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Madagascar – A Musical Adventure TYAScript, Piano/Vocal Score & show details

  • Theatre for Young Audiences
  • Small cast (up to 10)
  • Roles: 2 women · 3 men
  • G

The printed Madagascar – A Musical Adventure TYA script comes with your MTI license. The digital version is a separate add-on for your whole cast and crew. See pricing

Madagascar – A Musical Adventure TYA synopsis

Book by Kevin Del Aguila · Original Music and Lyrics by George Noriega and Joel Someillan

Join Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the hip hip Hippo and, of course, those hilarious, plotting penguins as they bound onto your stage in the musical adventure of a lifetime.  Based on the smash DreamWorks animated motion picture, Madagascar – A Musical Adventure follows all of your favorite crack-a-lackin’ friends as they escape from their home in New York’s Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an unexpected journey to the madcap world of King Julien’s Madagascar.

Alex the lion is the king of the urban jungle, the main attraction at New York's Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends – Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo – have spent their whole lives in blissful captivity before an admiring public and with regular meals provided for them. Not content to leave well enough alone, Marty lets his curiosity get the better of him and makes his escape – with the help of some prodigious penguins – to explore the world.

Filled with outlandish characters, adventure galore and an upbeat score, Madagascar will leave audiences with no choice but to “Move It, Move It!” The Theatre for Young Audiences version of this show was designed specifically for a handful of adults to perform for young audiences, making it a great choice for TYA programs or educational tours.

Full synopsis

The animals of the Central Park Zoo all get ready for the Zoo to open in the morning. As the Zoo opens, visitors are introduced to Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, Melman the Giraffe, Alex the Lion and Skipper, Private, Rico, and Kowalski (the Penguins) (“It’s Showtime”). The penguins assemble, acting as if they are undercover so that they can escape to Antarctica (“Penguin Underscore No. 1”). They bump into Marty the Zebra, who learns their plans and starts to daydream about what it would be like to live in the wild (“Wild and Free”). Alex the Lion surprises Marty for his tenth birthday. Gloria, Melman and Mason the Chimp enter with a cake and they celebrate. The crowd inquires about Marty's wish when he blew out the candles. He confesses that he wished he could go to the wild. All of Marty’s friends react poorly.

After the party, Alex goes to see why Marty is upset. Marty tries to convince Alex to travel into the wild with him. Alex refuses but exclaims that he is there for him if he needs anything (“Best Friends”).  Marty decides to leave without Alex.

The streets of New York are bustling as Candy Hammernose, a reporter, announces that there has been a zebra seen roaming Manhattan. Halfway through her report, she announces breaking news that a hippo, a giraffe and a lion are also on the loose (“News Underscore”). Gloria, Alex and Melman discuss their shock at Marty’s escape from the zoo as they look for him. Marty runs into the penguins, which he mistakes for nuns (“Penguin Underscore No. 2”). Gloria, Melman and Alex spot Marty and quickly make their way over. The penguins switch directions to escape. The Police and Animal Control seize Marty and his friends as they attempt to stay calm (“Relax, Be Cool, Chill Out”). As they feel the effects of the tranquilizer that Animal Control used, everything turns to slow motion (“Grand Central”).

The animals then find themselves on a ship in separate crates. The penguins escape their crate and take out the captain to gain control of the ship (“Penguin Underscore No. 3”). The penguins attempt to steer the ship as the animals slide back and forth in their crates (“Southward Ho!”) The penguins sing as they try to steer towards Antarctica (“Penguins’ Sea Shanty”).

Alex, Melman, Gloria and Marty all find themselves on the beach of a beautiful island. They discuss to which zoo they think they have been transferred. They rejoice in the fact they are all alive and together, but Alex is mad at Marty for making them leave their home. They then meet Mort, a tiny lemur, followed by Lynn and Lars Lemur, who are panicking about "The Foosa" following them. Alex unintentionally scares the Foosa Leader when he tries to find zoo officials, saving the lemurs. The lemurs insist that they follow them to meet their king, King Julien the Thirteenth. The lemur king’s advisor, Maurice, joins them and welcomes them to Madagascar.  King Julien then arrives and introduces himself (“Welcome to Me”), following that with a song about his passion for having a good time (“I Like to Move It”). 

