Children's Author Robert Kinerk

Stand Up and Shout – Rumpelstiltskin

Story and lyrics by Robert Kinerk, music by Stephen Murray

Bob’s musical play for children, with music by Stephen Murray, involves children ages four to ten in helping solve the problem of learning the very difficult name of You-Know-Who. Look for the script at Eldridge Plays and Musicals or e-mail to info@histage.com. You can also call Eldridge toll free at 1-800-447-8243 (1-800-hi-stage). The play has parts for six actors, and plans are for a series of debut performances at the Majestic Theater in West Springfield, MA, beginning in July of 2012.

The Fish Pirate's Daughter, or Nobody's Perfect Sweet William

Story and lyrics by Robert Kinerk, music by Jim Alguire

Newspaper ad for an early production of "The Fish Pirate's Daughter."

My first success at writing was a short musical melodrama called The Fish Pirate's Daughter.

L to R - Bob's father Gene, Bob (playing the villain) and Leslie Cauthen - in "The Fish Pirate's Daughter."

It gets a series of performances every year in my hometown, Ketchikan. Its first performance was in 1966 and it was still being performed last year, so in longevity at least it has been a success.

I hope it has also been successful at entertaining Ketchikan's visitors and telling them something about that community's colorful past.

The Great Winnipesaukee Steamboat Race and Musical Talent Contest

Story and lyrics by Robert Kinerk, music by Andrew Rosenthal

Steamboat Race" hero Peter Hanse and the chorus.

Another musical melodrama I wrote, The Great Winnipesaukee Steamboat Race and Musical Talent Contest, was first performed in 1978 in Laconia, New Hampshire, a town I called home in the 70's.  It still gets performances there every few years. The music for that was written by a wonderful man named Andrew Rosenthal.  I've lost track of Andrew over the years, so if anyone reading this knows an Andrew Rosenthal please ask him if he's the one who wrote the music for The Great Winnipesaukee Steamboat Race and let him know I'd love to hear from him.

The Incontestable Election,
  or How Are Things In The Chinese Orphanage Business Mrs. Sing

Veteran Ketchikan actor Bill Pickering rehearses as Mayor Hogford in "The Incontestable Election."

Story and lyrics by Robert Kinerk, music by Jim Alguire

A series of blunders puts a good-hearted, small town mayor in the clutches of his villainous opponent, but all is not lost. A good deed done under the cloak of secrecy is remembered in the nick of time and all works out for the best.

After all, "Wet birds don't fly at night."

Other Plays

Other plays I wrote have had productions here and there or have been workshopped at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Conference in Connecticut, the Sundance Institute in Utah, and the Mount Sequoyah New Play Retreat in Arkansas.  I also wrote and directed a children's video, Bringing Home the Beast, that was a finalist in the International Film and TV Festival of New York in 1988.  For awhile I was part of a musical theater writing group at Berklee College of Music in Boston.  Songs from a couple of my projects got included in a showcase performance.

Writing for children is what I mainly do now.  I feel that the best stories track the way a child sees the world, and the hopes he has for himself in it, or the fears he or she may have.  I think a story that says, "You're not the only one who feels that way, so you don't have to feel strange," is one that's worth telling.