| abstract | - A Christmas story published in 1971 by Russell Hoban. It tells of a widowed otter and her son who are struggling to make ends meet just before Christmas: she does others' laundry and he does odd jobs. Both of them want to get a gift for the other for Christmas - she wants to get him a guitar, and he wants to get her a piano. But times are tough that year, adults are taking the jobs that Emmet used to get and people are doing their own laundry. Then the town announces a talent show with a $50 prize. Emmet and Ma both enter, keeping it secret from each other. Emmet joins a jug band with his friends, and drills a hole in the bottom of Ma's washtub to turn it into a bass. Ma Otter decides to sing, and has to sell her son's tools to get good clothing for the contest. Just before the show starts, The flashy River Bottom Band from two towns over shows up and easily wins the contest. As Ma, Emmet, and his friends walk home, Ma sings her song with the jug band playing behind her, and the local innkeeper hears them and hires them as the house band. In 1977, Jim Henson adapted the story (with puppets muppets, of course) for HBO. It later aired on ABC and then on Nickelodeon. It sticks very true to the story. . Original music was written for the special by Paul Williams. In 2008 and 2009, the Goodspeed Theater and the Jim Henson company produced a live stage version of the show, featuring a mixture of Muppets and costumed humans.
|
