Script
Here is the most up to date version of the script for A Fox in Florence.
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For a printable PDF click here.
A Fox in Florence
A 60-Minute Musical for the Stage (Ages 8–12)
Setting: Florence, Italy — Summer, 1970’s
Set: multi‑level, with rooms stacked vertically, ladders, sliding walls, pastel miniatures, retro train set. Navet style line drawing on white.
CHARACTERS
MAGGIE – studying fashion; bold, visionary. INKA
PERRY – studying art history; intense, brilliant. MEM
LOUIE – studying contemporary dance; calm, warm, expressive.
SERAFINA Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) – stylish red fox fashion student. French. LILOU
MARCO lagotto romagnolo (domesticated dog) – friendly, welcoming, enthusiastic, water retriever– tailor’s apprentice. Italian “Benvenuto to Firenze!" ALIRA
HASANI, Fennec Fox (Vulpes zerda) – acute hearing; energetic, music student. African. INDIA
Tina and Tiffany, Flying Foxes (Pteropus giganteus) – aerial acrobat, risk-taker. Aussie, NIAHM
BRAGI, Arctic Fox (Norse god of poetry)– (Vulpes lagopus) – cool‑headed, hip, poet. Icelandic,
MAESTRO (Canis latrans) – clever, verbose, loud, singer, scavenger.
FRANZ, Wolf (Canis lupus) – leader, practical, architecture expert. German
Professor GABBIANO, Volapino (domesticated dog) – eccentric fashion professor. Italian.
MUM - INDIA
PAPA - ALIRA
GUARD -
SILVIO-
DONATA-
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SCENE 1 — ARRIVAL BY TRAIN The doll‑house set opens like a storybook. A miniature train slides across the top tier. Steam. Lights. The trio steps out with luggage. Night time, Full moon.
Song: Under my Thumb Instrumental
MAGGIE: We made it. Florence, the capital of elegance and fingers crossed, internships!
LOUIE: Yep, we’re actually doing it. Firenze is what the Italians call it.
PERRY: Smells like (sniff sniff) stone, paint and.. is that..(sniff sniff) parmesan cheese?
LOUIE: Quick, let's find the school before Perry disappears.
Song: Dancing in the Moonlight
Foxes and other species bustle by - none with tails.
HASANI: Welcome to Florence.
MAGGIE: Whoa, am I mistaken, or is everyone… tailless?
HASANI: Oh yes, chic isn’t it, and so very 1973.
PERRY: More like very disturbing.
SERAFINA: Everybody’s doing it.
HASANI/BRAGI: No tail, no sorrow, dig the Arno glow,
Tailless, jazzed, I howl at the Florence moon. (howls)
MARCO: Benvenuto to Firenze! I’m Marco and this is Serafina. Can we offer you a ride?
SERAFINA: We are students at the academy too. I design moda.
MAGGIE: Oh groovy, a fellow fashionista. I start my internship at Fiorucci tomorrow!
MARCO: Andiamo. Let’s ride!
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They throw their suitcases on the back of the vespas and scoot off through the city past an old Roman statue of a dog - its tail chiselled clean off! Music plays.
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Song: Walk on the Wild Side Instrumental
SCENE 2 — THE PHOTO-BOOTH The doll‑house set rotates to reveal a tiny osteria with checkered tablecloths. A vintage 1970s photo-booth flickers beside it.
MAGGIE: Look! A photo-booth! We have to capture this moment!
PERRY: Those things capture souls. And awkwardness.
LOUIE: Bellisimo. Let’s make memories.
They squeeze inside. The booth jerks violently.
Photobooth Voice (tinny speaker): Prepare! Smile!
The strip prints instantly—revealing a mysterious symbol in the background that wasn’t there.
MAGGIE: Wait… what’s that behind us?
MARCO: Oh! Sorprendente! I know that symbol. I’ve seen it on old underground maps.
PERRY: Great. So the photobooth is haunted.
MAESTRO: Or it’s a clue.
PERRY: And you are?
MAESTRO: They call me Maestro.
They pocket the picture.
The set rotates to show Florence’s domes. Actors ride prop Vespas attached to tracks.
LOUIE: Don’t lean so far, Perry!
PERRY: Just hold on!
MAGGIE: This city is going to change us. I can feel it.
MAESTRO: And watch for trams—they never slow down.
A tram bell nearly clips them.
PERRY: Point proven Maestro.
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SCENE 3 — MAGGIE: AT THE FASHION INSTITUTE Professor Gabbiano paces dramatically as students work.
Song: For Your Love Instrumental
GABBIANO: Fashion is experimento! Riska! Something betweena truffle ravioli and spiritual awakening!
Maggie finds scraps of cheap faux fur and holds it up to her behind.
