Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

A CONCORD THEATRICALS TITLE

Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

Full-Length Musical, Comedy  /  11w, 10m

Lisa Diana Shapiro, Georgia Stitt

Book and Lyrics by Lisa Diana Shapiro / Music by Georgia Stitt

Samantha Spade, Ace Detective is a film-noir-detective-story-musical (in black and white).

Image: 2015 Pebblebrook High School Production (Courtesy of Frank Zimmerman)

Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    11w, 10m
  • Duration
    Duration
    75 Minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Theatre for Young Audiences, Mystery/Thriller, Period
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for All Audiences, Adult, Senior, Young Children (Age 2-5), Children (Age 6-10), Pre-Teen (Age 11-13), Teen (Age 14-18)
Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

Details

Summary
Samantha is a lonely, misfit 13-year-old. After getting bullied in camp, she retreats to the old detective movies she loves, entering a film noir fantasy world where she is Samantha Spade, Ace Detective, the go-to gumshoe who always solves the case—for $25 a day, plus Twizzlers.

Sam’s first case enters on the glamorous gams of Veronica Venus, star of stage, screen and the occasional circus. Veronica’s boyfriend, Senator John D. Rockababy, is missing. But something’s fishy, and Samantha’s investigation leads to the dames, palookas, grifters, chiselers, flatfoots and flim-flammers that populate this black and white world.

With a smart, catchy score and a feisty, inspirational and relatable female lead, this show is perfect for school-age kids to perform and appropriate for all audiences.

For further information about the National Youth Arts 2014 Winner of OUTSTANDING NEW MUSICAL, check out the show’s website, Instagram, extra videos and demos.
History
April/May 2014 TADA! Youth Theater (NYC) PREMIERE PRODUCTION
(September 2013, workshop)
Commissioned by Janine Nina Trevens
Director/Choreographer: Joanna Greer

November 2015 Pebblebrook High School, Atlanta, GA
Director: Robert Adams

November 2015 Notre Dame Junior/Senior High School, East Stroudsburg, PA
Director: Tim Naughton

February 2017 Metropolitan Montessori School, New York, NY
Director: Philip Bettencourt

April 2017 Concert Performance at 54 Below, NYC
Director/Choreographer: Marcia Milgrom Dodge

July 2017 French Woods Festival, Hancock, NY
Director: Jon Gellert
Keywords
Performing Groups
Samantha Spade, Ace Detective is a film-noir-detective-story-musical (in black and white).

Samantha is a lonely, misfit 13-year-old whose parents have sent her (along with kid sister, Trish) to musical theatre camp. But when the key prop—a falcon composed entirely of chocolate maltballs—disappears, Samantha gets the blame. She retreats to the old detective movies she loves, entering a black and white fantasy world where she is Samantha Spade, Ace Detective, the go-to gumshoe who always solves the case—for $25 a day, plus Twizzlers.

Sam’s first case walks into her office on the glamorous gams of Veronica Venus, star of stage, screen and the occasional circus. Veronica’s boyfriend, Senator John D. Rockababy, is missing. But her story may not be entirely truthful, and Samantha sets out to investigate, following the clues that lead to the dames, palookas, grifters, chiselers, flatfoots and flim-flammers that populate this black and white world.

Samantha solves the case just in time to return to her real world, where she saves the day with the solution to the case of the maltball falcon.

The Huffington Post calls Samantha Spade “an engaging, fast-paced show that will appeal to all ages” with “a near-perfect balance between kid-friendly action and high-end satire,” and “a first rate score that sticks in memory long after the curtain comes down.” The New York Times cheers the way this “wry new family musical . . . creat[es] a colorful adventure about a black-and-white world,” a “tongue-in-cheek version of a hard-boiled genre.”
CAMP:
Samantha - shy, misfit girl
Jen - camp show lead
Joey - Jen’s boyfriend (video only)
Syd - director
Pete - assistant director
Trish - Sam’s little sister
Ron - head of set crew, bully
Leo - Counselor in Training (CIT)
Kelsey - CIT
Mal - CIT
Bren - CIT
Lou - CIT
Natasha - Jen’s clique
Latisha - Jen’s clique
Natanya - Jen’s clique
Lasagna - Jen’s clique
Ashley - set crew, bully
Manny - set crew, bully
Frank - set crew, bully
Callie - writer
Brit - writer