King Julien thanks them for scaring away the foosa, which they explain is a catlike, carnivorous animal that is native to Madagascar. King Julien creates the plan to befriend the animals so that Alex will protect the lemurs from the foosa. Alex gets more and more impatient to go home. The lemurs invite the animals to stay with them for the night. Because of his hunger, Alex dreams of the food that he was fed at the Central Park Zoo (“Steak”) and accidentally ends up licking his lips and staring at Marty. Maurice the lemur expresses apprehension to King Julien about his plan to befriend Alex.

The penguins are found, still on the ship but clearly freezing and miserable as they make their way up north. They make it there and quickly turn around to head back south (“Sea Shanty – Reprise”). 

Gloria, Melman, Alex and Marty wake up to find that King Julien and the Lemurs have moved them to a beautiful watering hole. Marty is overjoyed. Gloria and Melman quickly get excited, but Alex is miserable because he is so hungry (“Living in Paradise”). Alex bites Marty’s behind while he is dreaming of steaks. His friends become scared of him. Alex runs off so that he can’t hurt his friends. The animals then hear a ship's horn, and Marty rushes off to the unsafe side of the island to find Alex (“Ship's Horn”). 

Gloria and Melman come up to the boat. They discover that the penguins had been steering it and sent the people on a lifeboat to China (“Penguin Underscore No. 4”). Gloria and Melman then realize that Marty followed Alex and decide to go after him.

The foosa enter and are looking for food (“Foosa Hungry”). Marty finds Alex, but Alex refuses to go with him because he doesn’t want to hurt his best friend (“Thunder”). Marty expresses that he won’t leave because they are best friends... just as the Foosa leader starts to approach Marty (“Best Friends – Reprise”). Alex pretends that he is still a predator so that they can escape the Foosa. Alex, Melman, Gloria and the Penguins also arrive.  They face off, and the animals from New York are victorious. Alex declares himself the king of Madagascar (“The King of Madagascar”). They all celebrate with a beach party (“Together Forever”).

Synopsis courtesy of Music Theatre International (MTI).

Madagascar – A Musical Adventure TYA characters & vocal ranges

Madagascar – A Musical Adventure TYA has 10 named roles, for a small cast (up to 10). Many roles can be cast across gender. ‘Written as’ reflects how MTI lists each role.

CharacterWritten asVocal rangeDescription
MartyMaleG4–Bb2Not listed
AlexMaleG4–Bb2Not listed
GloriaFemaleE5–B3Not listed
MelmanMaleC#4–B2Not listed
Skipper / Lars Lemur / Server #4AnyE4–B3Not listed
Kowalski / Foosa Leader / Server #2AnyNot listedNot listed
Private / Mort / Server #1AnyE4–B3Not listed
Rico / Candy / Lynn Lemur / Server #3FemaleE4–B3Not listed
Maurice / Zelda / Mason / Old Lady / Animal Control / FoosaAnyD#5–F4Not listed
King Julien / Zeke / Police Officer / Ship's Captain / FoosaAnyF3–A2Not listed

Madagascar – A Musical Adventure TYA song list

  1. It's Showtime
  2. Wild and Free
  3. Best Friends
  4. Relax, Be Cool, Chill Out
  5. Grand Central
  6. Penguins' Sea Shanty
  7. Welcome to Me
  8. I Like to Move It
  9. Steak
  10. Sea Shanty (Reprise)
  11. Living in Paradise
  12. Foosa Hungry
  13. Best Friends (Reprise)
  14. The King of Madagascar
  15. Together Forever
  16. I Like to Move It (Reprise)

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