MAGGIE: Scusi, Professor Gabbiano, with due respect, why lose our tails when we could reinvent them?
MARCO: There’s a loom in my little apartment
On Via dei Servi, top floor
Threads of nettle, hemp and linen
Spilling wild across the door
SERAFINA: The others laugh, say “why bother?”
Fox fur rules the galleries
But I feel change like morning water
Running soft around my knees
MAGGIE: Faux is the future, can’t you see?
A world where every tail runs free
MARCO: Where beauty’s born from earth and leaf
Not stolen fur, not stolen peace
MAGGIE: Faux is the future, stitch by stitch
We rise above the hunter’s itch
SERAFINA: I’ll weave a Florence that won’t flinch
Faux is the future—
And the future’s lush and rich.
MARCO: I tried bamboo with citrus fibres
Dyed it gold like Tuscan hay
Cut a coat for Perry, he twirled it
Said, “Maggie, you’ve made a brand-new day.”
MAGGIE: Louie danced in my samples
Let the fabric breathe with him
Said it moved like wind in wheat fields
Said it felt like freedom in his skin.
Faux is the future, can’t you see?
A world where every tail runs free
Where beauty’s born from earth and leaf
Not stolen fur, not stolen peace
Maybe they’ll call me foolish
Maybe they’ll call me wild
But fashion’s just a revolution
Sewn by someone’s fearless child
Faux is the future, sing it loud!
A runway woven for the proud
For every creature, every crowd
No more silence…
No more bowed.
Faux is the future, this I swear:
A kinder world is what we wear
From plant-spun threads to fresher air—
Faux is the future,
And we’re already there.
GABBIANO: Absolutely not! The humans will never buy this idea. Not another word about it! Now back to work!
SCENE 4. PROLOGUE — THE PACT (FLASHBACK)
Song: White Rabbit Instrumental
Lights rise slowly. Serfina enters, wearing a chic 1970s silk scarf, stage-perfect poise, and a calculating smile. She checks behind her, ensuring no other foxes are around.
A panel in the wall slides open — Silvio and Donata, human designers, emerge from the boutique upstairs.
SILVIO (relieved) Grazie. We thought you weren’t coming.
SERAFINA: I said I’d meet you before the new semester. Before the new arrivals from abroad complicate things.
DONATA: You mean the scholarship foxes? The fashion girl… the art boy… the dancer?
SERAFINA: walks toward a display of fox tails pinned like brooches.
SERAFINA: Exactly. Tourists with ideas. They won’t understand Florence. They won’t understand fashion. And they certainly won’t understand what we’ve built.
SILVIO: (gesturing to the tails) We need more of these for the spring line. The buyers in Milan are begging.
DONATA: If the local fox students hesitate, everything falls apart. Your job is— well— persuasion.
Serafina lifts a particularly beautiful tail and twirls it between her claws.
SERAFINA: Persuasion is a gentle word. I prefer… “curation.” I simply show them the life they could have: glamour, admiration, influence. (pauses, icy calm) And in return, they give up something… sentimental.
SILVIO: You’re certain you can convince them?
SERAFINA: (whispering) Foxes want to matter. Humans want artifacts. I’m merely the bridge.
The humans exchange a pleased look.
DONATA: And the newcomers? Maggie, Perry, Louie?
SERAFINA: (flashes a fang) Leave them to me. By the time they arrive in Florence, they’ll be stepping into a world where tail-trading already feels… normal. And they’ll never know who set it in motion.
SILVIO: (toasting with a measuring tape) To fashion. And to cooperation.
SERAFINA: (smiling slowly) To the future. La coda è moda.
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Lights dim sharply — a foreboding chord. The mannequin tails shimmer under the last spotlight.
Song: A Trick of the Tail Instrumental
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SCENE 5 — PHONE CALL HOME In a tiny dorm hallway lined with rotary phones in pastel colours. A Vespa helmet hangs from Maggie’s arm. The lights shift to warm oranges and browns—1970s domestic warmth.
PERRY: (pacing, anxious-flappy) Do you think they’re awake? What time is it back home? What if the twins are crying? What if—
MAGGIE: PERRY:. Pick a phone and dial.
LOUIE: (gently) They’ll be happy to hear from us.
PERRY: exhales, picks up an avocado-green rotary phone, and dials.
Lights split: stage left becomes the family kitchen back home. Papa enters holding TWO squirmy fox kits in swaddles. Mama follows, exhausted but glowing.
PAPA (into phone): Warren residence—
PERRY: Papa!
PAPA: Perry! My boy! My brilliant, odd, wonderful boy! How’s Italy treating you?
PERRY: Good! Mostly. But all foxes here have no..
