Heidi

Full Synopsis

The musical opens with Aunt Dete taking young Heidi to the Alm-Grandfather, her paternal Grandfather whom she has never previously met and who lives high up in the Swiss Alps. As Aunt Dete and Heidi make their way up the mountain they are greeted by Villagers and Shepherds all wishing them a good morning and singing about the beauty of the Mountains in the opening number, Beautiful Mountain Morning.

Heidi’s Grandfather lives a very secluded life on the Mountain and spends most of his time with his Sheep and Goats. He is very lonely but won’t admit it and when Heidi first arrives he seems to resent her and is not very friendly. As time goes on and Heidi settles into the cottage, Grandfather notices how intelligent and cheerful she is and soon he begins to feel genuine affection for this Granddaughter until recently he didn’t know he had. It isn’t long before Heidi enthusiastically befriends her new neighbours, young Peter the goatherd, his mother, Bridget, and his blind maternal grandmother and with each season that passes, the mountaintop inhabitants grow more attached to Heidi singing A Gift called Heidi.

Sometime later Aunt Dete returns to take Heidi to Frankfurt to be a companion to a wealthy girl named Clara Sesemann, who is the same age as Heidi but very sickly and who stays at home every day. Heidi doesn’t want to leave the Mountain but knows she has no choice, Hard to Say Goodbye sums up hers and the Villagers’ feelings when she must leave.

Clara Sesemann is charmed by Heidi’s simple friendliness, and delights in all the funny mishaps brought about by Heidi’s lack of experience with city life. However, the Sesemann’s strict housekeeper, Fräulein Rottenmeier, sees Heidi as an unwelcome distraction in the Sesemann’s home and makes Heidi feel less and less welcome every day. Soon, Heidi becomes terribly homesick and grows alarmingly pale and thin. Her one diversion is learning to read and write, motivated by her desire to go home and read to Peter’s blind grandmother.

As Heidi continues to grow tired and pale the Sesemann household is brought to near hysteria by nightly sightings of what appears to be a ghost and the sense of panic is demonstrated by the number, Being Haunted. When Clara’s father and his friend the doctor keep awake one night to find out what is causing the disturbances, they see that the “ghost” is just Heidi, who’s sleepwalking in her nightgown. The doctor realises the Heidi is homesick and he warns Mr Sesemann that if Heidi is not sent home promptly, she will become very ill.

A delighted Heidi returns to the mountains and all her Mountaintop friends with the full company number Home Again. She and Clara continue to keep in touch and exchange letters. A visit by the doctor to Heidi leads him to eagerly recommend that Clara visit Heidi. He feels sure that the fresh mountain air will do her good. Clara makes the journey despite her parent’s initial worries and spends a wonderful summer with Heidi and becomes stronger on goat’s milk and fresh mountain air.

However, Peter, who has grown jealous of Heidi and Clara’s friendship, pushes her empty wheelchair down the mountain while Clara and Heidi are picking flowers. The wheelchair is destroyed and Peter, feeling guilty confesses what he has done to Clara and Heidi but without her wheelchair, Clara has no choice but to practice walking further and further and soon discovers she does not need the wheelchair anymore. When Clara’s Mother and Father come to collect her, they are amazed and overcome with joy to see Clara walking again and the whole company celebrates with the finale number, A Day to Treasure.