![]() The Engine Driver, aware that his train is being pursued by another locomotive carrying prison guards and policemen, eventually extracts the truth from Toad but nevertheless decides to help him. ( Toad’s Adventure ) Dressed as a washerwoman, Toad first has to dodge the amorous advances of the prison guard then, having lost his wallet, he has to sweet-talk his way onto the footplate of a train. Together they plan for Toad to swap clothes with the highly bribable and loquacious washerwoman, thus allowing Toad to make his escape. The jailer’s daughter, sensing that Toad has been on the wrong end of some pretty rough justice, decides to help him. Toad, still feeling sorry for himself inside his cell, befriends the resident mouse. The whole countryside is restless and Ratty, who has never left the Riverbank, starts to yearn for adventure, but Mole, who has no intention of leaving, persuades his friend to stay. The Swallows and the Field Mice are making plans for the Winter. ( Where I Belong ) A wandering Sea Rat, sings wistfully of his nomadic and exotic life travelling around the world. He is sentenced, by a rather unsympathetic judge, to twenty years in jail, mostly for cheeking the officer! We see Toad, feeling very sorry for himself, in the dark dungeon cell. Toad appears in court charged with stealing the motor car and also with impertinence towards a police officer. The Weasels, plotting, tempt Toad into stealing a very fast and expensive motor car ( On the Road Again! ). We see him driving with very little care and attention, running down a police officer, to whom Toad is less than polite! After many crashes and a brief spell in hospital from where he escapes, Badger corners Toad and berates him for his recklessness ( You Exasperating Rogue! ), before finally extracting a (false) promise from Toad that he will change his madcap ways. The ebullient Toad is enjoying his new hobby ( Indestructible Toad ). Badger, Ratty and Mole discuss Toad’s increasingly erratic behaviour with his many motor cars. ![]() Just in time, Badger appears and Mole’s tormentors scatter into the darkness. Becoming lost, Mole is terrorised by the Weasels, Ferrets and Stoats ( Who’s There? ). For Toad, the novelty quickly wears off and, when their caravan is run off the road by a speeding motor car, a new obsession is sparked into life! Despite warnings from Ratty, Mole sets off into the Wild Wood to find Badger. Toad’s latest passion, gypsy caravanning, is in full flood and he eventually persuades his two companions to take a trip with him ( Life on the Open Road ). They spend a pleasant afternoon on Ratty’s little boat rowing towards the expansive Riverside abode of the whimsical and impulsive Toad ( On the Riverbank, reprise ). After briefly meeting gruff Mr Badger, Ratty warns Mole about the Wild Wood and the creatures who live there. Ratty sets up a picnic by the River and is met by Mole who, fed up with Spring cleaning, has taken a trip down to the unfamiliar Riverbank, by which he is entranced. ![]() ( On the Riverbank ) The good creatures of the Riverbank sing of how they love their peaceful, gentle river whilst, in contrast, the shadier, darker creatures of the Wild Wood hint that, although they like the darkness of the Wood, they have their eyes on expanding their territory down to the River, especially Toad Hall.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |