncle Tim. Auntie Ann (from the
kitchen window), Moe Joe and Snowie are amused and recite the poem “The Itsy-Bitsy
Spider”.
Auntie Ann, Moe Joe and Snowie:
The itsy-bitsy spider
Climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
And the itsy-bitsy spider
Climbed up the spout again
Uncle Tim: Ain’t no itsy-bitsy spider. That thing is gigantic.
Auntie Ann: Ain’t, ain’t in the dictionary. And it ain’t proper for a gentleman to talk that
way.
Uncle Tim: It isn’t?
Aunt Annie: It ain’t.
After the Itsy-Bitsy Spider lyrics Uncle Tim gets off the roof end enters the kitchen. Moe
Joe and Snowie follow behind him. The spider scurries off.
Uncle Joe: Got the roof patched-up.
that chore off your honey-do list.
No more drip, drip, pitter-patter. You can take
Auntie Ann walks over to Uncle Tim, gives him a big hug, and puts a check mark and an
A Plus on the first item (Fix Roof) on her honey-do list.
Note: Auntie Ann uses the same blackboard used in the classroom for Uncle Tim’s
honey-do list.
Auntie Ann: Speaking of leaks when are you going to fix my faucet or do I need to call
the plumber? Or maybe I should call the roofer instead! (The second item on her list.)
Uncle Tim: I have a school board meeting this morning. I’ll get to the plumbing
tomorrow morning. Where did you put my necktie?
Auntie Ann: You put it in your tool drawer.
Uncle Tim: Thank you, Annie.
Uncle Tim pulls out the cabinet drawer, returns his hammer and gets his necktie out. He
goes over to the round table, takes a seat at his stool and struggles to tie it himself but
fumbles. Snowie gets on her stool and ties it for him.
Uncle Tim: Thank you Snowie!
Uncle Tim rises from his stool and walks toward the door. Uncle Tim and Auntie Ann
embrace and she plants a kiss on his forehead leaving behind the imprint of her red
lipstick. Neither Uncle Tim nor Auntie Ann is aware of this. Uncle Tim exits.
Moe Joe and Snowie think it is funny and giggle.
The focus is now on Moe Joe and Snowie who have this conversation:
Moe Joe: Snowie let’s go outside and play! Auntie Ann and Uncle Tim won’t mind.
Snowie: I know Auntie Ann is doing her daily cooking for Uncle Tim.
Moe Joe: Auntie Ann is real busy cooking up Uncle Tim’s favorite soup.
Auntie Ann is way too busy to notice us, if we decide to go outside, Snowie!
Snowie: Maybe Auntie Ann will get upset!
You know that Auntie Ann will be disappointed in the both of us!
We need to ask for permission to go outside
Moe Joe: You are probably right; we do need to ask permission before we go out!
Moe Joe and Snowie: It is always the golden rule to ask permission before we go
outside!
Moe Joe and Snowie now approach Auntie Ann in the kitchen and ask permission.
Moe Joe: Auntie Ann may Snowie and I go outside and play in the lake?
Auntie Ann: Yes! Stay close by. Dinner will be ready soon. Watch out for those gators.
Those Florida Gators are big here!
Moe Joe: Okay, Auntie Ann!
Snowie: Yes, Mam!
Moe Joe and Snowie: Oh this is going to be fun!
Moe Joe and Snowie exit the house and are now outside heading for Lake Lochloosa.
The focus is now on Auntie Ann and Uncle Tim.
Uncle Tim returns home from his meeting and he joins Auntie Ann at the kitchen stove.
He is hungry.
Uncle Tim: Patty cake, patty cake, baking mamm cook me up soup as fast as you can.
Dice it, spice it, any way you can, just cook me up soup as fast as you can.
The focus is now on Moe Joe and Snowie who have now made it to the lake.
There is an alligator (Pipper) floating on a cheap vinyl raft snacking on the same food
Pipper was snacking on in the opening act (classroom scene).
Eagle Eyes gives warning of pending doom:
Eagle: Alligator! Gator! She’s going to have you guys for dinner! She eats everything
all day long.