MOVIE:
Samantha Spade - hardboiled detective
Veronica Venus - glamorous star
Senator John D. Rockababy - Veronica’s boyfriend (video only)
Greenstreet - brainy villain
M - Greenstreet’s sidekick
Angel - Sam’s assistant
Cookie - lead Crook
Captain Shaughnessy - Cop
Ofcr. Brady - Cop
Ofcr. Kenneally - Cop
Ofcr. O’Hurly - Cop
Ofcr. Tuck - Cop
Melly - Veronica’s Chorus Girl
Kelly - Veronica’s Chorus Girl
Elly - Veronica’s Chorus Girl
Shelly - Veronica’s Chorus Girl
Lash - Crook
Curly - Crook
Rocco - Crook
Cricket - Rockababy’s assistant
Slim - Rockababy’s assistant

  • Time Period Contemporary, Present Day, 1940s/WWII
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Additional Features No Intermission
  • Duration 75 Minutes

Media

“Writer Lisa Diana Shapiro and composer Georgia Stitt have crafted an engaging, fast-paced show that will appeal to all ages.  Call it The Maltese Falcon meets Mean Girls, and give Shapiro and Stitt credit for striking a near-perfect balance between kid-friendly action and high-end satire.”
— Josh Getlin, The Huffington Post
“Sam Spade, meet Samantha. She’s the heroine of this new musical from Tada! Youth Theater, which centers on the dreams of a lonely girl who would like to be as cool, savvy and important as one of those investigators in a noir novel. Written by Lisa Diana Shapiro, with music by Georgia Stitt, the production, inspired by “The Maltese Falcon,” proves that Samantha can solve cases with the best of them.”
— Lauren Graeber, The New York Times

Other features:
Call Me Adam
Broadway World
Playbill
Broadway Baby

Videos

  • Marc Kudisch youtube thumbnail

    Marc Kudisch

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective - "Slingin' the Slang" - Pebblebrook youtube thumbnail

    Samantha Spade, Ace Detective - "Slingin' the Slang" - Pebblebrook

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective - "Shaughnessy . . ." - TADA! youtube thumbnail

    Samantha Spade, Ace Detective - "Shaughnessy . . ." - TADA!

Photos

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

    Image: 2014 TADA! Youth Theater Production (David Feldman)

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

    Image: David Feldman

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

    Image: 2015 Pebblebrook High School Production (Courtesy of Frank Zimmerman)

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

    Image: 2015 Pebblebrook High School Production (Courtesy of Frank Zimmerman)

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

    Image: 2015 Pebblebrook High School Production (Courtesy of Frank Zimmerman)

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

    Image: 2015 Pebblebrook High School Production (Courtesy of Frank Zimmerman)

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

    Image: 2015 Pebblebrook High School Production (Courtesy of Frank Zimmerman)

  • Samantha Spade, Ace Detective

    Image: 2015 Pebblebrook High School Production (Courtesy of Frank Zimmerman)

Show more +

Music

1. GONNA BE GREAT/PRIVATE I
2. SLINGIN’ THE SLANG
3. THE STORY
4. SHAUGHNESSY, BRADY…
5. GET A CLUE
6. HEART’S DESIRE
7. THE RED HERRING
8. THE STORY (FINALE)
9. BOWS
Full Orchestration

Piano
Acoustic Guitar
Drums
Upright Bass
Full Score

  • Musical Style Classic Broadway, Contemporary Broadway
  • Dance Requirements Moderate
  • Vocal DemandsModerate
  • Orchestra Size Small/Combo
  • Chorus Size Medium

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

Music Rentals

Concord offers a full suite of resources to help you put on the show of a lifetime!
22 Libretto-Vocal
1 Piano-Vocal
1 Acoustic Guitar
1 Drums
1 Upright Bass
1 Full Score
22 Libretto-Vocal
1 Piano-Vocal
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Authors

Lisa Diana Shapiro

Lisa Diana Shapiro

Lisa Diana Shapiro is book and lyric writer of Samantha Spade, Ace Detective (music by Georgia Stitt) and Princess Phooey (music by Eric Rockwell) both commissioned and produced at TADA! Youth Theater in New York.

Samantha Spade, Ace Detective has also been produced regionally ...

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Georgia Stitt

Georgia Stitt

Georgia Stitt is a composer/lyricist, music director, pianist, and music producer. Her original musicals include Snow Child (commissioned by Arena Stage and directed by Molly Smith); Samantha Spade, Ace Detective (commissioned by TADA Youth Theater and written with Lisa Dian ...

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