繼去年夏天出演迪士尼經典名作《阿拉丁》之後，我家童少將重歸故里，再度參加捷門堂(Germantown Academy)暑期戲劇夏令營的排練活動。這次即將登台表演的是現代歌舞劇《音樂人》少兒版本，它自1957年大獲美國百老匯舞台劇最高榮譽獎──“東尼獎”(Tony Awards)和音樂界奧斯卡獎──“格萊美獎”(Grammy Awards)以來，倍受廣大觀眾喜愛，先後被拍攝成電影(1962)和電視片(2003)《歡樂音樂妙無窮》，成為職業和業餘戲劇愛好者爭相施展才藝的熱門劇目。

　　故事發生於愛荷華州名叫“河城”的小鎮，全鎮居民在鎮長喬治•西恩(George Shinn)大力倡導下酷愛檯球，素與音樂無緣。身為推銷員的哈羅德•希爾(Harold Hill)不愧為一位徹頭徹尾的職業騙子，他無往不利趁虛而入，決定為騙取錢財巧施詭計。雖說他本人連一個音符都不認識，卻以組建男生銅管樂隊為名，親自擔任音樂教授，並憑藉三寸不爛之舌勸說鎮民放棄檯球，轉而投入樂隊，添置樂器，購買服裝。哈羅德企圖在搜刮團費之後遠走異鄉溜之大吉，這一切卻被當地一向古板的圖書館女館員兼鋼琴教師瑪麗安•帕魯(Marian Paroo)看穿識破。不過，當瑪麗安目睹哈羅德真誠幫助自己因為口吃而不善交際的胞弟溫斯羅普•帕魯(Winthrop Paroo)克服心理障礙、煥發童真朝氣之後，卻不顧一切迷上了他。與此同時，哈羅德也戲劇性地陷入愛河，致使他不由得回心轉意，直至痛改前非。小鎮生活因之重現新貌。

　　《音樂人》劇情主要圍繞7首著名的歌舞展開：《都市欲望》(Pick-a-Little)、《富國馬車》(Wells Fargo Wagon)、《冰激凌/真心誠意》(Ice Cream/Sincere)、《鋼琴課/如果你不介意》(Piano Lesson/If You Don't Mind)、《尋找愛情》(Shipoopi)、《相愛》(Till There Was You)和《76把長號》(76 Trombones)，情節跌宕起伏，場面震撼人心。

　　戲劇夏令營一共舉辦五個星期，主要角色均由九歲以上的大班營員扮演。第一周試聽，營員隨音導、舞編學習上述7首歌曲和簡單的台步，然後現學現賣，在全體營員面前臨場發揮，劇導從中物色演員。以後四個星期，營員將全力以赴出演全劇。

　　以下是我家童少撰寫的紀實，我們依此可以略見戲劇夏令營生活一角。

　　Monday, June 25th, 2012

　　Today was my first day in Germantown Academy summer camp of this year. Most of the time we were trying to figure out our advantage to fit in any characters in Music Man Jr. You could request to play a role that you really liked in the act. I even made some new friends. Some of people I met before have already left. I would miss them.

　　星期一，二O一二年六月廿五日

　　今天是捷門堂戲劇夏令營的頭一天，我們花大部頭時間潤色少兒劇《音樂人》中的人物，看看自己究竟適合表演哪些角色。我認識了新的夥伴，有些過去結交的朋友今年沒有再來，實在遺憾。

　　Tuesday, June 26th, 2012

　　Today was our first day performing on stage. Music Man Jr. is a Broadway play that we are going to perform this year. It went pretty good. But I felt a little confused because the person next to me was doing the opposite thing of me. Then we had to sing a memorized song. Our music teacher sounded tough. However we could handle it. A few of reasons why I liked him was that he was full of energy and loved to keep a beat.

　　星期二，二O一二年六月廿六日

　　今天我們頭一次登台表演。少兒劇《音樂人》是戲劇夏令營中我們要參與表演的一個百老匯劇目，我感覺不錯。不知怎麼搞的，站在身旁的人動作總是與我相反。我們學唱了一首歌曲，音樂老師非常嚴厲，好在我們沒出什麼亂子。其實我倒蠻喜歡他，因為他精力充沛，節奏感很強。

　　Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

　　Today was our third day in theater camp. I had to sing as a soloist for 2 songs and the teacher rated my average as 8.5 out of 10 points. I thought that the score was pretty good. Other than that, I was put in the group that contains all boys. I think that there were only 6 of us. And that's it for now till tomorrow.

　　星期三，二O一二年六月廿七日

　　今天是戲劇夏令營的第三天，輪到我登台亮相了。我必須獨唱2首歌曲，老師給我打了8.5分(滿分10分)，我非常滿意。此外，我被分到全部由男生組成的小組。今年戲劇夏令營大班成員中總共僅有6位男生，而且都集中在一起。

　　就此告一段落，明日再聊。

　　Thursday, June 28th, 2012

　　We had an amazing rehearsal today. I had to sing a solo of "Wells Fargo Wagon" in front of the whole theater camp. Then we must read some lines. It was so unfortunate that I had to read Winthrop's lines of Music Man Jr. who spoke with a lisp. We got to know our characters. I was assigned as one of the quartet. Now we are starting our real performing.

　　星期四，二O一二年六月廿八日

　　今天大家排演得非常棒，我還當着大伙兒的面獨唱了一首《富國馬車》。接着，我們練習朗誦台詞。不巧的是，我得喬裝口吃的溫斯羅普。人人都要扮演不同角色，我被分派到四重唱劇組。終於，我們要開始演戲了。

(二O一二年六月廿八日)