Alligator: What a fine snack you guys will make.
Snowie: Moe Joe, what is that floating in the lake?
Moe Joe: That is a Lochloosa Florida Alligator! Snowie, we need to be extra careful.
Alligators eat little animals like us! Alligators are very interesting to watch just as long
as you are from a far, far distance.
Snowie: Moe Joe, do alligators have teeth?
The alligator bears her teeth.
Moe Joe: The answer to your question is yes! Alligators do have from seventy to eighty
teeth when they are adults! Alligators cannot see very well in the dark but in the daytime
they can see everything!
It is daytime right now. Right now we need to extra careful Snowie! Snowie did you
know that alligators have a good sense of smell? Alligators also come from the reptile
family.
Alligator: You guys stink! So you’re calling me a reptile! Bon appetite!
The mothers lay their eggs in the month of May or June. Snowie, did you know the
babies are black and yellow striped?
Snowie: Wow, Moe Joe! You know a lot!
Moe Joe: That’s not all, Snowie! It takes sixty-five days for the eggs to hatch! Also,
alligators can live up to fifty years!
Snowie: This is so interesting, Moe Joe.
Moe Joe: Yes Mam Snowie, alligators can even grow up to twelve feet or longer!
Snowie: How do you know so much about the alligator?
Moe Joe: One day an alligator came out of the lake and saw me, lucky for me I got
away! Uncle Tim saw what happened. I was shaking in my fur, he explained to me
about wildlife! Uncle Tim wants to be sure, when you and I venture outdoors, that we
will know what to do!
Moe Joe and Snowie: That’s Auntie Ann calling us. We need to get to the house.
Moe Joe: Auntie Ann may get upset with us if we do not hurry to dinner. Worse than
that we may end up being dinner. That alligator is moving close!
Snowie: Yea, let’s scram
Moe Joe: To the house!
Look at that, a golden sunset!
Moe Joe and Snowie head back home making it just in time for dinner.
Uncle Tim, Aunt Annie, Moe Joe and Snowie all sit down for super. It was Auntie Ann’s
homemade alligator soup.
Uncle Tim: This is delicious!
Moe Joe and Snowie: Yum, yum, yum!
Auntie Ann: If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.
Moe Joe and Snowie clap their hands.
Freddie the Daydreamer, who has been off to the side, joins them at the table.
Auntie Ann: if you’re happy and you know it stomp your feet,
Moe Joe, Snowie and Freddie stomp tier feet.
The Alligator shows up for dinner and in taking off her head mask reveals her identity as
Pipper.
Auntie Ann: If you’re happy and you know it, your face will surely show it. If you’re
happy and you know it do all three.
ACT 3.
We return to the classroom just as it appeared in ACT 1. Miss Ann and all of the students
are dressed exactly the same and in the same seating positions as in ACT1.
Miss Ann: Freddie, what do you think of the book this time?
Freddie: That was one big gigantic spider.
Miss Ann: Spider?
Freddie: On the rooftop, Miss Ann.
Miss Ann looks at Freddie quizzically and then smiles lovingly. Everyone joins in
smiling at Freddie.
Freddie begins to do his take on the patty cake poem from Act 2.
Freddie: Patty cakes, patty cake, baking mam, cook me up gator soup as fast as you can.
Students start patty caking and join in the poem.
As patty cake partners Joey and Kat, and Sally and Piper team up.
Freddie is playing patty cake with an imaginary partner.
All Present: Dice it, spice it, any way you can. Just cook me up soup as fast as you can.
Mr. Timothy enters the room.
The poem continues and gains momentum and excitement.
Mr. Timothy and Miss Ann start patty caking with each other and the children add
rhythm.
Miss Ann whispers to Mr. Timothy: Freddie is the most creative crayon in the box, you
know.
Mr. Timothy: Yes, he is making a daydream believer out of me.
Mr. Timothy then grabs hold of the unsuspecting Miss Ann and they kiss passionately.
THE END.
Play by Shirley Gambrell and Michael Holtzhauer.