A Kitty For A Present

This whimsical holiday tune has all the outward appearance of a cute little song about getting a kitty. Not so, as you will soon learn. Despite its seemingly normal beginnings, it digresses into silliness by the end of the first verse and spirals downward from there. In a lighthearted and wholesome way, of course.

The key to pulling off a silly song like this is having someone who can be a bit of an over-the-top performer (or performers) in delivering the spoken solos. These solos are basically a progressive narrative that begins with a regular, reasonable tone and develops slowly through the song to frustration and exasperation by the end of it. Be sure that the lines are clear and well-enunciated despite the possible hamming it up. Otherwise, your audience won't understand what's going on.

The rest of the performers are your other students who innocently sing the song as if there was nothing unusual about it at all. Of course, the lyrics say otherwise, and that's where the humor comes in. Try to have each singer keep a happy, but straight face despite the antics of the soloist. Listen to our recording to get a good idea of how this all works together, especially the timing. (Special thanks to Kelsey Montgomery for the "extreme" acting. She's a good sport.)

And lest we forget to mention, though the song is appropriate for a holiday program, it does not say that specifically in the lyrics. So technically, you could use it anytime you like. After all, presents come for other occasions as well.