MAMA (leaning in): Hello, sweetheart! Don’t forget to eat vegetables. And protein. And not just gelato.
LOUIE: Congratulations again. The twins look… extremely energetic.
The two baby foxes let out synchronised yips.
PAPA: They only sleep in shifts.
The baby foxes are played by small, expressive puppets cradled in Mama’s arms—ears twitching, tails wiggling, occasionally squeaking.)
MAMA: Opposite shifts, naturally.
PAPA: Your mother and I haven’t slept since—
MAMA: —Wednesday.
PERRY: We just wanted to check in. And… I miss you.
PAPA (softening): We miss you too, son. But you’re doing something grand, I can feel it. Bigger than digging tunnels. Bigger than my heist days. Keep going.
MAMA: And stay together. No wandering off alone. Especially you, Perry.
PERRY: I know. I’m trying, ciao!
PAPA: Good lad. And hey—send us a postcard! One without any of those strange Italian stamps that smell like truffle.
The babies begin wailing again. Papa juggles them.
MAMA: We love you, darlings!
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Song: Melos
SCENE 6a— PERRY: AT THE UFFIZI Gallery frames unfold from the set. Perry stares at Botticelli’s Birth of Venus with chickens. He sketches.
PERRY: Check out this line work. (gets up close)
GUARD: Scusi sir, do not lick the paintings
PERRY: I wasn’t planning on it (beat) or was I?
SCENE 6b: THE ARNO Perry exits the gallery swiftly and passes Hasani and a trumpet playing fox busking on the street.
Song: Meet me Across the Arno Instrumental
HASANI: Hey man, can you lend me a few bucks?
Tonight, can you get us a ride?
Gotta make it through the tunnel
Got a meeting with a fox on the other side
PERRY: Hey man, this guy, he's the real thing
So if you want to come along
You gotta promise you won't say anything
'Cause this guy don't dance
HASANI: And the word's been passed, this is our last chance
We gotta stay cool tonight Perry.
PERRY: 'Cause man, we gotta help them remember what’s true
Without a tail, I know I’d feel blue
They ain't gonna be looking for just me this time
And all we gotta do is hold up our end
HASANI: Here, stuff this in your pocket
It'll look like you're carrying a friend
And remember, just don't smile
Change your shirt, 'cause tonight we got style
Meet me across the river
SCENE 7 — THE VIDEO ALCHEMIST Perry crosses the bridge and back to the academy, and bumps into Maggie.
Song: Baby Britain Instrumental (interlude)
MAGGIE: Impeccable timing my furry friend. Come this way.
PERRY: (pulls photo from pocket and inspects) Is that the same symbol from the photo-booth!?
They enter a shadowy side gallery inside the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze. Analog monitors glow softly. A hum of tape reels turning.
MAGGIE: Whoa… this room wasn’t on the map.
PERRY: (wide-eyed, flapping hands excitedly) Look at those TVs! They’re stacked like a shrine! The cables are all colour-coded—beautiful.
A man in his early twenties, calm, observant, stands adjusting a reel-to-reel video deck.
MAGGIE: Uh… scusi? Are we allowed to be in here?
BILL: If you found it, you’re meant to be here.
MAGGIE: Are you…
BILL (smiles softly): Bill.. I experiment with time. And water. And everything that moves slowly enough to matter.
PERRY: I LOVE that. I move slowly when I want to concentrate. Fast when I don’t. Or both once.
BILL: Excellent. Then you’ll understand this.
He presses a button. A monitor displays grainy, slowed footage of a fox’s tail drifting through water, rippling like silk.
MAGGIE: But—Florence foxes have no tails.
BILL: Precisely. This image is from the past… or the possible future. Or an emotion you haven’t had yet.
MAGGIE: Is this connected to the secret chambers we found?
BILL: Everything in Florence is connected. Renaissance artists built their studios like labyrinths. And someone is still using them.
PERRY: Can you help us?
BILL: I can give you a direction, not a destination.
He pulls a postcard from his pocket—blank except for a hand‑drawn symbol matching the one from the photobooth.
BILL: Follow the symbol. Follow the light. Above all… observe.
PERRY: Thank you Billy boy.
BILL: Don’t thank me yet. The chambers test everyone who enters.
MAGGIE: Come on. We’ve got a chamber to find.
Song: Hazey Jane II
SCENE 8 — UNDERGROUND RENAISSANCE ADVENTURE discovers secret chambers under the Academia.
PERRY: Check it out Maggie! Foxalangelo, Foxotello. All the masters! These paintings must have been down here for decades.
MAGGIE: Incredible - I have an idea! (Whispers)
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Song: If I Had Tail Instrumental
Under Florence, down the marble stairs,
Dust on the air like forgotten prayers.
