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Opal's Million Dollar Duck
Opal's Million Dollar Duck
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Author: John Patrick Publisher: Dramatists Play Service (cover may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 58 Pub. Date: 1980 Edition: Acting ISBN-10: 0822208601 ISBN-13: 9780822208600 Cast Size: 3 female, 1 male
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About
the Play:
Opal's Million Dollar Duck is a full-length comedy by John
Patrick. Part of this
author's ever popular "Opal" series about the lovable and irrepressible Opal Kronkie – a colourful, naive middle-aged
woman with a bit of a hoarding problem. Two actors, looking for
costumes and other items become convinced Opal has found a missing
masterpiece worth a million dollars and are set on obtaining the
painting for themselves. Hilarity ensues as the duo ends up resorting
to everything from outrageous flattery to using "knock-out drops"
trying to get their hands on the treasure.
Opal's Million Dollar Duck revolves around the Opal
Kronkie, the zany and
lovable heroine who lives in a tumbled-down home at
the edge of the city dump, and is a collector of trash, treasures and
people. Searching for costumes for their next production, Desmond and
Queenie, the "stars" of the local summer-stock company,
drop by "Opal's Antique Junque Shop." While rooting through
Opal's treasures they spot a nondescript oil painting
– a still life of a mallard duck and an apple
– and recalling an item in the morning newspaper
about an old master who has disappeared from the local art museum,
suddenly realize that this may be the missing canvas, for which the
insurance company is offering a sizable reward. Summoning up all
their acting skills, they try to charm Opal into selling the painting
for a pittance, but she explains that she plans to give it to her
friend, Rosie, as a birthday present, whereupon the plot thickens
hilariously. Desmond and Queenie resort to everything from outrageous
flattery to knock-out drops trying to get their hands on the picture.
Rosie, however, rejects it on the grounds that it reminds her of her
pet duck (which was run over by a truck); and the plotters, much to
their glee, march off triumphantly with their prize
– unaware that a later edition of the paper carries
a new item: The old master has been found, and the canvas that
disappeared was a worthless copy that the museum had thrown out with
the garbage!
Opal's Million Dollar Duck premiered in 1979 at the School
of Performing Arts in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and has been
delighting audiences ever since. An entertaining and fanciful comedy,
and one of the most successful plays for regional, high school, and
community theatres.
Cast: 3 female, 1 male
What people say:
"There's gems of humor in comedy about junk."
— Toronto Star
"The irrepressible Opal
Kronkie once again triumphs hilariously over the forces of evil-while
remaining blissfully ignorant of what her antagonists are up to."
— The Virgin Islands Daily News
About the Playwright:
John Patrick (1905-1995) was a prolific American playwright
and screenwriter, writing more than a dozen screenplays and some 30
plays. He had several Broadway successes, most notably Teahouse of
the August Moon (which was awarded a Pulitzer, a Tony and a New
York Drama Critics Circle Award) and The Hasty Heart. His
movie scripts are impressive with Three Coins in a Fountain, The
Shoes of the Fisherman and The World of Suzie Wong as well as
adaptations of the two plays mentioned above. His "Opal"
series of
plays remain popular with high schools and community
theatres.
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