Bugsy Malone

by Alan Parker

Get your students to be gansters in this great play which has been specially adapted for schools from the popular film and it even includes still photographs. So join all the Bugsy, Fat Sam, Tallulah and Dandy Dan for great fun with the whole class. Students will relish this opportunity to play a cast of Prohibition-era mobsters. Fat Sam, who runs one of the most popular speakeasies in town, is in danger of being closed down by his ‘business rival’ Dandy Dan. Enter baby-faced Bugsy Malone, a killer with the ladies and a definite asset to Fat Sam. Unfortunately, Bugsy has also caught the eye of Sam’s girlfriend Tallulah – though he’s set his designs on the showgirl Blousey Brown. This play lends itself perfectly to school performance with its large mixed cast and consistent humour. The book contains a stimulating playscript suitable for classwork and school production, accompanied by resources including background material and lively activities.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Fiction

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Collins published playscript has pretty much everything you need to start preparing for an amateur production. It has a full script with stage directions and song lyrics as one would expect, but also an excellent appendix giving suggestions and advice on producing the play, including sketches of various stage set-ups and usable designs for making functioning splurge-guns, etc.
With a section of profiles on the characters from the story (fully illustrated with photographs from the movie) as well as an introduction by Alan Parker himself, this really is a terrific practical buy for those working in Drama as well as a delightful read for fans of the film.

[Crackerjax · Rating 4 out of 5]

An average of a punchline per page!

The introduction written by Lauren Child is absolutely right; Bugsy Malone holds a decent amount of memorable lines, including the opening one. They had me at “Someone once said that if it was raining brains, Roxy Robinson wouldn’t even get wet.”
No doubt I’ll recognize it as easily as the Great Gatsby’s opener.

Make no mistake, I’m not comparing the writing to the Great Gatsby. This is a children’s book after all -but a unique one at that. At times it did suffer from repetitive descriptions of characters. The ending felt a bit rushed and seemed to fall flat after so much build up. However, I expected and hoped for a happy ending and that’s what I got. Is that a spoiler?

Short, sweet, and fun. A nostalgic feel you can only find in 70s-90s media. Now on to watch the 1976 adaptation with young Jodie Foster and Scott Baio.
And you should too, unless you’re a big dumb salami.

[Ella (book.monkey) · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is an odd play, not that I didn't enjoy it. but odd all the same.
there are some quite racey comments if you have the right mind for it.
would recommend to a friend

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Bugsy Malone both book and musical...it's inspired! I love how this actually could be an adults book and how its so cleverly adapted for children i.e. trading guns with bullets for guns with splurge and yet it feels so real all the same and kinda just as dangerous. I love how this book makes my imagination work so effortlessly. The only thing that i miss is the fact that the book doesn't actually include any of the songwords ( i know its a book but they are one of the best bits) Fave characters tallulah, fat sam and leroy least favourites blousey because she just is a bit wet blousey! But thats only if i really had to make the call. This book is the kind of book that makes you wish that you were in the 1920s in fat sams dancing. Never miss out on the chance to read this book as it's definately for everyone!

[Soumya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the novel version which isn't showing up on goodreads. Huh.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the novel version but this isn't showing up on goodreads. I did also have to act this play out in drama at school many years ago for my GCSEs so it brought back memories!

I like how this book has been adapted for children especially the replacing of bullets to splurge. This made the book child-friendly when it wouldn't have been without this change... and would have been a different book entirely!

Overall a weird read. Quick and easy. Is this what the world would be like without adults I wonder!!

[Maeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting to read, as I didn't realise that the film came first. It wasn't massively different from the film, but it was interesting to read the Author's note to see the history of the story.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am doing Bugsy Malone in AmDram and we were using this script. It is amazing within the included character synopsis and the introduction. Amazing book and would strongly recommend for a cheaper script

[Mia Cookson · Rating 2 out of 5]

literally killed our school shows- they’re never doing one again after we did this 🤘

[Dan Blackley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the stage version of the quirky movie.

[sreeja ⭐ · Rating 3 out of 5]

read along backstage 😭😭😭

[Juliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be co-directing Bugsy Malone JR this spring for middle school students. I read the script twice (the Musical Theatre International version) and re-watched the 1976 film version (starring Scott Baio & Jodie Foster) to prepare for our upcoming auditions. I really like this musical. It's quite approachable, fun, funny and allows a lot of creativity for young actors to step inside the roles of 1920s gangsters, gun molls, and showbiz dreamers. I also enjoy the historical references. The score is excellent, which is no surprise, since Paul Williams wrote the lyrics and score. As a child of the '80s, I grew up loving Paul Williams music on The Muppets. This is a great selection for young performers.

[Charlotte20 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to read the script because I'm a stage manager. The ending is extremely lame but the rest was pretty good.

[Aimee Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore this book and all the characters

[Natalie Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars
This book was pretty fun and easy to read.I wasn't too fond of the writing but I definitely enjoyed the story and thought it was an interesting experience.