I strike a match — the room ignites,
Gold-leaf foxes glowing in the candlelight.
“Perry… look at this,” I breathe,
Ribbons of pigment, secrets in the eaves.
Brushstrokes fierce as a comet’s trail,
Foxalangelo, painting every tail.
Foxotello sketching rebels on the wall,
Back when no fox bowed to fashion’s call.
My pulse is loud — a Renaissance roar,
Truth dripping from the painted floor.
We thought we knew our history,
But the colours tell another story…
Tails on canvas, wild and free,
Foxes painted how they’re meant to be.
In a world that sold our pride for style,
These artists kept the truth alive a while.
Oh, the painted tails — they’re calling us back,
To everything we lost along the track.
If beauty costs our bodies,
Then who’s the art, and who’s the thief?
But standing in this hidden chamber,
I feel the fire, the ancient grief.
And maybe we can change it —
Start a spark, ignite the night…
Tails on canvas, wild and free,
A secret truth in fox mythology.
We’ll shout it from the rooftops, shake the city walls —
No fashion worth the price of what we lost.
Oh, the painted tails — rising again,
A revolution in a renaissance den.
SCENE 9 — WHY FOXES HAVE NO TAILS HERE. Osteria Outside Louie, Serafina and Marco sit at a table along the Arno.
Song: I Found a Reason Instrumental (interlude)
LOUIE: ah yes Maggie, I understand. More feeling. Less gravity. (Clears throat)
LOUIE: (reciting a poem he wrote)
A tail is not just fur and thread,
A quiet line from heel to head.
It sways our balance, marks our pace,
A compass for our fox-born grace.
Some wear them long, some keep them slight,
Some tuck them close on colder nights.
But tail or none, we’re still the same—
Each heartbeat dancing in its frame.
So if you choose to wear one proud,
Or leave it off to please the crowd,
Remember what the tail once meant—
A story curved in elegance, bent.
A whisper left in fur and air—
Of who we were, and still are there.
He bows his head.
SERAFINA: Louie! That was..moving.
MARCO: Profound! (Scoffs a plate of cantucci)
SERAFINA: Fashion houses here pressured everyone decades ago. “No‑tail couture” they called it. It stuck.
PERRY: (appears with Maggie running back from the chamber) And it was all a trick because humans wanted to wear the tails themselves.
MAGGIE: But we change that. I know how! Just give me a few more days.
SCENE 10 - POSTCARD MONTAGE — “Wish You Were Here (In Florence)”
A projection of rotating postcards appears: domes of Florence, the Arno River, gelato cups, truffle markets, the Vespa parking outside the academy, the photo-booth image, and the strange Renaissance symbol.
Song: The Letter Instrumental
MAGGIE: (voiceover, writing): “Dear Mom and Dad, Florence is everything I dreamed of, but there is one thing missing.
PERRY: (voiceover, writing) Mama, there is art everywhere you look in Florence. We rode past an old Roman statue of a dog - its tail chiselled clean off!
LOUIE: (voiceover, writing) Dear Everyone Back Home, we’ve met many great canine friends here from near and far. It certainly has been.. educational.
MAGGIE: (voiceover, writing) I’m going to launch my new collection of tails here in Florence, at the Space Electronic Nightclub
PERRY: (voiceover, writing) but I went back to that statue, and I restored it, as best I could. Tails are back baby!
LOUIE: (voiceover, writing) These friends feel like family now. Firenze feels like.. home!
Each postcard flips in time with the music: - A Vespa ride across Ponte Vecchio - Maggie sketching new faux‑fur tail designs - Perry obsessively sketching the Renaissance symbol - Louie dancing in front of - A fennec fox classmate posing dramatically - Maestro eating too much cantucci.
The final postcard shows all three of them smiling by the photobooth—unaware of the shadowy figure in the background.
ALL: (softly, overlapping) Wish you were here.
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SCENE 11 — FINALE - SPACE ELECTRONIC NIGHTCLUB Neon lights flip out from inside the doll‑house. Foxes of all species walk proudly in their new faux tails. Louie weaves dance between them.
Song: This Will be Our Year
GABBIANO (crying): Magnifico! Tail‑nifico!
MAGGIE: Fashion shouldn’t hurt. It should help us feel like ourselves.
PERRY: And sometimes chaos becomes the plan.
LOUIE: And friends become family.
Song: With a Girl Like You
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It’s the tail of a new tomorrow,
Where we stitch our hope from borrowed
Dreams that once were lost but now we’ll sew.
And the world we’ll shape together
Will be brighter, lighter, clever —
Let the winds of change begin to blow.
Oh, the tail of a new tomorrow —
We’re letting go.
Curtain Call
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Song: Looking for a Fox