Honk!

Honk! is a musical adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen story The Ugly Duckling, incorporating a theme of pro-tolerance.

The book and lyrics are by Anthony Drewe and music is by George Stiles (of the British songwriting duo Stiles and Drewe). Aimed primarily at children and their parents, the musical is set in the countryside (originally “a backwater of England”, although American productions usually relocate this to the U.S.).

The story features Ugly, a duckling who discovers his inner beauty when he becomes a swan, his tearful mother Ida, a drake who “ducks” his fatherly responsibilities, a gaggle of comical geese, a sly, french tomcat who wants to befriend Ugly so he can eat him, a wisecracking bullfrog, and other barnyard creatures, together with a great many “fowl” puns.